Rick Thomson sent in this awesome trip report to me, I figured I would share!

At age thirteen a child that you sent to bed at 9pm might decide that it is
ok to play his Nintendo DS all night long the night before a kayaking trip
with his dad.

I received a call from Jenny saying that she was not going to make it. I
decided to give Charles a call to let him know that it was going to be just
him and I and our boys on this trip. It turned out that he was 30 seconds
behind me on the same road. I waited up for him and we headed into North
Carolina. It was rainy and wet. I thought that since there were no dam
releases that it was going to be boring but the rain added a level of
excitement.

We arrived at the put in to find a lot of kayakers getting ready to head
down the river.

Charles and Evan Weir

Rick and Jeremy Thompson

Jeremy was so happy the entire trip and didn’t complain once about the rain.

One of the more interesting landmarks on the tuck is this riverside spot. It
appears to be a red neck version of a tiki bar.

One of its best features is the beach in front of it. It makes a nice place
to stop and have a sandwich. Our trip was safe and the kids had a good time.

We made it back to the campground and set up camp for the evening.

Jeremy soon made good use of the comfy bed in the back of the expedition.

I am not sure who was providing the payment for the chef but he was doing a
great job!

The crowd started getting bigger and the stories were being told. Chuck,
Phil and Roger

It’s almost time to eat.

A special thanks goes out to the chef and the Delicious Bar B Q is served.
Notice the red bull on the table. Whoever gave my son one of those is in
trouble. J

Charles loads it on after a rough day on the mighty Tuck.

At some point I ran out of beer. A special thanks to the person who donated
this cold one.

Phil Patz is posing with his Ocoee river hat. Thanks again Phil for the
paddling gear for my son.

Chuck telling me something important.

Ocoee Paddlers

Even though I accidentally got bit by this fellow he was definitely the life
of the animal party. He is so cool he even has a goatee. He destroyed all
the Frisbees and even put a few holes in my football.

Here are a few more pictures of the other party animals.

The night was a success and I curled up in the back of the truck and drifted
off to dream land as the live band played some awesome tunes. I woke up in
the middle of the night to rain. I was thankful that I decided to sleep in
the truck as it poured down cats and dogs the rest of the night

Rick Thompson