There’s nothing better than spending a day on the water, and that’s what we did Tuesday, when the weather was beautiful-sunny with temperatures in the 80s. . We rented canoes with an outfitter that also provides a shuttle service, and off we went, canoeing 4.5 miles down the Buffalo River. Paul took the steering position, which left me in the “just paddle when I tell you to” position. Along the way we took breaks to eat lunch and to just enjoy the day. We got a glimpse of a Bald Eagle, soaring among the many vultures that flew overhead. We tried sneaking up on the turtles as they were sunning themselves on the rocks, but weren’t very successful at it. 
Lest we get bored, every once in a while we would come upon some “rapids”. I use the term loosely, but there was some swift moving water that required some planning on how we were going to get through it. Several times it involved Paul yelling “paddle!! No, on the other side!!” So much fun!The water was crystal clear and beautiful, which allowed us to watch the turtles and fish and sometimes made it easy to dodge the many boulders lurking just beneath the surface.
Because we took the short trip, we had time to hike in the afternoon. We did the relatively short hike (3.5 miles) to the Indian Natural House, basically a cliff overhang that was used by Indians so many years ago.
We knew the weather would be taking a turn for the worse soon, so we got up early the next day to do the other hike that we were really interested in doing. Armed with our cheat sheet of where the building and mine ruins are located, we headed to Rush, the local ghost town. A town that was founded based on the zinc that was discovered underground. A town quickly built up in the early 1900s, and during World War I, zinc mining reached it’s pinnacle here in Rush. Unfortunately, after the war, the price of zinc plummeted, which sadly caused the mine to close and townspeople to slowly drift away. In the 1950s the last store closed, leaving a handful of residents to cope on their own, until the last of them left in the 1960s.
Apparently I forgot to take pictures yesterday. I think it was because I was too busy looking at the GPS because we kept losing the trail. Everything is quite overgrown, and the terrain is very hilly and wooded. Twice we had to turn around. Well, once it was because I refused to cross over the steep hill of loose gravel that looked like a landslide waiting to happen. I did get one shot, of Paul exploring a mine opening.
True to the weather forecast, the rain arrived late yesterday and has not left the area yet, so today was spent doing projects. Paul’s project list is back up to 14 items, so he was anxious to start tackling something. With no TV, cell phone or internet, I spent my day going through all the pictures from our trip over the last 2 years, deleting the ones I don’t need to keep. Believe it or not, it took me all day. Tonight I tried a recipe I have for microwave brownies and it actually worked pretty well! It only takes 6 minutes to cook them!
