When I see a Monarch butterfly it makes me think of my mom, when Mitch see’s a hummingbird it reminds him of his dad.
I believe most people have something in the wild that remind them of a loved one that’s passed. I asked Mitch the other day what he would want to remind me of him, if he were to die before me and he gave me the silliest answer, an earwig! I told him that just wouldn’t work for me, they are icky and they have pinchers (plus they’re always in pops place and I end up killing them)! I needed him to pick something else, I mean how about an eagle or a fox? Nope, after a couple more odd choices he picked one that I could manage, a rollie pollie, (or as he calls them, a potato bug) makes me smile just thinking of his choice! When did we have this deep conversation you ask? It was when we were driving up to Clark Fork River Saturday July 30th on our way in Harvy the RV to go kayaking….alone, just the two of us!
We are beyond blessed to have a wonderful friend couple, Mike and Karen, VOLUNTEER their time to watch pops and the dogs for a night while we took a much-needed break. Karen is one of the three gals that cares for dad during those times when we aren’t able to work out our schedules for one of us to be with him and she’s been so great with him.
But for both of them to give of their time and most of their weekend to help us out and not want anything in return, we are forever indebted to them. Not just for that weekend, but for all the times they’ve been there for us! Good quality people and great friends, one of life’s greatest treasures.
When we made it to the boat launch at Clark Fork River we cased out the area and saw people camping. We roamed around reading all the signs, checking to see if we needed to pay, but all it said was 3 day max for camping…. really, could it be free?! We found one area tucked the back, surrounded by trees with a fire pit right in the center. We were so excited that we could camp right in the same vicinity of the boat launch, but first we opted to look a little further. As we walked towards the water directly in our line of sight was an open spot next to two other campers with a little fire pit, literally right on the side of the water and Harvy would fit perfectly! I stayed right where I was, calling dibs on that prime real-estate so no one else could lay claim while Mitch went and got Harvy.
Our night away was so refreshing we topped the night off with some dollar store games. We started with domino’s, followed by rummy and capped the night off with the memory match game! Honestly it couldn’t have been better, just to breathe, catch up and have some quality time together. The next morning we opted to kayak up the river, going right of our campsite since the night before we’d gone left. Believe it or not it was more serene and secluded than the other way!
We’ve been on the water a few times now and neither of us had fallen in, until now. It was morning time and we were ready to go adventure before heading home. Feeling confident and certain of myself I decide to get in my own way, I mean it’s been so easy straddling and sitting so far, why not just put my foot in and get in right? Nope, the kayak tipped and half of me was in water before I knew it, oops. So I did what anyone who doesn’t learn the first time does, I did the exact same thing AGAIN and this time I took a real fall in the water, the kayak flipped over and I was submerged up to my neck. Couldn’t tell you why I just didn’t keep doing what I had been doing, but during the first fall I hit my thumbnail on the kayak and it ripped a corner of the nail from the nail bed and it was bleeding.
After that I really wasn’t thinking straight and was more determined to get in my way and was trying to not notice the pain. Which of course made matters worse, and more comical. Mitch being super concerned and wonderfully loving about my double dipping had a great laugh with me about it after I finally got in. He just wished he’d caught it on camera.
We hadn’t named our kayaks yet and it was right around this area when we were talking about getting decals so we could tell them apart, since they’re the same boat. I was giving Mitch a hard time and told him we should call his Rollie Pollie and mine Tadpole. Funny enough, we loved it, sealed it with a kiss and kept on paddling.
It’s only while I was writing this post did it dawn on me that another name for Tadpole is Pollywog. Those two names are just fun to say together, Pollywog and Rollie Pollie but in the end we named it The Tadpole. It just fits, like me and my love!
Goin' Road Trippin' 