Chattahoochee river runs through the middle of Atlanta. Just North of Atlanta is Lake Lanier and the Buford Dam. We rented a raft and put it in the river just below the dam in a public boat access ramp. We took a two hour float which ended up being about three hours because we stopped a couple times to play on some rocks and to skip some rocks into the river.
Most of the trip was pretty good. That part of the river is rougher that what I remember the lower part of the river being a few years ago. I would say it was mostly rated a 1 in rafting terms but the last set of rapids before we pulled the raft out at the Hwy 20 bridge might be a small 2. There was no easy way of getting through it and the current turned us around backwards which allowed a lot of water to come into the raft which fortunately only soaked me. Emmie would not have been happy had she gotten soaked. She didn't really like the rapids but she loved the smooth as glass sections and stopping along the way to throw stones. She would lay over the side of the raft and watch for fish. Every rock she saw in the river she asked if it was an alligator. I think Chase was a bit tired of hearing "Is that an alligator over there?".
Emmie and Chase enjoyed skipping (throwing) stones into the river. Emmie loves playing with Chase and I think Chase enjoys spending time with her too. He got her out of the car and carried her when she was tired. He watches out for her. He has come a long way for sure. I know there were several times when he was starting to get frustrated but remained calm. He was anxious to get the raft in the water but waited as patiently as an 11.5 year old could. He picked out two short paddles but I swapped one of the short ones for a long one because I was not going to use a short one. They were meant for the innertubers not rafters. He got frustrated with his selection but I had told him that the longer paddles would be better. He chose the ones he chose because of the way they looked not on functionality. I didn't tell him I told you so, I let him learn from his own experience. He was annoyed with how badly his oar worked though and I think next time he will get a longer oar.
Over all it was a good day. It was not exactly what we planned but we went with the flow and it all worked out just fine.
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