April 21st 2006 8:26 pm
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Ahoy there!
Dad and I got in our first rafting trip of 2006 yesterday! It was a beautiful,sunny day with a high of about 82 degrees. We arrived at the parking area at the Bull`s Island state campground in New Jersey about 8:30 am and began the 7 mile hike upriver along the canal towpath. Dad let me take my time along the hike upriver to sniff all the good smells but we finally arrived at the Kingston boat launch around 11:30. Dad removed the air pump from inside the backpack and proceeded to inflate our raft. He then secured the backpack inside the raft and proceeded to put my booties on. I wear these little dog boots so that my claws won`t puncture the raft. We then launched out into the chilly waters of the Delaware river.
We soon encountered our first set of small rapids and it was thrilling to go thru them! All throughout the trip, I kept an eye out for any icebergs which is my responsibility as the ship`s lookout! I must say that I did a better job than the Titanic`s lookouts, as we encountered no icebergs the entire way!
We pulled ashore on Frenchtown Island to have lunch and Dad walked me around on the island for a bit. Flooding in 2005 had partially wrecked a house on this island belonging to the Frenchtown Island Club but new construction was in evidence here to repair it.
The Delaware river was still too cold for swimming, so both of us stayed put in the raft for the 5 hour trip except for 2 visits to islands along the way. We blasted our way thru the set of rapids created by the wing dam at the Bulls Island campground and ended the trip on a thrilling note!
It`s great to begin the new rafting season, can`t wait till our next trip!

First Mate and ship`s lookout,
Smiley