Day 12!
The sun is a reliable alarm clock, we woke up early and made quick work of breaking down our campsite. We were all a little unsure of how the day would go. We knew we needed to time our final paddle out to the gulf and back according to the tides and we weren’t really sure what to do once we were done. But we, as usual, threw caution to the wind (which was quite significant this morning) and headed out.
We were only a mile from the mouth of the Suwannee and I’m not sure what I expected. Certainly not open ocean, having grown up near the gulf I know it’s all salt marsh and small islands so I didn’t expect to round a bend and then to be in the sea but I have to admit, it was, as far as finishes go, a little anticlimactic. We reached a sign that pointed out toward the gulf and in toward the river and celebrated with a drink and by throwing glitter at each other.
We had to get back to land though and to a road because Patti would be picking us up in a few hours to head home. We headed up some small creeks chasing after porpoises and manatees (we saw both!) and wove through a maze of creeks in the salt marsh looking for the boat ramp we had decided to meet my mom at. Finally, after about an hour of fighting an outgoing tide, we pulled our boats out of the water and walked across the street for a celebratory lunch. Patti picked us up and we unpacked our boats and fell into the car completely exhausted and ready to nap and sleep in a real bed again.
That's a wrap, folks!
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