Paddlin'

So, I told you a few days ago about the new toys that hubby and I got, and how excited we were to get out and give them a try.  We took them over to a park on Lake Lanier (10-12 miles from here) on Wednesday afternoon.  Put them together.  Pumped them up.  And paddled.  Despite thunder in the distance and dark clouds all around, we gave them a good test ride.

The first time blowing them up wasn't too bad - once we had found where all 5 of the valves were!  The foot pumps are really great, and it didn't take very long.  There is even a little gauge that you put up to a matching gauge on the side of the kayak and check to make sure they have enough air in them.

We paddled around a bit, trying to get the feel of them and get used to the two ended paddle.  Each of us had a problem, though.  Hubby's kayak insisted in going around in clockwise circles, and mine insisted in going around in counter-clockwise circles.  We couldn't figure it out!

When we were about ready to close up shop and head home (thunder getting nearer) I had pulled my kayak up on the bank, with it leaning down toward the water and I had a huge, brilliant flash of inspiration!

Or you might prefer to call it a DUH! moment!  As I looked back toward my kayak, leaning on the bank, I could see the two 'skegs' (fin type thingies) on bottom, and they were on the end I had been using as the front end of the kayak!

I had been paddling my kayak in the wrong direction.  The.Whole.Time!  Darn!  Funniest thing was - so had hubby!

So, thunder or no, I was going to get back out there and try my kayak again, going in the right direction this time.  I explained to hubby, and he was right behind me.  Wow, what a difference it made!  As I told hubby "if we had brains we'd be dangerous"!  And we paddled around for a few minutes, then got out, deflated the kayaks and headed for home - the thunder was getting closer, and we know what happens to people who stand under trees beside a large body of water when there's a storm coming through!

Fast forward to Saturday.  Hubby worked a few hours, then came home (about 9:30) and I had most everything ready to roll.  We headed north to Nantahala Lake, a beautiful mountain lake (Duke Power Co.) northwest of Franklin, NC.  We had wanted to take our canoe up there for a long time, but strapping the canoe on top of the car was so much trouble!  So now we have the kayaks - easy peasy - and we were off!

We were watching storm clouds overhead, but there was zero thunder, so we decided to head on out.  We got them inflated in no time (10-12 minutes), slathered on the sun screen, and went down to the ramp.

It was SO MUCH FUN!!!  I felt much more comfortable this time, and totally enjoyed seeing the lake from on the water instead of the bank.  It is a very clear mountain lake, most of the shoreline is what I call 'table' rock, or large sheets of rock that go down into the water.  Mossy banks and mountain laurel bushes and evergreens went up the mountainsides from the water.  It is absolutely beautiful! 

Oh, and I even saw a tiny bit of this . . .

Color!  Red leaves.  Not a lot, but there were a few, promising the fall season's approach. 

That's hubby, paddling along.  He's getting much more confident, which is a great thing.  When he really paddles hard, he goes off and leaves me in his dust er, wake.  There were lots of people bringing in their boats for the winter.  Like many places, they let this lake's levels go lower in winter, and that leaves the docks of the homeowners around the lake on dry land.  One guy came up on a jet ski and started asking us questions about the kayaks.  He was very nice, and we enjoyed chatting with him while he waited for whoever was coming to get there with the trailer for the jet ski.

We had such a great time - did I say that already???  Sorry, but we did!  We have talked a lot this weekend, and can see ourselves getting out a lot more and doing what we love.  We didn't need to spend the money, but if you don't put yourself out there some times and do new and different things, you'll end up in a bigger rut than ever.

If you look at the picture above, there was a heavy rain cloud hanging over the lake.  We were across the cove from the boat dock where we had put in, and we headed back across to get in the car, but the rain got to us about half way across, so we started paddling harder and it started raining harder.  We laughed all the way across!  It was a lot of fun, even though we got pretty wet.  We looked around and the lake was pretty much socked in with clouds and rain, so we packed up and headed south.

We took some new roads and found some cool new places to visit.  I've lived in Georgia all my life, and we've ridden the roads a lot, and it is always fun to find a new route that shows us things we've never seen before.  Well, I need to go start dinner.  What was your last adventure, or when is your next one planned?  If you don't do it, no one else can do it for you!  Get out and do something fun this week!  Blessings, Becky


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A Wonderful Day!

This past weekend, the weather in our area was just incredible! Lows in the high 5o's to low 60's, and highs in the low 80's, low humidity, blue skies, - just perfect! Normal July temps are in the 70's for lows and upper 90's for highs, with 85 - 95% humidity - killer! So, if the weather is perfect, what do you do? You go to the lake of course! Especially if you live just a hop and a jump from one of the most beautiful, large lakes in the area - Lake Sidney Lanier - named after the former poet laureate of Georgia, Sidney Lanier.

On Saturday night we went out to one of our favorite 'special occasion' restaurants, Provinos, to celebrate our upcoming 24th anniversary, which was Monday the 20th. Afterwards we went riding around to find a place to spend the day on Sunday. We went to several places we'd been before and on the way home saw a sign we've seen many times, but never followed. This time we were so glad we did, because we found a great picnic area - Charleston Park.

Charleston Park is a day use area with a boat ramp, parking for vehicles and boat trailers, and a small picnic area where the picnic tables are spaced nicely apart so you aren't elbow to elbow with other picnickers. It's so beautiful! It's level, only a slight slope down to the lake, lots of tall, tall pine trees for shade, and grassy places just perfect for a blanket and a good book. Here's a look at part of the picnic area >>>


I took this picture fairly early, before anyone else got there. We got there around 10:30, but it was very un-crowded until around 1:30 - 2:00 when more groups showed up.

Here's the little cove - across on the other side is the boat ramp, just far enough away you don't get too much noise or traffic from it.



Here's our picnic table. We chose the shadiest one that was turned at right angles to the lake. That way when we were eating or playing games we could both see the lake. Each table is on it's own concrete pad, and there's a charcoal grill for each table as well.




In case you are wondering why there are two tablecloths, I put a cloth one on bottom, covered with a vinyl one. When we were on vacation a few weeks ago, I discovered that with the extra padding underneath, the dominoes move better on the top, vinyl surface. Thank goodness this table had wooden benches, though - those concrete benches in Hiawassee scraped up my legs good fashioned, that is before I finally put a towel over it to protect my legs! And yes, we played dominoes and chess at the lake. I also read and did a little embroidery. I get bored just sitting there, so I have to have things to keep me interested! :o}

This was our view from our picnic table. As you can see, the lake is still down a bit - about 5 feet below full summer pool. But that's great compared to the last couple of summers during the drought. It has been down over 17 feet, and the boat ramp was even closed because the water didn't reach the end of it!



And this, well, this is my little boy with his new toy! I didn't know until he had actually bought this one that he'd never had, nor paddled around in an inflatable raft. He decided to buy one when we were in Hiawassee and he saw a couple of boys having a great time in the lake there. He wanted to go the next weekend after we got home, but I was coming down with the sinus infection and wasn't going anywhere. Finally we went this weekend, and I still have a bit of a cough, so I wouldn't get in the water with him, but at least he got to paddle around by himself. And he missed me! He said it would have been more fun with two people, so I've promised if the cough is gone this weekend, I'll paddle around with him - should be interesting!


We were at the lake from about 10:30 am until almost 7 pm, and had a wonderful time - in fact, weather permitting, we'll go again this weekend. I think I'll take either burgers or hot dogs this time - those folks who were grilling made me hungry!

Blessings friends! Becky