A Kayaking We Will Go

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.

Saturday was the day.  The sunshine was out and it was gorgeous here.  Our trusty little weatherman is predicting at least another ten days of this.  There was no climbing the walls this day.  Terry was busy playing “security” in the morning and now is equipped with all the little sheriff things he needs to write tickets and harass the weekend neighbors.  The kids were mostly busy doing their things.  Sabrina and Jordan have a one weekend a month job filling gumball machines at numerous locations in Washington.  Well, normally Lee goes with them when he doesn’t have to work and when he doesn’t have an opportunity to fish.  This time he didn’t go.  He went fishing instead and had a very productive day pulling in kokanee.  Do you think he’ll offer to share?  He certainly will.

Tammi and Robert had a tree taken out on their new recreational "cabin” lot and Michael was in charge of removing the debris and tending the dogs.  The rest of us went Kayaking!!!  We had looked forward to this for several days.

After listening to instructions we were finally allowed to get in the kayaks.  We started in dry dock.

 

We had signed up for a kayaking orientation.  It started learning all about the kayak itself.  As you can tell from the pictures, it was very basic.  Thank goodness.   Of course, we had to talk about the “what ifs”.  The “what ifs” were about what to do if we rolled the kayak.  

We were real newbies.  Oh, we had been in kayaks before.  Once when we were in Kauai and once in the Caribbean.  However, in the Caribbean all we could do was roll it over.  It wasn’t fun but then at least the water was warm.  This time the water would be very, very cold if we rolled it so we listened very carefully to our guide.

Tammi and Robert were experienced in a canoe because they used to spend a lot of weekends on Lake Grapevine and areas around when we lived in Texas.  However, they discovered that a kayak is very different.

Finally, we were ready to put those kayaks in the water.  This was the real test would we like it?  What do you think?  Do the pictures speak for themselves?

Obviously, it was an amazing day.  We loved it and were surprised at how easy it was.  Of course, we weren’t racing down any waterways either.  I think what I liked best was the relaxation.  It would be fun now to try it again but go along the shoreline watching for the wildlife.

We’re really glad we did the orientation first without just renting a kayak.  We learned a lot.  Our guide and his wife were fantastic people.  He had retired after 40 years as a park ranger.  They guide hikes and kayak tours in the area.

 Remember I had said that the water was very cold. Well, after our tour had ended, Sandi wanted to try to roll her kayak over and see if she could get back in it.  She managed that task and then she went swimming …… brrrrr.  There’s always one in every crowd. 

Now we have a dilemma.  There is the cost, of course.  It’s not just the kayak.  Some are fairly cheap and some …. well, the sky is probably the limit.   It’s also everything that goes with it too.  If we were to get a kayak (or two), how would we carry it on a soft top Jeep without spending more for the top than for the kayaks?  How would that change our winter plans?  We have lots of things to think about.  We do know we had an amazing time and we certainly will be doing this again. 

As we were getting ready to leave, we saw an interesting kayak.  He was fishing with a hands-free method of rowing.  He used his feet to move around the water.  No using oars for him.  I thought that was pretty cool. 

Here he is showing us what he pedals with.







Sunday …. Tammi is going to try her little kayak in the lake and I’m going to try pork ribs in the smoker.  Another great day hanging around the Pacific Northwest. 

(P.S. – notice how the attitude changes when the rain goes away!)

‘Tis life on the road.