Lazy River Tubing

[lhbrown]

Hi,

There is nothing like lazy river tubing on a beautiful summer day.

The idea of floating on a calm river and letting the current take you down is a unique feeling. Time slows right down and allows you to take in the fresh air and sights and sounds of nature around you. Tubing requires no special skills and can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities. www.tubbytubestubing.com/tubing.cfm


It all started in 1844, when Charles Goodyear patented a process known as vulcanization of rubber, which allowed rubber to retain its elasticity and made it waterproof. This was later used for tires and eventually led to air-filled tubes. History is unclear on an exact date that people started using inner tubes to floated down rivers. It has been estimated that river tubing has been around in one form or another for the past 75 years.

In the past 20 years, tubing has become very popular commercially and a wide variety of tubes have become available specifically designed for river tubing. From rubber to plastics, tubes continue to evolve and provide us with great crafts for the simple pleasure of floating down a river.

Important things to remember when tubing are: to always wear a life jacket, bring drinking water, sunscreen and something on your feet like water shoes or sandals, and never litter. Keep it safe it is best to use an outfitter when planning your river adventure.






Message Edited by lhbrown on 08-15-2007 02:58 PM

[curtiejoe]

Hi travelfan



This post of yours takes me back to my childhood, firsst in Helsinki, Finland and then to Toronto, Canada, While growing up in these far-flung places, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, one of my boyhood joys was riding large, black inner tubes. In winter, especially in Finland, kids would spend the whole day, when not at school, schussing down every available, snow-covered hill in the city parks. We'd hold races to see who was the fastest down-hill rider or build two to three foot high ski-jumps part-way down the hill out of snow and ice and compete for the longest air-borne jump.

In summertime, especially inToronto, a bunch of kids would take their rubber rings for rides down the lazy, slow-moving Don River for a long, leirurely drift through long, slow bends, under the drooping branches of over-hanging willow trees, and over the occassional low set of stoney rapids scattered throughout the middle reaches of the river. Or, if we had the chance to visit someone's lakeside cottage north of the city, we'd splash about on the calm lake while pretending to be Medieval knights jousting against each other and try to knock someone off the float into the water. If we got lucky, someone's father who owned a small motorboat would tie a long rope to the stern of the boat and sling the knotted other end to a bunch of eagerly awaiting youngsters sitting on their inner tubes. The fortunate one who caught the end of the flung rope was in for a whale of a treat being dragged at what seemed like dizzying speeds across the surface of the lake in the wake of the "racing" motor boat. As we bacame more adept and daring, we;d steer ourselves across the wake for the thrill of briefly flying through the air above the wake before splashing down on the surface again. What heady days of youth! What wonderful memories your post has brought so vividly to mind. Thanx!



Curt

[lhbrown]

Hi Curt,

What great memories you brought up and what great pictures you added.I too did a lot of schussing down every snow covered hill I could find in the early 1950ies, but not on a black innner tube, but on my leather satchel, with all my school books inside while playing hookey.....Later on, we took to lazy summer tubing at the Scroon River near Scroon Lake and Lake George. We still enjoy this wonderful summer activity from time to time and it is a great way to have fun and cool off.

[curtiejoe]

Hi travelfan



What anwonderfulNorman Rockwell-type image your description of your childhood adventures shooting down a snow-covered hill sitting on your leather school satchel conjures up. Amazing! Before I was able to get an inner tube for schussing, I used to get an unused cardboard box from somewhere, flatten it out and use it as a sled for racing downhill in winter. Trouble was that often, no matter how hard my small hands gripped the front edge of the cardboard, it'd be torn away by a hidden stone or branch under the snow and I'd end up going down the bottom half of the hill on my behind...that sometimes hurt or got the seat of my pants ripped to shreds. Cold and wet, yet exhilarating! Glad to hear you're still enjoyng water tubing on the Scroon River. I bet it's lots of fun!



Curt