Our Legendary 2025 Float Trip

The Day the Weather Listened to Us: Rain, Sunshine, and BBQ Bliss.

Ask anyone at McClure Engineering about their favorite company perk, and you’ll probably hear the same thing: our annual Float Trip! Who could resist a paid day off spent floating down the Meramec River, plunging into icy springs, cliff jumping (because, let’s be honest, peer pressure), and feasting on a glorious BBQ banquet? Sign us up every time!

This year’s adventure, however, started with a soggy twist. Thursday night campers were greeted by sheets of rain, which stubbornly stuck around into Friday morning. Spirits were a bit damp (pun intended), but as our day trippers rolled in, something magical happened and the clouds parted, the sun broke through, and just in time, we were off down the river.

From that moment on, it was pure bliss. The weather stayed perfect as we floated, swam, napped, and took the occasional daredevil leap into the water. Around midday, we beached our canoes on a sandy bar for a picnic lunch so good it could have made a food critic weep with joy.

By three o’clock, we reached the end of our watery journey and returned to camp, where our non-floating heroes had spent the day cooking up an epic BBQ. Bratwursts, hotdogs, burgers, chicken wings, potato salad, grilled mushrooms, desserts galore—if you could crave it, it was there, waiting.

And just as everyone began to pack up and say their goodbyes, the sky opened up in another torrential downpour. It turns out, the weather was on our side all along—holding out just long enough for us to enjoy our favorite day of the year.

Here’s to many more float trips, rain or shine!