When planning these Adventures I try to think of what my Son can get out of the time together. If that's seeing something historic, or trying something new. Today was about a life lesson. I decided it was time he learned how to canoe. I don't remember when I learned how to canoe it's just something I've always known how to do. I know I learned it in Brownies at a young age but I've never been able to pinpoint the moment I learned. I wanted that for him. A life skill that he just knows how to do.
Well, a canoer I did not make of him, but a life skill was learned! I contacted a local canoe rental company. This place is great and highly recommended https://canoeingthegrand.com I had friends tell me about their experiences with this tour company, all they said was how great the time was.
I contacted Canoeing the Grand several weeks before the day we went out. I highly recommend taking the time to check out their website for all they offer. As this was going to be my son's first adventure out I thought we should keep it short but wanted to get a lesson for him. As all parents know it seems kids learn better from strangers than following what their parents want to teach them. I booked their Woolner drop-off. It was the shortage amount of time. If you are looking for longer trips out, there are several offered.
When I booked it was arranged that we would get 30 minutes of lesson and then shuttle to the drop-off where we could start our way down the river. The Grand River is very long but also very shallow. Sometimes a little too shallow if you arent watching ahead you could get a bit stuck.
We got to the main office for our pick-up and were met by the owner. She was great and all the staff was really encouraging of how great the trip would be! I was told the original person booked for our lesson was not able to be there. We would be having a quick lesson from the guys that would be dropping us off at the starting point. Not thinking this would be a big deal, let's be honest there isn't much to canoeing really to be taught.
We got our lesson and got a push into the river. The guys quickly left and that's where it all went bad! The wind was very heavy, the drop spot had a bad current that my little 9-year-olds arms couldn't push through. Not going to lie there was a moment of screams for help from both of us. Not my proudest moment! When we realized that no one was coming we had to regroup. That was the actual life lesson my son learned that day on the river. Yes, he now knows the basic strokes of canoeing but he learned if you want to get something done we had to work as a team to do it.
He also might have learned a couple of new swear words as well as I did lose my cool for a brief moment. I quickly saw our little adventure turning bad if I couldn't right the boat! After a couple of deep breaths and telling him he had to help as complaining would get us nowhere we righted ourselves and made a slow trip down the river.
This part of the river doesn't have great sights. Other drop-off locations will give you a better view of the river's edge. We did see some geese and ducks.
After the rough beginning, we had it was about one hour of actual canoeing. When we saw the bridges we knew where our ending point, we felt like we really accomplished something. I told my Son to feel proud of himself. This whole trip could have gone all wrong if we hadn't taken the time to regroup and work as a team.
We have some cottage time ahead of us this summer let's see if I can get him back in a canoe!
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