We had a wonderful trip on the Silver River.  Unfortunately we didn't see any monkeys, but did see one gator.  That is very unusual for this river, there are usually lots of monkeys and gators.  However, we were fortunate to see lots of different birds.  It was Chris' first paddle and she did an excellent job and stayed right with the group.  We got on the river about 10:45 and off at 5:00.  The weather was beautiful and everyone had a good time.  After that long hard paddle, some of us stopped at Sonny's Barbeque in Palatka on the way home for dinner.