Kyakalacking

I am generally a pretty active person. I have never been one to turn down doing something outside. When we were little, our neighbor always had us go with them on adventures. One day it was mountain biking, one day sailing, and the next day we were throwing on our roller blades (does anyone roller blade anymore? that was my shit) and we would ride up to the school a couple blocks up and play street hockey. I played softball for years and years and years, and absolutely loved it until I got into my "I want to do the exact opposite of what my parents want" phase and decided to quit. That was one of those situations where they told me I would regret it later down the road and they were totally right. Not like I would have been a professional softball player or anything, but I enjoyed doing it. I played soccer at one point, until I fell in the mud and was TOTALLY embarrassed and it deterred me from playing soccer ever again. Give me a break, i was like 6 years old, and a pansy - obviously. The point I am trying to make is that I am not athletically challenged. I am, and always have been, a pretty athletic individual, and I catch on to new activities pretty quickly. Lauren on the other hand I can't say the same for. BUT she has most definitely improved with age. Me on the other hand, I need to get back into my groove. This winter, was a long winter. Yes, that is my excuse.

Clay, Eric and I went kayaking this weekend. Yes, with the kayaks that were supposed to be a birthday surprise. (Although they didn't end up being a birthday surprise, they are still AWESOME.)

Papa Smurf and Green Bean.

Boo and Bear with Papa Smurf and Green Bean.

We had an absolute blast! The weather was perfect, one of the nicest days we have had since "spring" started. I say spring very loosely since last night, APRIL 15TH, we got snow. Lauren and I went to Yoga last night, and on the way home it started snowing. SNOW. WHAT. THE. FUCK. I was driving in my rinky-dink matchbox car, one headlight out, the other one not shining ANY light because it is all foggy, windshield wipers that SUCK and need to be replaced, couldn't find my glasses, and my damn windows kept fogging up so I had to keep the cold air on! Needless to say, THAT ride home sucked.

Back to the topic on hand:                      
I have only been kayaking once or twice before. I forgot how much of a work out it was! Holy Moly! Clay is a SUPER fast kayaker. Hes like a freak of nature. He glides through the water like its nothing. I am pretty sure this was Eric's first time kayaking, but he was fast too! If you are catching my vibe here, I obviously was not as fast as them. Not even close. I was practically playing catch up the whole time. But never actually catching up.
When we first started I was getting the feel of the Kayaks and following Clay's directions as I have never been on this reservoir before. He tells us we are going towards the pine trees. So I get going, trying to get a lead. I am rowing my tiny little arms off as fast as I could, when I realize, I AM AHEAD OF EVERYONE! My mini victory got shot down faster than Clay can kayak when i realized the reason he was so far back was because he was messing with his Go Pro getting it set up. Once he was done, he caught up prettty quick, and once again, I was in third place.

We turned around and started going in the other direction. I was able to keep up pretty well. I may have been in third place the whole time, but it was a steady pace. We kept our distance. I wasn't gaining on them, but I wasn't loosing them either. We stopped, tied our boats together, and it was time for selfies! I love me some selfies.

(All these photos come from my instagram which you can find here.)

We had been on the reservoir all day, kayaking from one end to the other, napping, catching some rays that were reflecting off Eric's skin, snacking, and selfie-ing.  It was about that time to head back to the car before Eric burnt to a crisp (little did we know, it was too late, He was already a tomato.)  We started heading back and this time, I just couldn't keep up. My poor little bear arms were tired, I had blisters forming/already ripped open from my grip-less paddle, which i blame for me being such a slow poke. Not just because it was gripless, but my paddle distinctly is labeled "drifter." Now, i don't know about you, but to me the word drifter does not sound like something that would go fast. 

So at this point, Clay and Eric are so far ahead of me I was nervous I was going to be forgotten and left out on the reservoir lost and tired. Clay looks back at me and waves, "HEY BEAR! WHAT ARE YOU DOIN BACK THERE?!" (Shouty capitals because he was so far he was shouting.) 

My reponse: Silence. Half because I was tired, hungry, cranky from too much sun with no food. Half because - what do you think I'm doing? I'm just hangin' back here for shits and giggles, Makin' sure everything is good back here in the rear! Keeping an eye out for Big Foot and the Loch Ness Moster!

I mean, I would watch clay take a break, and then keep going, and then taking another break, and continuing on. Me on the other hand, every time he took a break, I took it as my chance to catch up! So I would paddle as fast as my tired baby arms could go, and before I knew it, he started again and I had lost all the distance I had gained. No breaks for bear! At one point he finally stopped and waited for me to catch up. It was sweet, but then he squashed the sweetness by basically taunting me, sitting there and  kayaking in circles while my slow poke finally got to him. He did not taunt me on purpose, but in my cranky mind, it was totally on purpose. He then stuck with me the whole way back.

We get to where we pull the kayaks in to put them on the car, and there are trees that are hanging over the water. Just branches and stuff. So we are going through those, and I was dodging the trees like a champ. My strong suit of kayaking. Until i lift my paddle to take another stoke and BAM, branches to the head. I had lifted my paddle too high and hit a branch, causing a large chunk to knock me in the head, and then there were little branches scattered through my kayak. HAHA, only bear.  

All in all, I had such a great time and can't wait to go again. Even if I am the slow poke in the back of the pack, I'll take it over sitting in the house on a beautiful day. I can't thank Clay enough for taking me out and letting me use good ol' green bean. In that time out on the reservoir, Green bean and I gained a special bond that can't be broken.

OH - and then Sunday was mine and Clay's 6 month.

I love this man.