Monday, August 3, 2015

Kayaker Parking Only

The weekend before last, Tom and I decided to spend some time with Tom's step-family. We drove for about 3.5 hours to meet up with his step-sister and step-mom to camp for the night near a river. We paid for a site at a nearby campground with a bathroom – that's the only thing I can't seem to give up, LOL. While they started cooking hamburgers, sausages, and vegetables over the campfire, we walked along the river's edge and then came back. Dinner turned out great and we ended up eating way too much. Tom started to get tired, so we headed off to our campsite to pitch our tent and set up the cots. That night wasn't too bad, but neither of us liked sleeping on separate cots so next time we will have to find our air bed.
We woke up before my alarm and started packing up so we could meet the others for breakfast at their site. Then, we met up with Tom's step-brothers to rent kayaks and set out on the river. I had only ever been white water rafting before, so I was nervous at first because I know I wouldn't want to take a kayak into white water rapids but Tom told me we would be fine. He even let me rent a tandem kayak so I wouldn't be afraid. He was definitely right – we had a calm float down the river. We stopped a few times to get out and swim. We even tipped over once and almost got knocked out by a tree that had recently fallen...or rather I would have been knocked out and he probably would have been fine. :-P My poor guy did end up losing his hat and his sun glasses when we fell out, though. The kayaking company picked us up at some point down river and took us back to our cars where we all said farewell and headed back home.
This small outdoor adventure went really well. I made sure to use a lot of sunscreen and bug spray so I didn't get burned or eaten alive. The only downside was that we saw a ton of spiders, but luckily they left us alone.
Kayaking was a lot of fun, but it actually made me miss white water rafting. I think next time Tom's step-sister and I will plan that kind of trip for next time!
OH, I almost forgot! When we parked to rent the kayaks, we saw a sign that looked a lot like this.
  
LOL, and you all thought it was a completely kink-free weekend. :-)