Tubin down the river

Photos by everyone involved


This past Sunday Melkus, Raegen, Lobao, Asato, and yours truly went tubing down the Potomac River.  For those of you who haven't tried it, go soon!

Butts Tubes was our destination, as it was recommended to me by Tom, the Sandy Point park ranger.  (more on that in a coming post)  We each paid $44, which gave us a choice of flatwater or Class I & II rapids, and a cooler to pull behind us in its own raft.  We never tried the flatwater as the rapids were just right. 

You basically show up, sign a waiver, pick up your tickets (if you reserved them), get the cooler/ice, and go wait for the next bus to pick you up.  The buses come every 30 minutes and shuttle you up and down the river.

The water was only a little cold.  When we hit the rapids, some squealed as the water splashed sun-warmed skin.  It wasn't me, though.  It wasn't.

Raegen posed about five times for me to get this shot.  It's not easy using a crappy Target underwater camera to shoot while you're floating, for some reason, at a completely different speed than your subject.

When you go, pay special attention when the guide tells you where to get OUT of the river.  He told us to watch for the red bridge.  "Don't pass the red bridge!" he said.  Well there's no sign to get out and the bridge doesn't really look red.  More like rust.  And there's several bridges close together.  If you wait too long to start swimming to shore, it becomes a tough fight against a strong current.

There are rocks in the center of the river that everyone stops and hangs out on.  Melkus was scared to make the massive plunge alone so Asato and I, being good shipmates, abandoned rock with him.

You're actually glad to see these school buses.  Especially after a 2-hour tube ride, and a long hike up to the top to catch the ride back.

I'm in the process of reworking the post labels on the left.  I want to have a collection of posts/reviews that can be labeled "Fort Meade Things To Do".  That way, other students can come here and take a look.  This is a great area with so much to offer, but many have no clue.