Our bed and breakfast host took us out canoeing and kayaking on the Saluda River that runs right along their property. Scott and David went to drop his truck off at the take out and we left right from where we were staying. We were on the river less than two hours, but the time went by way too quickly.
The river has a way of bringing on a cool calm.
David had a kid kayak so Brooke and Cody took turns riding in it. We took a quick break at a little beach.
Not long before the trip was over Brooke gave Cody a chance to kayak independently.
The take-out was designed to be handicap accessible, so we were able to row right into the dock, which made getting the boats up much easier. The boys spent a little bit of time trying to figure out the best method to secure the boats.
We had a leftover avocado in the cooler from our Florida adventures. Scott didn’t want it to go to waste so he ate it as we toured Greenville. The first stop in Greenville was an army surplus store. I chose to stay outside and soak in a few rays of sunshine instead.
Our next stop was much more up my alley. We stopped at Pedal Chic – a biking store. One of the women in the store spoke with us at length about areas we could move to, triathlons, and the women bike club they had that met several times a week. If we move to Greenville, this will become one of my favorite places to go.
We wound up following the famous rabbit bike trail to the Reedy Falls.
Scott found a construction cone. He sent Cody flying down the sidewalk away from his super embarrassing dad when Scott started shouting, “Paging Coder-hosen to the front office.”
Scott and Cody have this thing where instead of just straight up hugging each other, my preferred method of affection, they will kick, smack, or knock into each other in a loving-rough housing kind of way. Usually I’m not fast enough to catch it on camera, so I had them reenact a warm and fuzzy moment.
We grabbed some steak tacos outside of a water play area. We were able to cool off on this 97 degree day and fill our bellies. At the pavilion across the Reedy River there were dance lessons taking place. Scott and I took dance lessons twenty years ago at our community college. We did okay, not stellar, but okay up until the Polka. Once the Polka came on Scott and I decided to Polka right on out of the lesson and ran to our car. I’ve always wanted to get him back into dance lessons. Scott’s dad is a phenomenal dancer. One of my favorite memories is Scott’s dad dancing with his sister at her wedding. Maybe someday I’ll get Scott to dance again, but I have a feeling as the years go on that Scott’s dancing shoes will become more and more invisible.
When we were up on the bridge overlooking the Reedy River Cody was eagerly planning his path to get to play in the river. At first Brooke and Scott stayed near the top and I followed Cody down, but eventually he got us all down to the river.
We walked around Greenville a little longer, but the heat was making us all tired so we headed back towards the van.
We drove around the area a little bit to areas people had recommended and then we decided to head back to our Air BNB and enjoy the cool calm of the Saluda River. The kids were pros on the rope swing. We have some amazing videos. My personal favorite/scariest moment was Cody’s first swing out. Brooke was directing him and we were not close enough to stop or help. She helped Cody push off and as Cody’s smile soaked in the free fall his face suddenly registered a fear, “What do I do now?” Brooke read it and shouted, “Let go!” He looked at the water and it took him a moment to register that he did need to let go. He finally let go and when his little head popped up he shouted, “I can’t touch!” Brooke was very calm and said, “Just swim.” He was still very panicked, but he did and I was proud of her when I saw her skillfully slide down the slope and help him the last little bit. Cody has been in swim lessons on and off for years, but his confidence in swimming has never quite taken the leap we hoped it would. With each jump Cody did gain more and more confidence swimming back. Not long before he got out of the water he was purposely putting himself in places he couldn’t touch, just because he could.
Peter, the dog that lived at our Air BNB was a mater swimmer and waterfall rock hopper.
Time down by the river was an excellent way to finish out our trip.
Shortly before we turned in for the night we were able to meet the rest of our host’s family. There was a girl a year younger than Brooke and a boy a year older than Cody. We wish the kids would have had more time together. They really enjoyed the time they had though. Incredible first experience with an Air BNB. We couldn’t have asked for a better stay.
