"Going to the river" was one thing I hoped we'd get a chance to do with the boys this summer and which I've been talking about in recent weeks, as we have been blessed with lots of sunny, dry weather. While we have explored some rivers in Humboldt, not being true "locals," we aren't aware of *all* of the best swimming holes that are in warmer areas of the county (as our coastal California town is definitely on the cooler side). We been trying to balance the desperate need to get fresh air and get the kids out of the house on weekends with safely avoiding anything resembling a crowd (which is hard when all coastal people, trapped in a pandemic, seek sunshine and warmth but thankfully we have a ton of natural open spaces up here!). This part of northern California has many small (and six major) rivers to enjoy, but you have be willing to do a bit of driving which is hard with young kids (one of whom gets carsick and the other who is not super reliable with telling us when he has to do his business!).
In any case, one day last week when I was walking Pepper, our next-door neighbor, Maria, said, "Sometime, you guys should come out to our property in Maple Creek and swim at the river. It's super warm and the boys would love it!" Neither Kelvin or I really ever want to "impose" or bother anybody, and we weren't quite sure what "using their property" meant, especially during COVID times, but Maria enthusiastically invited us out to her place and, as they were going to be spending the weekend there, told us that she could wave us down to the river spot and not even come within ten feet of them.
We took her up on it, an on Saturday morning, we headed up the ~1 hour drive east of Arcata through Kneeland through lovely forest and hills (spotting many deer and other wildlife along the way) to the tiny community of Maple Creek (her property sits opposite what really looks like a one-room-barn schoolhouse, Maple Creek School). We'd never been anywhere near this area in nearly nine years in Humboldt, but have been missing out, as it really was beautiful (the road was really curvy, though!). The houses (and other traffic) were few and far between, and after losing cell and GPS service but with directions in hand, we were lucky to spot her marked driveway, which led to a lovely private section of river (a branch of the Mad River). She waved us past her house down the path to direct river access, which even included sandy beach! Even at 9:30 a.m., it was warm (for us in Humboldt-- 70+ degrees!) and we didn't see another soul.
The kids had a snack of fruit
The kids spotted grasshoppers and enlisted Kelvin to try to "catch one" (they were unsuccessful).
We borrowed a parked kayak, which allowed us to visit a rock island, next to which was some shallower (and much warmer) water in which the kids could splash around.
(We called this Kelvin's kayak shuttle service-- the kids, Pep, and I were able to stay dry as he pushed/paddled us across! The water, while not deep, actually was still too cold for my liking!).
Princess Pepper
The kids did some rock-jumping.
Niall wasn't so keen!
Lunchtime lounging
We headed back to the coast trying to get home in time for Niall's ~1 p.m. nap (even though both kids-- Iver, perhaps under the influence of pre-treatment with Dramamine, and Niall, wiped out from running around in the hot sun, fell asleep en route).
It was a lovely, warm, secluded getaway in a truly special spot, and we couldn't thank our neighbors enough for letting us enjoy a few hours at their own private riverside beach!
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