on plastic boats...
I went kayaking for the first time today! A northbay hiking group that I found online was sponsoring a trip to go kayaking at the mouth of the Russian River today, and having the day off I decided to finally join them for a trip.
When I was younger, I had been on a few canoeing trips, and even a few white water rafting trips in Colorado with the family. But a kayak was something new to me; I am proud to say this is no longer the case! The day was perfect - sunny and the perfect temperature. We started out by leaving the boat ramp and paddling down to the sandbar that separated the river from the ocean. There we found quite a few adventurous sea lions (seals? I need to figure out which). They swam around our kayaks and bobbed their heads out of the water 15-20 feet away, trying to figure out what those loud people were doing in their territory. In the meantime, one of our number decided to brave the small channel from river to ocean, where he promptly ran into large ocean wave and was saved by the beach patrol. Apparently the repeated warnings of "don't go in the ocean" weren't enough for him ;)
After that, we explored around the mouth of river a bit and stopped on an island to have some lunch and socialize. The trip was over shortly after that. It didn't last too long, but it was long enough for me to get my first taste. I am certainly going back :)
On the long drive home, I was struck by a sudden bout of depression. It hit hard and fast; thankfully, it was also over quickly. I don't know what triggered it, or why it decided to come as I was driving on a beautiful Sunday, but sometimes these things just hit us. A quick trip to Borders remedied that with a vengeance!
While there, I sat down and read the book written by Randy Pausch based on his last lecture . I encourage everyone to both watch the video and read the book - the lecture and lessons surely evoked my day's quota of laughter and tears, and his words about how to achieve your dreams and live your life are one part of what is inspiring me to make my life changes.
Hmm, that's it for now. More soon.
When I was younger, I had been on a few canoeing trips, and even a few white water rafting trips in Colorado with the family. But a kayak was something new to me; I am proud to say this is no longer the case! The day was perfect - sunny and the perfect temperature. We started out by leaving the boat ramp and paddling down to the sandbar that separated the river from the ocean. There we found quite a few adventurous sea lions (seals? I need to figure out which). They swam around our kayaks and bobbed their heads out of the water 15-20 feet away, trying to figure out what those loud people were doing in their territory. In the meantime, one of our number decided to brave the small channel from river to ocean, where he promptly ran into large ocean wave and was saved by the beach patrol. Apparently the repeated warnings of "don't go in the ocean" weren't enough for him ;)
After that, we explored around the mouth of river a bit and stopped on an island to have some lunch and socialize. The trip was over shortly after that. It didn't last too long, but it was long enough for me to get my first taste. I am certainly going back :)
On the long drive home, I was struck by a sudden bout of depression. It hit hard and fast; thankfully, it was also over quickly. I don't know what triggered it, or why it decided to come as I was driving on a beautiful Sunday, but sometimes these things just hit us. A quick trip to Borders remedied that with a vengeance!
While there, I sat down and read the book written by Randy Pausch based on his last lecture . I encourage everyone to both watch the video and read the book - the lecture and lessons surely evoked my day's quota of laughter and tears, and his words about how to achieve your dreams and live your life are one part of what is inspiring me to make my life changes.
Hmm, that's it for now. More soon.