Bill Canoe
New Member
My son and I tried to go canoeing on the Tallapoosa on Monday. We pulled into the Poplar St. launch, got out and went down to check out the river, walked back to the car to unload and a white van - (I think it was an 80s model Chevy) - with a bunch of paint gone from the hood and dark tinted windows pulled in in front of my car. We watched for a few minutes and the driver backed into a little spot which covered up most of the van. Couldn’t get a license number and didn’t know I’d need one.
We decided it was a little odd because he didn’t have a boat and didn’t get out of the van, but waited 10 or so minutes. Couldn’t tell if anyone else was in the van. It felt a little vulnerable, and at first we thought we had been watching too much Netflix, but we decided not to launch because if someone was planning to break into a car, it’d be the perfect time.
We went to the Broad St. launch, parked and went down to check out the river. It looked pretty good. Walked back to the car to unload, and the same van was pulling in. He followed us! So this time we didn’t wait around, just left.
We still wanted to put the canoe in some water and found Goodwin Lake on a map. Couldn’t find it with the Waze app though, so we just gave up. Once we got back to Broad St. again on our way out of town, the same van was pulling into Riverside Estates trailer park next to the river.
Nothing happened, but I called the Haralson County sherrif’s office because it was just too weird. (“If you see something, say something” they always say.) The deputy told me we did the right thing and they had had “a lot of trouble around there.”
It was a shame though because the river looked beautiful and it was my third attempt. Next time , we may use Lazy River Outfitters, and get a shuttle.
We decided it was a little odd because he didn’t have a boat and didn’t get out of the van, but waited 10 or so minutes. Couldn’t tell if anyone else was in the van. It felt a little vulnerable, and at first we thought we had been watching too much Netflix, but we decided not to launch because if someone was planning to break into a car, it’d be the perfect time.
We went to the Broad St. launch, parked and went down to check out the river. It looked pretty good. Walked back to the car to unload, and the same van was pulling in. He followed us! So this time we didn’t wait around, just left.
We still wanted to put the canoe in some water and found Goodwin Lake on a map. Couldn’t find it with the Waze app though, so we just gave up. Once we got back to Broad St. again on our way out of town, the same van was pulling into Riverside Estates trailer park next to the river.
Nothing happened, but I called the Haralson County sherrif’s office because it was just too weird. (“If you see something, say something” they always say.) The deputy told me we did the right thing and they had had “a lot of trouble around there.”
It was a shame though because the river looked beautiful and it was my third attempt. Next time , we may use Lazy River Outfitters, and get a shuttle.