A river runs through it...

One of the most popular features of our summer campsite is the river that runs along one side of the campground. (Barley is on the right in this picture) There are innumerable activities to while away the hours, including:

* hunting crawdads (the boys caught and released over a dozen)
* rafting through the "run" created when rocks are piled along the side of this channel to speed the flow
* racing sticks through the channel
* building up the dam by moving rocks
* throwing pebbles into the water
* building rock cairns
* splashing each other
* skipping stones
* standing on the rock wall, or walking across it
* trying to talk your mom into stepping back into the ice-cold water for any reason you can make up

We saw something new this trip, though. This cool dude was "river surfing". Now, look back at the picture of the kids above. The river is NOT deep. It only goes as high as Barley's knee--about mid-calf on me. In fact, whenever I do get talked into innertubing down that channel, my butt tends to scrape bottom and get bruised on big rocks along the way. Funny the lighter, more buoyant kiddies never seem to have that problem.

Anyway, we were treated to this man's river-surfing practice, as he positioned his board perpendicular to the shore in the shallow river, and then he would back up a few yards, and take a running leap onto the board. Landing on it in a standing position, he would glide across the river, leaving a rippling wake behind him. It was fun to watch! And he was so nice to pose for me too!