Canoeing on the Rio Grande

Roger here again....  One of the things I wanted to do in the Big Bend area was to float down the Rio Grande.  Because the trip had the potential for being lengthy, Dianne decided to stay behind with the dogs.  Due to low water levels on the river, the float trip turned out to be a canoe trip. 

Our group consisted of a friendly young couple from Calgary, me, and our guide -- Jack (getting things ready for the trip).  I was fortunate to paddle from the front of Jack's canoe.  He controlled most of the guiding and told me exactly when and how to paddle.  No stress.  As a 20+ year resident of the area, he also filled my mind with lots of interesting stories about the Big Bend area.  


There were a few narrow and shallow spots that Jack successfully led us through.  I think that Jack had one foot in Mexico and one foot in Texas.

Each picture involved picking a spot when I was not needed to paddle, removing the camera from the dry box, taking the pic, and returning the camera to the dry box  -- all before returning to my paddling duties.  The result -- fewer pics than usual.  


BUT, I did take a couple.

Lots of birds, turtles, fish and javalena, but no pictures.  A peaceful, quiet trip that was all downstream with the wind behind us.  Very relaxing.


Here is a pic of me at the end of the trip.

The next pic has nothing to do with the canoe trip, but isn't it interesting what happens to canned coney sauce when you cook it on the grill?

(Dianne here.  Yes, I know this looks like a gross meal, but it was actually pretty darn good when we topped the hot dogs with the coney sauce and chopped sweet Texas onions and added some leftover four-bean salad.  Thanks to my friend, Linda, for the four-bean salad recipe; wish we'd waited on the photo until I had the bean salad out.
Here's a link to their blog page that has the recipe:
http://because-we-can.net/Because_We_Can/Neat_Things/Recipes_Salads.html


(Note to Linda:  Every time we eat the leftovers, Roger says, "Boy, these are good."  And I always say, "Thank Linda."  Then he says, "Thank you, Linda.")  Back to Roger....
  
Dianne has been so obsessed trying to photograph the painted buntings that hang around our campsite that they do seem like pets.  (We are NOT taking them with us!)  So, the pet picture of the day showcases the colorful show.

Stay tuned.  Dianne will be writing the next post about our hike into Santa Elena Canyon in the national park.