TheBanyanTree: Way Down Yonder on the Chattahoochee - Part VI

[B Drummond]

The sound of my cell phone ringing startled me.  I stopped paddling.

Yes, that was it but where was it?  I rooted around in the Rubbermaid  
tub while the ring tone continued to blare out, "When the Saints Go  
Marching In".

  There it is!  I grabbed it and it went silent.

I opened it and quickly checked the number.  My daughter.  OK, I  
checked to see if I still had service and dialed the number.

"Dad, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes, sweetheart.  I'm OK."

"Where are you? Are you in Franklin yet?"

"No, Sweetie, I'm still on the river?"

"When are you coming home, Dad?  I'm worried about you.  I had a bad  
dream about you last night. It woke me up.  I was worried that  
something was wrong with you."

"I'm OK, Sweetie. I'll be home soon. What time did you wake up?"

"It was early, about 11:30, I guess.  Why do you ask?"

"Uhh . . . no reason. No good reason.  Don't worry though, I'm OK."

"Dad, mom said that you should be home already and she's worried  
about you.  How do you know that you are where you are?  Are you  
feeling OK? Could you have passed Franklin already?"

"No, Sweetie, I haven't passed the bridge yet.  There's only one  
bridge between Whitesburg and Franklin."

"Promise me that you'll be careful, Dad."

"I will Sweetheart, I promise."

"Call me when Mom comes and picks you up in Franklin, please."

"I will."

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Sweetie."


What in the heck?

I checked the phone again but had no service. But I just had service.

I tried to call my wife but the screen immediately showed, "No Service"

I picked up the water jug and finished it off, grabbed the next one,  
opened it and took a deep swig.

I pushed my cap back and squinted at the vista in the distance.

To the left side was a sandbar, a huge sand bar,  to the right was  
the main current flow of the river.  No, wait a minute, the main  
current flow went to the right of the sand bar and split the island  
just off center.

This has to be the biggest island I've seen on this trip.

Where's the main current? Where do I go?  It's gotta' be to the far  
right.

I put the jug down, coated myself with more sunblock, looked at my  
watch.  5:30 p.m. --   3 and 1/2 hours of daylight left.

No, I couldn't have passed Franklin . . .  could I?

I put my back into the paddle and drew a bead on the water flowing on  
the right side of the island.




End of Part VI