Every year The Big E rolls around for people in the Northeast. I used to attend religiously for years then for a few years I was very sporadic with my attendance. I'm happy to say I'm back! I know a lot of people think it's just the same old thing every year but that's not necessarily true. It's actually so big that it's nearly impossible to see everything on one trip. So if you put your mind to it you can see different things every time you're there. This year will go down as my most memorable trip ever. I saw a calf being born this year and that's something I've never seen before. It was a moving and amazing experience!
When we got there the most pressing thing on the kids minds was to get a baked potato. I'm not that impressed with food in general (you can get a baked potato anywhere can't you?) but I followed along in their quest for the Maine building, apparently known for their awesome potatoes. While they stood in a line that looked like it would never end, I took a quick tour of the building to see what they had to offer. By the time I came out they had potatoes in hand and were heading for a bench outside. While they were busy inhaling their food...I noticed Santa coming towards us in a crowd. I knew it had to be Santa. He fit the description perfectly...big belly; long white hair; jolly attitude....yup, it was him. It's very funny however, that nobody else seemed to notice him just because he wasn't in his uniform. I picked him out in the crowd immediately and took his picture as he walked by. You're not fooling me Santa!
We moved on to more of the state buildings and most of us bought food at each one. Justin was extremely happy to find clam chowder at the Rhode Island building...and he was quick to point out it's not the one with the milk or cream in it and it's not the red one...it's the clear one. Looked like chicken soup with bits of clam in it to me but what do I know?
In the Massachusetts building we discovered lobster rolls. Now THAT'S something I can get a wee bit excited about. It's not something I have very often and although I prefer them warm and they are served cold, I decided to go along with Justin to get one of them. It turns out they were charging $8.00 for each lobster roll. I don't like that price one bit but this is a special day so I said nothing. However, when I gave the man my money I noticed that a new tray was coming out that had twice the filling as the ones that were currently being offered. I looked at the lady who was handing them out and promptly said I want one of those (pointing to the tray of good ones). Well this lady took exception to my request and decided I was going to get what she was handing out. (definitely had a power trip thing going on there) Apparently she didn't realize who she was dealing with. I'm not about to pay $8.00 for something and walk away with an inferior product when the better product is starring me in the face...and certainly not after she decided for me that I was taking the inferior product! So while she sat there holding the puny lobster roll and saying to me they are the same..I delayed putting my change back into my wallet so that the new tray had arrived by the time I had a hand free. I looked at the offending woman and said they are NOT the same. The new ones are twice the size. I will take one of the new ones! Well she was NOT gracious about it at all and her co-workers looked a bit embarrassed. She hurriedly shoved one of the better ones in my hand and then grabbing another one looked at Justin (standing next to me) and said I supposed HE wants one too! I said very matter of fact and with a sickening sweet smile on my face, of course he does! (thinking but not saying..he paid the same amount I did didn't he lady??!!) Having won my prize (and the power play) we moved on to bigger and better things...although I will admit it took me a little while to climb back down off my high horse after that encounter. Her attitude had caught me completely off guard and I still don't know where the hell she had hidden her broom, but she certainly seemed to have just gotten off of it. :)
A little later in the day we came across one of the parades that come through during the day. They were throwing beads and as soon as I realized that I was off like a shot to get a spot in line. I wanted some of those beads! I must have turned into a teenager all of a sudden because I was jumping and waving my arms like a maniac. (you have to draw their attention somehow now don't you??) Two times I caught someones eye and they threw beads at me. The first one landed really close to a child so I let him have them. The second one went over my head a bit and a mother with a stroller made a heroic dive for it..so I let her have it too. Now I was getting really frustrated so I doubled my efforts to attract attention...and it worked. A fine set of gold colored beads were aimed at me and I caught this one. Success at last! I was very pleased..that is until the parade passed us by and I turned to go back to my group. I discovered that KC (standing right next to me the whole time) had managed to get 4 sets of different colored beads! Way to go KC!! She's going to have to show me how she did that next time. :)
We ventured into one of the animal buildings and saw creatures great and small....literally. This is one of the places that I don't often go into to when I visit the Big E. Over the years I've seen my fill of ducks; rabbits; baby chicks; goats and cows but I went along with the crowd anyway. Turns out it was the most exciting part of our day. I saw a life sized sculpture of a cow made entirely in butter (can only hope that that butter doesn't go to waste but it probably will) and some of the cutest animated figures around. They had a stage set up with singing vegetables that were just adorable! And in the dairy barn they had a refrigerator that opens periodically with all the gifts of the cow singing inside too! So cute! The little block of cheese with sunglasses and a microphone was my favorite. And what a clever way to get kids to pay attention to good nutrition.
But the very best part we came across completely by accident. We were leaving the barn, having seen cows being washed (never noticed how dirty regular cows are until I saw them all spruced up!); sheep being shaved down; goats being trimmed and prettied up..when we noticed a crowd down at one end of the barn. We wondered what was going on and decided we'd take a walk down there. As it turned out the crowd was gathered to watch a calf being born! This was a first for me...I was excited. I quickly handed my knapsack off to one of the kids, got my camera ready and started squeezing my way in to get the best view. I started snapping pictures immediately and didn't stop until it was over. It didn't take very long to my surprise...not more than 20 mins to a half hour.
When we arrived the front feet and a nose was showing but shortly most of the face was showing too. The mother cow seemed to be fine, no mooing which surprised me. One of the women who owned the cow said this was her 5th baby so maybe that had something to do with it. The lack of reaction from the calf being born had me worried for awhile. I looked at one of the farmers standing by and asked him if it was alive. He said yes but I don't know how he could tell. There was no movement in the eyes and the tongue was hanging out...really looked dead to me. One guy felt around inside to make sure the shoulder was in the right position for birthing and in a short span of time the two farmers that were in charge looped some light weight twine around each calf foot and pulled him out. One farmer announced it's a boy! The crowd clapped and cheered it's approval. One guy grabbed some hay and started rubbing the calf down while the other guy cleaned out his nose and mouth. Now the baby started to perk up and looked alive for sure. They dragged it over to the mother's head and she sniffed him and then started licking him. It was absolutely amazing to see this wonderful event happen in front of my eyes!
Everyone stayed around for a bit just watching the new baby. The farmers got the mother to stand up almost immediately. I don't know the reason for this but they sure seemed to know what they were doing. One of them also said it would take about a half hour before the baby would try to stand up on his own. Meanwhile he just gets attention from Mom so we decided to move along and let them have some mommy and me time. What a fantastic day it was for me!
There was very little else going on at the Big E that could top that so we started heading for the gate. We'd already been there for hours anyway and every body's feet were beginning to complain a bit. We did stop to buy last minute items like cheeses; candy apples; fried dough, etc. I had my going home goodies already and a camera full of memories so I was more than happy.
And it just goes to show too that you never know when you'll encounter something new and unexpected at the Big E.
Here is a collection of photos taken that day. The calf being born is at the end of the pictures. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the event itself.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Zip Zip Zipping
I'm so proud of myself! I've done something I've had on my 'to do' list for over a year and it was something I was afraid to do. I went on the Zip Line Canopy Tour at Zoar Outdoor in Deerfield, Ma. It was an experience of a lifetime and one I just may go back to do again. I've told you in previous posts that I'm all about doing stuff I've wanted to do for a long time and just haven't gotten to it. Well this one was at the top of my list. It was definitely the right choice too!
This zip tour was my birthday gift to Justin this year too. And we brought KC with us too. You just have to have someone to share this experience with...it's too exciting to do it alone. The tour is all about zipping from tree to tree (11 zip lines in total); 3 repels down from said trees and 2 'Indiana Jones' style rope bridges to cross as well. And they never even mentioned that you start the tour in a jeep; racing up the mountain on deeply rutted, twisting turns; with a maniac at the wheel! It was an open jeep and we were very thankful for the roll bars and seat belts on that ride. He drove like his ass was on fire! Really got the blood pumping that's for sure. We loved it. I did notice however that the other jeeps of people didn't seem to come racing up the mountain as fast as we did. Hmmmm...he really WAS a maniac at the wheel.
But I'm getting ahead of myself a little. The day really started with the suiting up part at the base camp. That was a little more complicated than I had expected. I remember stepping into a harness and pulling it up to geek height on my torso and the guides did the rest. There were cinches; buckles and large hooks all over the thing and of course there were adjustable hard hats and heavy gloves to wear too. We all looked like a bunch of geeky electrical linesmen when they finished with us. It took a little getting used to wearing all that gear and trying to walk in it. By the end of the day it felt like I was taking 30 lbs of gear off but I think it was only about 15lbs actually.
From the base camp they took us straight to a practice area to teach us how to stand on the a wobbly step; hand position; zipping; stop or keep coming when shown the hand signals and even how to 'rescue ourselves' should be stop too far away from the landing. I watched 2 other people do it first then volunteered to be next to try it. We had two guides..Joan, who buckled us up and sent us on our zips and Max who taught us the hand signals and unbuckled us at the landing points. After the practice Joan asked me if I'd ever done it before and I told her no. She said I got it all right the first time so she thought I'd done it before. I said no, I just watched very closely when the other two screwed up and did the opposite of them. :)
After the mini-lesson we were packed into the jeeps and racing up the mountain.
At the first zip site we started to find out that Max was a comedian. He knew we were all scared (they take you in groups of 8 so there were people there we didn't know) and would believe anything he said so he started telling us silly things or scary things and then he'd pause and say 'Naw, just kidding' or 'Nope, that's a lie'. We'd all laugh and then pay attention because it was always followed with information that we needed to know. Clever way to get everyone to pay attention isn't it? We grew to love Max and his sense of humor. He was a tall lanky long lost brother of ZZ Top...the guy had a beard that just dominated his face! He told us he called this year beard 2010. And he may have liked to joke around a lot but he really knew his stuff! We'd all have mini conversations at the landing sites with him and we learned a great deal about him during the day. The one thing he did tell us that I really appreciated hearing was that he had taken a lot more training for this job than is normally required. Joan was no slouch either...she knew her job inside out...she is a physical trainer as well as a guide and Justin told me she lifts weights too. But Max was actually trained for all cases of emergency including unconscious rescue of someone stuck in the middle of the zip. His training included going to get them and bringing them in via the zip line or going out to them and lowering them to safety if they were injured badly. So together they made a great team because he could rescue someone and Joan knew what to do with the injuries. Besides that...they were just fun! And they made the day so much better than if they had just been doing a job. They really gave the impression that they love what they do. I'm very glad we had them as our guides.
The first real zip we did was scary I'll admit. Max always went out first because he was the landing guy. Joan would call us up by name (they had labeled our silly looking helmets; they screwed up KC's spelling so she was dubbed "Special K" for the day!) and she'd hook our trembling bodies up to the zip line. They had head gear so they could speak to each other. Joan didn't send the next person until Max gave her the all clear. Then she'd tell him who was coming next. Only one person zips at a time and Joan mixed it all up all the time so you never knew if you were going first or not. When you reached the landing Max would unhook you from the zip line and hook you to the tree. Then we got to watch the next people come in and take pictures as you wanted.
I learned very quickly that there was really no where I could tuck my camera so it would stay in place. It kept sliding around or shifting to another place and mostly kept dangling down through my gear in my crotch area...so of course I named it my 'crotch camera' for the day. With all the gear that I had on I couldn't get to any of the pockets on my jacket or pants.
The zips became less and less scary as the day went on. The scenery was beautiful...especially from such a height. I'm not sure exactly how high we were. I know we were over 80 feet at one point but I don't think that was our highest point. I made it a point not to look directly down too much. We were zipping down the side of a mountain. Seeing the landscape drop away from you like that is not a favorite thing for me. I'm terrified of heights! I know...this is not something you'd expect a height-fobic to be doing. But actually if you look straight out it doesn't seem like you're that high up somehow. A few times we were in the tops of giant trees and the wind was making it sway. THAT was a creepy feeling for sure. But having all that gear on that was hooked to the tree somehow made it ok.
Part of the course includes going across a couple of rope bridges. Max called them 'Indiana Jones' bridges. The first one wasn't very high so that was ok. The next one was much higher...but we were still hooked to a cable the whole time and that was enough to take the fear out of it for me. Some of the other guests never relaxed on those bridges and would shuffle slowly across them. They bounce and sway when you're on them so it's a little like being on a boat with rough seas.
Then we reached a point where we had to repel down from the tree stand to the ground. They explained how this worked but it was very scary just the same. As it ended up Max was the person in control of your descent the entire time. And he had the choice of letting you drop slow, medium or fast. On one of these repels Justin went first and he requested a medium repel....well he started off medium and then Max dropped him really fast just for the fun of it. Justin and the rest of us laughed. Max did a mini-burst of speed on KC too. She loved it. I was lucky he didn't do that to me. I got the medium repel I asked for...but I was prepared for a fast one. The worst part about a repel is you have to really trust the equipment and your guides. You are not in control of the repel; they are. You have to stand facing the tree, with your feet braced on the outer edge of the platform at shoulder width and slowly lean back into open space! Bending in the middle makes it a little easier (sort of like you are about to sit down in open air) but you have to keep your feet on the platform until your head is below the level of your feet. Most of us were nervous doing it. Joan was completely prepared for our fear. She talked us through it and when possible kept her hand on our back as long as she could. She told us women have a harder time doing it because we don't trust easily ...we're cautious. Men on the other hand will just do it with no thought to getting hurt at all. Funny but true. Justin was the only guy (other than Max) on the tour and he didn't have any trouble doing the repel...even after Max let him drop fast. That's a guy for ya!
One of the zips was a little different also in that you had to get a running start on it and just throw yourself out into open space. It sounds worse than it was really. First you stand on the step to be hooked up then you step onto the ramp and use it like a run way. Max warned us that if we didn't run off the ramp we'd end up scraping our feet or butts on the ground so everyone did as instructed. That was one of my favorite zips. It was a shorter one too and I think we were going extra fast because Max also warned us that we would need to start braking very quickly...less than half way across. I made a rather quick landing on that one. Just one more time I thought I for sure I was going to take Max out on landing.
After our last zip we repelled down to the ground and it was over. A short walk back to base camp and we were instructed to remove all our gear. Easier said than done. I had forgotten entirely how I have put it on in the first place so I needed a little help to get me started. All of a sudden I felt like I had dropped 30 lbs. It didn't feel heavy when we were zipping but you sure felt light and airy when you took it off. We had noticed on our walk back to the base that there was a mini cemetery along the way. I never did get to ask Max what that was all about. I sure hope it wasn't previous zip line guests that didn't make it!
This zip line tour was a wonderful way to spend the day with your friends. We also made friends with the other people right away. Something about shared fear and danger just does that to you. I think Special K (KC) was the youngest person on the tour...I know she was the shortest one. :) Most of the others were middle aged and one was an older woman that looked to be near 80 yrs old but Justin tells me she wasn't that old. Whatever her age was she sure had a lot of spunk. She was staying overnight and going on the white water rafting the next day. Some of the others asked me if we were staying over night too. I think they wanted to get together and discuss the days fun. Unfortunately we had to head back to Ct after the fun was over. But we'll be going back next year to do the white water rafting...and maybe doing the longer version that includes camping overnight too. That will be fun. I can't wait!
This zip tour was my birthday gift to Justin this year too. And we brought KC with us too. You just have to have someone to share this experience with...it's too exciting to do it alone. The tour is all about zipping from tree to tree (11 zip lines in total); 3 repels down from said trees and 2 'Indiana Jones' style rope bridges to cross as well. And they never even mentioned that you start the tour in a jeep; racing up the mountain on deeply rutted, twisting turns; with a maniac at the wheel! It was an open jeep and we were very thankful for the roll bars and seat belts on that ride. He drove like his ass was on fire! Really got the blood pumping that's for sure. We loved it. I did notice however that the other jeeps of people didn't seem to come racing up the mountain as fast as we did. Hmmmm...he really WAS a maniac at the wheel.
But I'm getting ahead of myself a little. The day really started with the suiting up part at the base camp. That was a little more complicated than I had expected. I remember stepping into a harness and pulling it up to geek height on my torso and the guides did the rest. There were cinches; buckles and large hooks all over the thing and of course there were adjustable hard hats and heavy gloves to wear too. We all looked like a bunch of geeky electrical linesmen when they finished with us. It took a little getting used to wearing all that gear and trying to walk in it. By the end of the day it felt like I was taking 30 lbs of gear off but I think it was only about 15lbs actually.
From the base camp they took us straight to a practice area to teach us how to stand on the a wobbly step; hand position; zipping; stop or keep coming when shown the hand signals and even how to 'rescue ourselves' should be stop too far away from the landing. I watched 2 other people do it first then volunteered to be next to try it. We had two guides..Joan, who buckled us up and sent us on our zips and Max who taught us the hand signals and unbuckled us at the landing points. After the practice Joan asked me if I'd ever done it before and I told her no. She said I got it all right the first time so she thought I'd done it before. I said no, I just watched very closely when the other two screwed up and did the opposite of them. :)
After the mini-lesson we were packed into the jeeps and racing up the mountain.
At the first zip site we started to find out that Max was a comedian. He knew we were all scared (they take you in groups of 8 so there were people there we didn't know) and would believe anything he said so he started telling us silly things or scary things and then he'd pause and say 'Naw, just kidding' or 'Nope, that's a lie'. We'd all laugh and then pay attention because it was always followed with information that we needed to know. Clever way to get everyone to pay attention isn't it? We grew to love Max and his sense of humor. He was a tall lanky long lost brother of ZZ Top...the guy had a beard that just dominated his face! He told us he called this year beard 2010. And he may have liked to joke around a lot but he really knew his stuff! We'd all have mini conversations at the landing sites with him and we learned a great deal about him during the day. The one thing he did tell us that I really appreciated hearing was that he had taken a lot more training for this job than is normally required. Joan was no slouch either...she knew her job inside out...she is a physical trainer as well as a guide and Justin told me she lifts weights too. But Max was actually trained for all cases of emergency including unconscious rescue of someone stuck in the middle of the zip. His training included going to get them and bringing them in via the zip line or going out to them and lowering them to safety if they were injured badly. So together they made a great team because he could rescue someone and Joan knew what to do with the injuries. Besides that...they were just fun! And they made the day so much better than if they had just been doing a job. They really gave the impression that they love what they do. I'm very glad we had them as our guides.
The first real zip we did was scary I'll admit. Max always went out first because he was the landing guy. Joan would call us up by name (they had labeled our silly looking helmets; they screwed up KC's spelling so she was dubbed "Special K" for the day!) and she'd hook our trembling bodies up to the zip line. They had head gear so they could speak to each other. Joan didn't send the next person until Max gave her the all clear. Then she'd tell him who was coming next. Only one person zips at a time and Joan mixed it all up all the time so you never knew if you were going first or not. When you reached the landing Max would unhook you from the zip line and hook you to the tree. Then we got to watch the next people come in and take pictures as you wanted.
I learned very quickly that there was really no where I could tuck my camera so it would stay in place. It kept sliding around or shifting to another place and mostly kept dangling down through my gear in my crotch area...so of course I named it my 'crotch camera' for the day. With all the gear that I had on I couldn't get to any of the pockets on my jacket or pants.
The zips became less and less scary as the day went on. The scenery was beautiful...especially from such a height. I'm not sure exactly how high we were. I know we were over 80 feet at one point but I don't think that was our highest point. I made it a point not to look directly down too much. We were zipping down the side of a mountain. Seeing the landscape drop away from you like that is not a favorite thing for me. I'm terrified of heights! I know...this is not something you'd expect a height-fobic to be doing. But actually if you look straight out it doesn't seem like you're that high up somehow. A few times we were in the tops of giant trees and the wind was making it sway. THAT was a creepy feeling for sure. But having all that gear on that was hooked to the tree somehow made it ok.
Part of the course includes going across a couple of rope bridges. Max called them 'Indiana Jones' bridges. The first one wasn't very high so that was ok. The next one was much higher...but we were still hooked to a cable the whole time and that was enough to take the fear out of it for me. Some of the other guests never relaxed on those bridges and would shuffle slowly across them. They bounce and sway when you're on them so it's a little like being on a boat with rough seas.
Then we reached a point where we had to repel down from the tree stand to the ground. They explained how this worked but it was very scary just the same. As it ended up Max was the person in control of your descent the entire time. And he had the choice of letting you drop slow, medium or fast. On one of these repels Justin went first and he requested a medium repel....well he started off medium and then Max dropped him really fast just for the fun of it. Justin and the rest of us laughed. Max did a mini-burst of speed on KC too. She loved it. I was lucky he didn't do that to me. I got the medium repel I asked for...but I was prepared for a fast one. The worst part about a repel is you have to really trust the equipment and your guides. You are not in control of the repel; they are. You have to stand facing the tree, with your feet braced on the outer edge of the platform at shoulder width and slowly lean back into open space! Bending in the middle makes it a little easier (sort of like you are about to sit down in open air) but you have to keep your feet on the platform until your head is below the level of your feet. Most of us were nervous doing it. Joan was completely prepared for our fear. She talked us through it and when possible kept her hand on our back as long as she could. She told us women have a harder time doing it because we don't trust easily ...we're cautious. Men on the other hand will just do it with no thought to getting hurt at all. Funny but true. Justin was the only guy (other than Max) on the tour and he didn't have any trouble doing the repel...even after Max let him drop fast. That's a guy for ya!
One of the zips was a little different also in that you had to get a running start on it and just throw yourself out into open space. It sounds worse than it was really. First you stand on the step to be hooked up then you step onto the ramp and use it like a run way. Max warned us that if we didn't run off the ramp we'd end up scraping our feet or butts on the ground so everyone did as instructed. That was one of my favorite zips. It was a shorter one too and I think we were going extra fast because Max also warned us that we would need to start braking very quickly...less than half way across. I made a rather quick landing on that one. Just one more time I thought I for sure I was going to take Max out on landing.
After our last zip we repelled down to the ground and it was over. A short walk back to base camp and we were instructed to remove all our gear. Easier said than done. I had forgotten entirely how I have put it on in the first place so I needed a little help to get me started. All of a sudden I felt like I had dropped 30 lbs. It didn't feel heavy when we were zipping but you sure felt light and airy when you took it off. We had noticed on our walk back to the base that there was a mini cemetery along the way. I never did get to ask Max what that was all about. I sure hope it wasn't previous zip line guests that didn't make it!
This zip line tour was a wonderful way to spend the day with your friends. We also made friends with the other people right away. Something about shared fear and danger just does that to you. I think Special K (KC) was the youngest person on the tour...I know she was the shortest one. :) Most of the others were middle aged and one was an older woman that looked to be near 80 yrs old but Justin tells me she wasn't that old. Whatever her age was she sure had a lot of spunk. She was staying overnight and going on the white water rafting the next day. Some of the others asked me if we were staying over night too. I think they wanted to get together and discuss the days fun. Unfortunately we had to head back to Ct after the fun was over. But we'll be going back next year to do the white water rafting...and maybe doing the longer version that includes camping overnight too. That will be fun. I can't wait!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Kaylee Lost A Tooth
For some time now Kaylee has had a tooth in the front that is cocked funny and really needs to give up the fight. I've been reminding her to wiggle it often and she says she's been doing that but I suspect she hasn't. She thinks it's going to hurt so she's hanging on to it for dear life!
The other day at dinner I asked her how her tooth is doing again and she said fine, it's really loose now Gramma...see? And she showed me the tooth next to the one I was talking about...and it was very loose!
Less than a minute later that loose tooth had given up it's battle to stay in place and had finally dedicated itself to the Tooth Fairy! She bit down on her hot dog and as soft as that is, it was enough to defeat that loose tooth. She looked surprised and I said see, it doesn't always have to hurt to loose a tooth. And now we get to call her toothless Annie for awhile.
She proudly posed for her toothless picture!
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Real Kayak At Last
I have a REAL kayak...finally! Never again will I use that ridicules inflatable thing! I'm done with it. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with it. It's currently folded up on my garage floor gathering dust (and probably hoping I don't just throw it away). And I would just throw it away but I don't want it to be added to a landfill when it doesn't 'technically' have anything wrong with it. After all it does float...and it does spin...and it does have a mind of it's own once it gets a taste of freedom on the open water! And lets not forget there is a half a paddle that goes with it! Oh yes, it's much too great a treasure to just throw away. I'm going to have to find it a home of some kind.
But let me tell you about my new kayak! First of all it is everything I ever imagined it would be. It's easy to maneuver; reasonably light for carrying; an absolute dream to paddle; not to mention loyal; trustworthy and dependable just like a boyscout! I was able to put it on and off my car with a minimal amount of fuss and didn't need to invest in a ton of extras to do it. I did buy two blocks to cushion the car and I'll probably buy a couple new straps when they go on sale but the extra clothesline rope I had in my trunk served very well for tying the front and back to my car. (if that didn't work I was fully prepared to use the duct tape I also had in my truck...that's how desperate I was to have it)
My first excursion on the water with it was like a new world opening up for me. It was so freeing! I was able to cross to the other side of the lake and explore to my hearts content and able to nod a greeting to other kayakers without feeling like the fat sister in the ugly prom dress. Not once did I go into a spin. Not once did the wind decide which direction I was going to have to go in. Not once did my paddle indicate that it was wishing to explore the bottom of the lake without me. (the other one is still down there somewhere) And not once did I see anyone pointing; laughing or smirking from the shore as I went peacefully by them. With this one purchase (that I had been putting off forever) I have reclaimed my dignity and taken my rightful place among the many other people that enjoy the water on their kayaks. This is by far the best purchase I've made in a very long time. I couldn't be more pleased.
But let me tell you about my new kayak! First of all it is everything I ever imagined it would be. It's easy to maneuver; reasonably light for carrying; an absolute dream to paddle; not to mention loyal; trustworthy and dependable just like a boyscout! I was able to put it on and off my car with a minimal amount of fuss and didn't need to invest in a ton of extras to do it. I did buy two blocks to cushion the car and I'll probably buy a couple new straps when they go on sale but the extra clothesline rope I had in my trunk served very well for tying the front and back to my car. (if that didn't work I was fully prepared to use the duct tape I also had in my truck...that's how desperate I was to have it)
My first excursion on the water with it was like a new world opening up for me. It was so freeing! I was able to cross to the other side of the lake and explore to my hearts content and able to nod a greeting to other kayakers without feeling like the fat sister in the ugly prom dress. Not once did I go into a spin. Not once did the wind decide which direction I was going to have to go in. Not once did my paddle indicate that it was wishing to explore the bottom of the lake without me. (the other one is still down there somewhere) And not once did I see anyone pointing; laughing or smirking from the shore as I went peacefully by them. With this one purchase (that I had been putting off forever) I have reclaimed my dignity and taken my rightful place among the many other people that enjoy the water on their kayaks. This is by far the best purchase I've made in a very long time. I couldn't be more pleased.
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