Canoeing on the Alafia

One summer day my family and I went canoeing on the Alafia River. This river is 4 hours long and quite a workout. We rented 2 canoes (one for my mom, little sister Steph and me and the other canoe had my dad, my older sister Allie, and my little brother Mack). Once we were on the river, we started to race and see who could get to the "finish line" first. After paddling for a while we came upon a tree that had fallen over and across the river. My dad and I crossed the "bridge" without falling in the water. When trying to get in the canoe, I rapped my arms around the tree and put my feet in the canoe when unexpectedly the canoe started drifting and I fell smack on the water. The ground was mushy and slimy but surprisingly not that bad so Mack and Stephanie jumped in too. About an hour had passed by when we found a rope swing. This was irresistible. Everyone took at least one swing in to the water even my mom who was a little paranoid about us getting hurt. So far the trip was a blast but there were hardships to come such as spiders,getting sore from paddling and getting caught in branches. It seemed like my dads canoe kept running into every branch in sight. My canoe mostly got stuck on rocks in shallow areas but one time the middle of the canoe got stuck on a tree and kayakers had to help us get unstuck. We would have done it our selves but the water was a bout 7 feet deep. (the water ranges from about 1 inch to about 10 feet or more!)To get out of this situation took about 20 minutes and lost us the race but in the end every one was happy, they had a good time and slept well. It was really fun having the whole family there because everything is better when you do it with family. I cant wait to go back!