Hi, I'm ThadeusB.

When a full-time programmer goes for an 8-mile canoeing trip down the brazos, it can get quite entertaining ;)

My girlfriend, mom, and I ended up going to a place called The Outpost. It is a nice little canoe place just a few miles north of Waco, right off of highway 35.

We had an excellent time and enjoyed the experience out away from civilization.

Things We learned:

• Leave the towels in the car. Everything in the canoe will get wet. Even thingsinside of the ice chest will get wet! Bring baggies to put dry things in (they will still end up wet).
• Bring a trashbag in the canoe. Its not nice to litter, but you will end up with lots of peanut butter covered knives from all of the PB&J sandwiches you will eat.
• Bring a change of clothes to leave in the car. And a blanket, so the females can change in relative privacy afterwords. Bring some trashbags to put the dirty clothes into, and to set any ice chests on. You won't want the fishy smell soaking into your seats on the way home.
• Everyone goes to the bathroom in the river... its OK to pee in it. Just make sure your down stream when you do =)
• Bring LOTS of suntan lotion. At least one bottle per person. We used SPF 70 and only got burnt where we didn't put any. (It was 110 degrees F outside). That means your knees get the attention too!
• Bring lots of water too. You will not only need it for drinking, but washing your hands as well.
• When you get out in shallow water, these leech worms attach to you, they don't hurt or break skin, and they die in a couple minutes out of the water. Just don't try to spray suntan lotion on them if their still alive, they kinda freak out and start biting the crap out of you! A wet towel will make quick work of them. White shirts turn yellow. Use bleach for colored clothes when you get home.
• If its a whole family going, you could put one male and one female in each canoe, this will even out the strength and you can all stay together.
• Try to be physically prepared. Do some sort of arm workouts a week prior to prep your muscles for the long trip. Muscles where you didn't know you have muscles will have sores that are sore when you wake up the next day.
• Be on the lookout for logs in the river. They could tip your canoe over in a second.
• Lastly. Don't get in a rush. There will only be a handfull of good spots to actually stop and enjoy. You have all day, so spend as long as you like in any place that your able to enjoy.