Teddy Bear Picnic

so, yesterday was pretty busy. two of our kids had a doctor's appointment, our youngest had her teddy bear picnic (kindergarten orientation), and since both my wife and i were taking the day off of work so that we could make it to the picnic we decided to go to Waldameer in the afternoon. since i wasn't going in to work and the i ddin't need to do the kid's stuff until 10am i decided that it would be a prefect morning to go kayaking.

in honor of our daughter going to kindergarten and our last teddy bear picnic i decided to do a teddy bear design. the day before yesterday i figured out a great bear design. the sketches look pretty cute, but the finished project looks more like a grumpy old bear that has seen better days. i don't know what my problem was yesterday. maybe it was because i haven't been kayaking enough lately or maybe i was just having an off day. whatever the reason, i had a very hard time keeping myself on course. that and the fact that i had to work around three fishing boats that all happened to be in key location made the cute little teddy bear very grumpy.

it started out well enough, but after making the first fishing boat adjustment i realized that i was quickly running out of room. i ended up squeezing the right side of the head to get it to fit in the lake. after that, it all went downhill.

looking at it now, it actually turned out better than i expected when i was making it. it is no where near as cute as i intended it to be when i designed it, but it is a lot better than i thought it would end up when i was struggling to make it. i think this may be one that i need to try again someday.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

p.s.  oh right... a busy day. i didn't post this yesterday because after kayaing at 6am, a doctor's appointment, the teddy bear picnic, an unscheduled trip to Claytopia, and an afternoon at Waldameer i was dead tired and had a screaming headache. it's not just because i'm lazy. although that is usually the case.

Happy Birthday

Sunday was my birthday. i turned the ripe ol' age of 33. it was a good birthday. busy, but good. for my birthday, my lovely wife got me an iPod. i've never had an iPod before. i usually just listen to music on the computer, on cds in the car or i just listen to the radio. but, so far, i am really enjoying having an iPod. i tell you this because the iPod is also the reason that i have not kayaked for the last two days. both monday and tuesday mornings ideal mornings to kayak. the weather was nice and we had someone to watch the kids. the problem is that i have a lot of music on my computer and i have been trying to organize it in my iTunes library. for the last three nights i have stayed up late trying to get the correct songs onto the correct albums with the correct covers etc., etc., etc. most of the albums that i have were compiled from various sources and not all of them have the same information. needless to say, it is taking a while to sort everything out. and since i have been staying up late, i have not wanted to get up early to go kayaking.

so, last night i didn't stay up quite as late and got up extra, extra early because i had to figure out how to load the kayak onto a different vehicle. my father-in-law is currently working on my car. and until he is finished i am borrowing his van. it didn't turn out to be a very big deal. i was able to load it without any trouble and in about the same amount of time as normal. but since it took me about a half an hour to load it on my car the first time, i thought it would be nice to give myself a little extra time just in case it ended up taking that long to load it on the van for the first time.

now fun stuff... since sunday was my 33rd birthday i decided to just make a giant "33." this was the first time that a design turned out to be easier than i expected. everything just seemed to fall into place without any trouble. i kept thinking that the hard part was coming up, but it never did. and, in the end, i think that it turned out pretty well. the only problem that i had was at the beginning. when i started out into the water i noticed that my gps was tracking my movements in the correct direction, but not in the correct location. it had me positioned in the middle of Lakeside Drive. now, i'm good, but i can't paddle on dry land. i've tried. its a great workout, but not very fun. all it took was a quick reset to get the gps, and me, back on track. the whole design only took about 30 minutes to complete so, after i finished, i paddled down to the 6N bridge to use up the rest of my time. all-in-all, it was a really good day. now if i can only get my iTunes library straightened out...

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Up a Creek

this morning, with a fresh battery, the car started beautifully and i headed out to the lake right on schedule. for the entire ride i tried to decide which design to do. but, after i got out on the water i decided that i just wanted to paddle around. the water seemed clean and clear i wanted to see if some of the tributaries on the northern end were clear enough to traverse.

I had gone up one of the streams before on one of my first kayaking trips to the lake but, i didn't end up going very far. the water looked really nasty, and it also looked like it was a dead end. but after looking at some google maps i was surprised by how many different nooks, crannies and streams there were once you got past the park on peninsula drive. ever since then i have wanted to get back in there and see how far you could actually go up some of those streams. but by that time the water had begun to fill with algae and weeds. i tried going a few times, but never even made it to the park. i was probably just being a wimp, but i really didn't want to get into all that nasty water.

in the last few weeks the water seems to have gotten better. maybe its all the rain we have been getting, maybe it is something else. whatever the reason, the water this morning was probably as good as i can expect it to get, so i gave it a try... and it was great.

as i passed the dock at the park something ahead of me in the middle of my path caught my eye. at first i thought it was just part of a log sticking out of the water. but, after doing a double-take, i realized that it was moving... and it had eyes. so naturally i freaked out a little bit. it saw me at about the same time i saw it and it dove below the surface. my first guess as to what it was, was a beaver. i grew up around beaver ponds and the brief glimpse i got of this fella looked a lot like a beaver. i didn't think there were any beavers in the area, but i decided it was possible that there was a dam around that i just wasn't aware of. i wish i could have taken a picture. anyway, after my heart stopped racing i continued up the stream. i made it almost 7/8 of a mile before i came to a log blocking the way. i probably could have squeezed around the left hand side but, it was time to turn around anyway. it had taken me about 30 minutes to get there and i only had about 30 minutes to get back and load up or else i would be late for work.

the trip back was pretty uneventful. very pretty, but uneventful. as i neared the dock at the park i went on "beaver patrol." but i didn't see it again. and on the long trip back across the lake to the car i decided that maybe what i had seen was a muskrat. i wasn't exactly sure what one looked like, but it made more sense than a beaver. and ,after googleing muskrat after i got to work, i'm pretty sure that that is what i saw. although, saying that i saw a muskrat doesn't have the same ring to it as saying that i saw some beaver out on the lake this morning.

i can't wait to go back there again. maybe next time i'll start from the dock at the park. that way i can have a lot more time to explore and i don't have to worry about the 30 minute round trip across the lake. what a great day to kayak.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Two Mile Run

last night the kids stayed with my in-laws. so, tonight after work we went to pick them up. my father-in-law helps out with the local boy scout troop and tonight they were canoeing at Two Mile Run. we met them there and went out canoeing with the kids. we didn't take a long trip, but it was still a lot of fun. it was nice to go out somewhere other than edinboro lake. but, i will say this—canoeing is a lot harder than kayaking. the boat is bigger, heavier, less stream-lined, and there are a lot more wasted movements in between strokes. it was fun, but it felt like a lot more work.

we also got a new battery for the car and we got home in time for me to install it before it got too dark. so, tomorrow morning i'll be good to go. plus, our neighbors are watching the kids tomorrow. so, if i can stop watching Family Guy and go to bed at a decent time i'll be able to get up early and go kayaking in the morning. sweet.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Dead Battery

so, this morning i got up early, got everything ready to go kayaking, went out to the car, turned the key and... nothing. i had a dead battery. i was able to jump start it with my wife's van, but decided to skip kayaking this morning. i didn't want to get to the lake, have a nice relaxing trip, and then get back to shore to find that the battery didn't hold a charge and was dead again. the lake is pretty quite at 8am and i thought that it may be hard to get a jump.

turns out that was a good plan. when i got to work this morning i pulled into a spot and shut off the engine. i then immediately tried to start the car... nothing. the battery hadn't held a charge and was dead. but at least here at work i'm sure that i can get a jump start to get home. it probably would have been harder this morning at the lake.

the plan is to get a new battery tonight. but, i'm not sure if i'll make it out tomorrow morning to kayak. i may have to bring the kids to work. and if that's the case i can't leave early to kayak. friday is questionable too. this may end up being a dry week. bummer... stupid battery.

Bright Idea

yesterday i took some time to sit down and actually come up with some design ideas. after the horrible outcome of my last unplanned design i decided that i really needed have a game plan before i hit the water. so after scribbling down half a dozen different possible designs i picked the best one and planned to do it this morning. there really isn't a whole lot to say about it other than that. it was a beautiful, clear, quiet morning on the lake. the design idea worked well with only a few minor glitches and i ended up having a wonderful time. it was a great day to go kayaking.

probably the best part about planning the designs yesterday (aside from not ending up with a crappy looking design this morning) is that i now have four or five more possible designs to work with. some are better than others and some still need to be refined. but the next time i'm heading to the lake with no clear plan i can pull out one of these babies instead of trying to come up with something from scratch.

and maybe next time i'll be green and do a cf light bulb.

Today's Trip Stats and Map

Karma

i really didn't feel like kayaking this morning. i didn't sleep well last night and i was really tired. plus i had to get up extra early this morning to get a shower because i didn't get one last night. i seriously considered just staying in bed, but i decided that, since it had been 5 days since i last went out, i really should go. by the time i got in the car and left the house i was feeling a lot better about going kayaking and decided that i should probably do a design ,since it had been 5 days since the last one. i really just wanted to go casual, but decided that i really should try and come up with some kind of design.

before i go any further let me just say that, so far, in my experience when a design starts out like this—planned in the car on the way to the lake—it usually ends poorly. that and the fact that my head really wasn't in the game this morning are the reasons for the crap that follows.

all i can say is that a quarter of the was through this design i almost turned off the gps and quit. i could tell by then that it wasn't going well. i did end up finishing it, but only half-heartedly (its the suits in a deck of cards if you can't tell because its so bad). in hindsight i should have just kayaked for the sake of kayaking. gone out on the lake, paddled around, and relaxed. as it was, i ended up feeling more stressed out and worse that when i started. it sucked. i like kayaking because it is a way to get away from everything, relax, and clear my head. that is the opposite of what happened today.

lesson learned: don't force it. just let it all come naturally... oh yeah, and plan ahead (i thought i already learned that one).

next time will be better... it can't possibly be worse... right?

Today's Trip Stats and Map