Kayaking down the Delaware awakened a part of me that I didn’t realize was missing and although the word childlike can sometimes have a negative connotation, the trip made me feel childlike. It seems almost ironic now that the radio station we listened to on our way down to the ramp played songs that I listened to when I was young. that I skipped rocks for the first time since I was in middle school.
Throughout the trip Aaron and I tried to break away from the group as much as possible and explore the things that caught our eye. We would zigzag across the river to go from one shore to the other while also trying to catch the rapids in the middle.
It was nice, because the Delaware is a protected river, that there were stretches of the river where the outside world was invisible but a there were reminders along the way, especially coming around a bend and seeing a huge concrete bridge hundreds of feet above us. Passing under the bridges reminded me of a book I am reading called Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. Throughout the book Pirsig constantly talks about the value of taking a less traveled road. He commends them for being relaxing and enjoyable, especially the ones that have nothing but nature on either side. I shared Pirsigs disgust for highways and freeways, and preferred the water roadway that we learned the Delaware was historically used for.
At the end of the trip it was nice to drive back on the road along the river and to become a part of the cycle of noise; providing the sounds of traffic for everyone else who was enjoying the river just as I was only minutes before.