Trade in a river for a lake, a cold day for warm sunshine, an inflatable monstrosity for sleek, hard plastic and crap oars for cool black ones.... and magic happens. It turns out that I DO like kayaking. Add in a dose of good friends and the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine and you have the ingredients for a perfect day.
It really was a perfect day. I LOVE KAYAKING!
Here is my dose of good friends...such a willing and adventurous bunch!
The fun started before we even got in our kayaks.
Once we finally got in the lake, we found that the kayaks took a little getting used to. The water was quite cold and we really hoped we wouldn't end up in it. Craig was a bit nervous at first - well, quite scared actually, of tipping over and falling into the cold lake.
Here is Pat in an inflatable monstrosity. He wanted a more stable kayak to ensure that there would be no tipping himself over into the really cold lake.
Laura went with the sleek, hard plastic. Unlike the rest of us, she was not scared of falling in. As a matter of fact, after about an hour of kayaking, we stopped at a little beach to eat and hang out and she went swimming. Intentionally! Crazy.
David and Iren got a double inflatable monstrosity. The inflatable kayaks are very slow and very hard to maneuver. It was even harder in a double, but they did great!
We kayaked for quite a while. I have no idea how to measure water distance or kayak time, so I have no idea how far we went, but I can assure you it was not 9 and a half miles like I did two weeks ago. Perhaps this was also a part of why today was so much more fun than last time!
On our way back, we stopped to do a little hiking. David, Iren, Laura and I climbed to the top of this hill. Wow, what a view! I love Arizona so much! This was an extra dose of the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine.
Be careful where you step or you might step on this.
I was about an inch from squishing this poor guy. For a moment, I thought he was dead, but then he slithered off the trail.
A pretty successful trip so far... no one got bit by a snake and no one fell in the lake!
As we neared the dock and waited for our slow-poke friends in the inflatable monstrosities to catch up, Laura and I tested Craig's strength. We both grabbed on to the back of his kayak and made him tow us. He actually got up some speed and we went a fairly good distance. It took all of his effort. When we finally gave in and let go, an exhausted Craig leaned back in his kayak to rest. Not such a good idea! Kayak tipped! Ha! Craig fell in! Hilarious!!
And then the fun was over much too soon. This was one of the best days ever! I love my friends, I love Arizona, I love weekends, I love that I have the ability to go adventure-seeking and what do you know? I love kayaking.
We went out to eat on the way home where Laura memorialized our wonderful day.
And for those of you who stop by my blog just to see what the pups are up to...they had some fun today, too. We went for a long hike this morning and though there was no bunny chasing, there was some lizard chasing. They are happily curled up in various spots around my feet right now.
2 comments:
Absolutely beautiful! Which lake were you at? R
Absolutely adventurous! you guys were soo coool, I love kayaking too. A perfect summer activities. Nice that you wore perfect safety vests.
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