Bits of the Rietz: On the river

Way back when I first met John, he told me his family would go water skiing on the Snake River. Now, I did not go water skiing that often when I was growing up, but the few times I did go, we went on a lake, or a reservoir, but never a river. The river I was most familiar with was the Platte River, and it was no where near wide enough to ski on, at least not in Nebraska or Colorado where I saw it.
Fast forward a few (ahem) years, and here we are. Spending our hot summer Fridays or Saturdays, doing just what I couldn't imagine - boating on the Snake River. I guess technically we are jet skiing, but we have been on boats as well.

We have a favorite spot to go, and are actually quite put out should someone already be there. We almost feel like we have rights to the place. :) It is perfect for us, as we need a place to set up camp and get to our jet skiis easily when we need to switch drivers/riders/wake boarders/tubers. Our little rocky beach on the island suits us just fine.

Trev and Sam being teenage boys

We got a slow start this year, and this past Thursday was our first time this summer. Kristin was at Girl's Camp, so we beefed up our numbers and invited Trev's friend, Sam who moved away last summer and is visting, to come with us. Here they are doing funny, teenage boy stuff. See our set up? It works for us. We had a nice afternoon, and as it was really, really hot, it was a great way to pass the afternoon, even if it was a bit windier than we like.

Now, you may or may not know this, but our numbers need beefing up because there are fewer and fewer of us coming each year. And let me tell you, it is weird to not have very many people. In fact, the four of us have commented that it is very different, and I'm not sure we really like it, but we are making the best of it.

We headed out today, with a contigency plan if someone should (heaven forbid) be in our spot!! We decided we would load up our stuff, climb on the jet skis and go across the river to one of the small beaches we have seen in years past. When we got there, we did have to employ our plan, and headed across, found a spot and set up for the afternoon. Since it was on the other side, it was SHADY!!! That was great!! It was also much BUGGIER, and that was not so great, but the bugs we thought were mosquitoes didn't eat us alive, so it was tolerable.

It was a GREAT day!! The kids got in some wake boarding, John and I realized we forgot to give the jet ski driving refresher lecture, our dinner was yummy, and we didn't roast in the 100 degree heat.

One of the best parts of the day came toward the end. We were cruising the shoreline, scoping out other spots on the shady side of the river and we spied a bald eagle sitting on the shore. He would dip his beak in the water every so often, but otherwise, just sat there taking it all in. We kept our distance and watched him for a few minutes, wishing we had a camera, and trying to be close, but also staying far enough away that we didn't startle him. We thought there might be a moment of drama when a few geese paddled by, but they kept their distance also, and the eagle just watched them pass by. In all our years of being on the river, we have never seen a bald eagle! A little less exciting, but novel, nonetheless, was seeing a pelican fly over us. It happened twice today, so we don't know if it was one pelican flying over us twice, or two pelicans each flying over once. I guess it doesn't matter, but we were happy to see that bird species today.