Jackie’s mom suggested Tyler Bend so we decided to try it there. They have a really nice campground with great facilities and lots of room to spread out. Picnic tables and outdoor grills are everywhere and there’s plenty of shade to be found. Not far from where we setup on a picnic table was the river and the swimming holes that had been made. Gravel and sand beaches made things nice and clean, and the kids really enjoyed floating in the river – some of them more than others (Braxton, I’m talking to you…).

After spending the day at the campground we packed it in around 5 PM and made it home in time for dinner and a bit of rest before another Monday morning hit. Jackie and I are definitely going to keep that spot in mind when we’re looking for a bit of camping or even another getaway day trip.

Watch the video I took of Tyler Bend

Here are the photos we took

 

All four of us caught a fish right off the bat.  We then started moving our way down the river, and Jackie didn’t like that at all. There’s a lot of weeds in places that make it like walking blind since you just don’t know what’s in there.  The rocks are also extremely large and very slippery so it’s easy to trip over one.  Our friends kept moving on down the river, and we stopped and fished in a hole we thought looked good.  That turned out to be a great move as we caught a lot of fish there and actually kept six of them to bring back to camp.  We planned on having a fish fry on Saturday night so we were off to a good start.

On Saturday my friend and I went fishing again, but I wasn’t nearly as successful.  I only brought one back to camp that morning although I think he kept four.  After lunch we went to the campground store and rented one of the large rafts that carries four people.  We always get canoes but decided to try the raft this time since we always see so many people riding them.  That turned out to be a lot of fun as all four of us could just float together down the river and really not worry about too much.

The trip was 8 miles, and we decided to pull over right before we made it to the end so we could watch people go over “the triple” which is basically a set of 3 falls that everyone tends to wipe out on when they try to go down.  Here’s where my trip took a turn for the worse.

I waited until everyone was out of the raft and then started to get out myself.  I had my left leg out of the raft and my right leg still in when the raft starting moving with the current (it was really swift right there below the falls).  It was either hop out quickly or do the splits.  Unfortunately I didn’t find a good foothold with my left foot and crashed down on a rock with my shin.  I stood up immediately and noticed I was bleeding PROFUSELY into the river from two very deep puncture wounds.  Jackie poured Dr Pepper on the wound (helps with clotting) and grabbed one of her tank tops and wrapped it around my leg to try and stem the bleeding.  She then sat me in the cold river so the water would help to further clot the cuts.  After a little while, we got up and paddled our way to the pickup point where we boarded a bus that took us back to camp.  Jackie went and bought bandages and washed me up real good.  We had neosporin, but I was really wishing we had some alcohol or peroxide.

We made it back home the next day, and I was feeling really bad.  I had a low grade fever, and my leg felt like it was on fire.  I made it through Sunday and went to the doctor on Monday.  I hadn’t gone to the doctor for a cut since I was about 5 so I had to get a tetanus shot.  She also prescribed antibiotic pills and cream and told me to keep my leg elevated for the next several days and see how it goes.  It was obvious that a bit of an infection was starting to set in.

This morning I’m a bit better although it still hurts to walk on my left leg.  The wounds like look terrible, but I’m hopeful they will heal up soon as I’m trying to be diligent about taking my medication and staying off my leg.  I think it’s going to be a while before I go rafting on the river.