Adventure on the Tallapoosa

I'm ashamed to say that this is the first summer in quite a while that I haven't been to the beach. I've just been busy with camps and other things and didn't make it down there. I've spent the last few days in the house with two dogs. I'm dogsitting for a couple that kept Jenny for two weeks this summer. I owe them and am happy to keep Connor for a week. However, I was getting a little stir crazy. So, an adventure on the river was just what I needed. Yesterday afternoon, Lee, Dana, Chandler, Claire, Drew, Brian, and I loaded up and headed to the Tallapoosa River. It was about an hour drive, but well worth it. We took Lee's Land Rover and Drew's Toyota Tacoma. The off road trails were a blast. Every ten yards or so there was a huge mud puddle that Lee would send us splashing through. After a little "roverin' around", we drove into the river... literally. They just drove their trucks into the river bank. We got out, and began making our way across the river. Here, it must be noted that I love rivers. Rivers are constantly flowing, constantly changing sources of life. They cleanse and replenish the soul. Ok, enough of that. On the other side was a vertical rock face that climbed 30 or so feet. We climbed to the top and, after some mustering of courage, jumped off. This act was repeated again and again for the better part of an hour and a half. Jump off, swim over, climb up, get scared, get made fun of for being scared even though you've already jumped like six times, then jump again.
After the cliff jumping, we made our way back across the river, loaded up again and did some more off roading. An hour or so later, we made it back to the river bank and built a fire. Here, we roasted hot dogs, ate pita chips and hummus, and generally were merry. So it wasn't the beach, but it was a great getaway with some great friends.