On Tuesday June 6th , 15 lucky paddlers met at Bob’s Fishing Hole to explore the great Northwest River, some of us stopped at Southland, just across the NC border, for an excellent breakfast at a very reasonable price. These lucky ones were; Bob A, Bob M, Bob S, (that’s 3 Bobs), Bill, Brian, Bruce, Buck, Elaine, Ed, Gayle, Jack, Judy, John F, John M, & Sandra. Lucky because it was the best day for paddling the world has known; it was in the mid to upper 70s, a light gentle June breeze, partly sunny (or partly shady), flat water with lots of paddling (almost 9 miles according to Bill Billings). The water was very high, so high that we could almost slide our boats into the water straight from our cars, have never seen it that high! We saw the biggest snake ever, some turtles, ospreys, and heard numerous birds, especially the prothonotary warbler which were being tagged by some local birders that day and are using the bird houses along the river. When we reached the Northwest River Park we had some extra time so we paddled up one side of the Park to the Indian Creek road, a pleasant mile with beautiful scenery. When we came back we stopped for lunch at the park and ate in the shade at the picnic area. Bill Billings told us a 2 minute story of a D-day survivor, Joe Dickerson from Murfreesboro NC, who is the only one left from his company, (he is 94 years old and received a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts). Dec 6th is the D-Day landing anniversary – very moving! We returned at a leisurely pace to the Fishing Hole with smiles on our face and ready for some ice cream at Southland, which of course we had to have, otherwise it wouldn’t be Tuesday! Gayle and John decided they hadn’t had enough paddling and went back out looking for fishing lures.
View Bob's pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/srXnFbsNa4JpaNav6
View Bill's pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/eZ614JnCDArtyYSP7