Two Rivers Campground & Tubing

We ended up in this campground because it was a reasonable mid-point between where we were and where we wanted to be.  When I read about the campground it sounded like a good place to spend a couple of days.  We arrived Sunday evening and I had time to make an instant pot stew for dinner and we had a nice quiet evening of family time.  

Monday everyone got school work done, a very unusual experience for this trip.  The laundry at the camp was insufficient for our loads so I had to go to a laundromat.  I decided I needed to combine the trip with a visit to the grocery store because it was a distance to both.  We were in a big rush because we wanted to try the “tubing” mid-afternoon.  So, I took Myra and Will with me.  We started the wash and then Will and I worked on the week’s menu and a shopping list.  Once we moved everything to the dryer, Will and I rushed to Walmart while Myra tended the laundry.  We got back in time to help Myra with some of the folding and we made it back in time for tubing.

Wow, how to properly share what happened on our tubing trip!  The campground rented tubes and then shuttled us to the put in spot, 3.5 miles up the river.  Really, I am very embarrassed that I didn’t ask more questions about what the “tubing” involved!  The tubing experiences in my past were peaceful floats.  We got everyone mounted on their tubes and headed down the river. We had not gone far before David ended up in a snag tree that flipped him out of his tube.  His tube continued down the river and the rest of us were trying to catch the tube.  A good samaritan rescued the tube and paddled it back to David.  Shortly thereafter, as I was trying to paddle away from the parts of the river I didn’t want to end up in, my arm hit the air plug and I started rapidly losing air.  I got it closed but then I was headed towards another snag and when I hit it I was flipped off and it was too deep to get a foot hold!  So I was hanging on to the tree and the deflated tube and trying to get a foothold somewhere to get to the bank.  David knew I had hit trouble but there was really nothing he could do to help.  I was able to get out of the water and hike around the tree to where David was.  There was another deflated tube on the bank there.  I briefly wondered what happened to stranded tubers!  We tried to both hop on his tube but that didn’t work.  I sent David down the river and thought I would try to hike along the river.  I had not gone far when I realized that was not going to work.  My legs were getting very scratched up and looking ahead the foliage was getting more dense.  So, I decided to see if I could re-inflate the tube by blowing it up.  It took a while but I got it to the point it was able to float and I headed out again.  It was no easy float.  I had to continuously try to paddle away from the trees that sometimes were down in the river. I was grateful to not meet any stranded family members  for the rest of the float.  I did have the almost constant company of dragon flies.  I saw a couple of turtles and a very interesting bird that I couldn’t identify that seemed like a fishing bird.  I was SO glad when I started hearing the voices from the landing spot in our campground.  When I came around the last corner I was David and Zina rinsing off in the river.  I hailed them. Zina was so glad I was alive she dove on the tube and capsized me!  All’s well that ends well, I guess.  I could probably be talked into another tubing experience in the right conditions but David won’t!  Turns out his tube deflated but the plug was totally detached so there was no option of re-inflating.  Lucky Zina was close enough that she rescued him and they were able to use the same tube to get to the end.  Myra and Will thought it was fun and had no trouble, thank goodness.  As David and I were de-stressing and waiting for the shower I looked down and there was a leech on my toe!  I pulled it off and only had a small bloody mark.  We had leftover spaghetti for dinner.  We watched the Home Run Derby won by Mariner catcher Cal Raleigh so that was really fun!

Tuesday we mostly just felt like hanging around the trailer.  David and Will played mini-golf and Zina and I went back to Walmart to buy a toy make up kit.  That turned out to be worth it because she and Myra did makeovers together for the rest of the afternoon! 

Will’s Report: We arrived in Royalton on Sunday afternoon. We were unfortunate to have to drive through the Tall Ships convention to get to church, but no matter. We had a productive Sunday school lesson in church about giving lessons. We talked about how to motivate participants to answer questions, how to make our lessons unique and specific, and why standard church answers are good, but don’t help us learn. Some adults in the room had experience teaching at the college level, and they added a lot to the discussion. After church, we hopped back in the truck, and drove to Royalton. We then set up camp and relaxed for the rest of the day. On Monday, Mom, Myra, and I went to the laundromat early in order to go tubing at 2:30. While the laundry was running, we left Myra at the laundromat and went grocery shopping. After shopping, we loaded the bags with the washed and dried clothing and went back home. Once we arrived, we all got into our swimsuits and got tubes. Next, we paid for the ride and got on the shuttle to the river. For the next two and a half hours, we inched down the 2-ft deep river (mostly) After about 15 minutes, we had all gotten spread out by a pretty significant margin. By 30 minutes, both Mom and Dad’s tubes had gotten deflated. (We only found this out after) By about 80 minutes, I knew that something must’ve gone terribly wrong, so I flipped my tube over and headed to wait on a sand bar. After about 20 minutes of waiting, I saw Dad and Zina riding on the same tube (Zina’s tube) while carrying Dad’s tube with them. Mom was supposedly hiking on foot along the river, but we found out later that she only made it about 20 feet before she went back, reinfected her tube, and continued along the river. For the final 30 minutes of our journey, I ran in the water for more control over my direction. Finally, after too long, we made it to the get-out point of the river. Mom came about 10 minutes later. Dad described it as the third-worst thing that has happened on our sabbatical, behind the time that our back window broke and when the fridge exploded when we were driving. Once we got home, we watched the Home Run Derby (Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh of the Mariners won!!!!) and ate dinner. On Tuesday, we relaxed for the morning, and then went mini golfing and played cards. Mom bought some chocolate filled waffle cone snacks from Costco and I made a mini ice cream cone! We had waffles for dinner, then watched the All-Star game. We went to bed before it ended though, because it was 10 o’clock. Well, if you learned anything today, don’t go tubing at Two Rivers Campground. Next: Des Moines, IA. Overall Rating: 8.1/10