Travel Journal:
When I come across an events calendar for our town, it feels like Christmas. I scour the newspapers, and other publications for things of interest to go see or do. I get the "eye roll" sometimes for the outlandish ideas that I come up with, but this never deters me! (insert evil laugh.... bwahahahaha) Its exciting to come across something new, and as I write the specifics on my calendar, my mind is already making plans for the event. I sometimes hesitatingly share the details of the outing with my family as I usually get a, "We are going to go do WHAT??!!" Mom never ceases to amaze....
Lake Blalock plays host to different activities throughout the year, and I stumbled upon one of those, "You have to be kidding me" moments- the First Annual Paddle Fest. For me, I find any activity do-able, but this was one of those raised eyebrow moments for the husband. The thoughts of putting all the kids, inexperienced kids I might add, into Kayaks to paddle Lake Blalock was the cause of a little skepticism on his part. I was absolutely gung-ho, reassuring that we would indeed have a great time, and that we would all be just fine. (He still wasn't so sure)
The morning of the event we packed our sunscreen, beach towels and an extra change of clothes (just in case) and headed out to the Lake, stopping long enough to grab some biscuits on the way. We arrived at the landing to a well organized group of volunteers waiting to get us signed up and headed in the right direction. I was pleased to know that we were not the only novices there, as the look of confusion was etched on many faces-- "which paddle?", "how does this thing go on- nope its backwards", "what do you mean we need a whistle for safety"? At this point, I still have that ignorant "we gunna be JUST fine" smile plastered on my face; and I am given a "I told you so" look in return. I'm not sure if I was as confident as I felt, or if it were my "I will prove it to you" attitude that kicked in.
We decided upon a two-man kayak for Mackenzie and I, and a single one for Andrew- as he thinks he is a "pro" at anything he does. My eleven year old, Adam decides he wants to cheer from the shore line beside Jeff- who decided his big frame would not fit in the little hole in the kayak! We carried our kayaks to the sandy launch area, secured our PFD's (personal flotation devices) which I learned was the "in" term referring to life jackets, made sure our whistles were conveniently located in our pockets in case of emergency-surely these wouldn't be needed.
The seasoned, experienced ones were proud owners of Keen or Teva footwear, and as I unlaced my Asics, and peeled off my socks I felt like the word ROOKIE was stamped on my forehead. The other newbies looked from one to another with eager confusion, and I am sure that our assigned guides felt they had their work cut out for them. The guides themselves were so helpful, and one could tell that they were happy to share their sport with us. They answered each question with patience, and helped us to properly get situated in our boats.
We climbed inside our watercraft and waited patiently on the shore for someone to do the work and push us in the water. As we watched others slip off the bank and into the lake, right before us was another novice, adjusting his sunglasses, and footpegs. He was upright on top of the water, yet shifted slightly in his seat; slightly enough that one minute he was on top of the water, and the next I was staring at the bottom of his boat! The water was so shallow in fact, that I am quite sure he got road rash on his forehead from the sandy lake bottom. It was as if everything happened in slow motion. I waited for him to right himself, debated on pulling out my 911 whistle, when in a rush the man was whisked up by one of the guides. The man was fine, his tennis shoes were all soggy, and his pride, I am sure, was shaken.
I couldn't help but look over my shoulder to spy at Jeff after the event that had just unfolded. He stood, under the shade of a huge tree- dry, safe, arms folded across his chest, with a smug look of "I told you so", on his face. I sheepishly grinned back, white knuckling my paddle as if I were about to embark on a white water kayak adventure, gulping back any trepidation lest he see ANY fear on my face! I would NOT GO DOWN in defeat!
Mackenzie rode in the front, like Queen of Sheeba, while mama paddled us both in a kayak that could double as a barge. I quickly got my bearings with the paddle, learning to properly turn, slow, and steer in the right direction. I think I had a "faulty" paddle, as I kept drenching myself with side change, surely it couldn't have been operator error. I soon realized that an afternoon cruising the lake could be quite a workout for the shoulders. I was either out of shape, or Mackenzie, trailing her hands through the water along the sides of our boat, was creating a drag effect. She desperately wanted to paddle but I knew if she had been given one that we would have been stuck out in the middle of the lake turning circles. I finally gave her mine to practice a few strokes, and if her arms had been long enough, I would have gladly given her the reins for a while.
We paddled parallel to the shore line, looking for turtles, and spotted many sticks poking out of the water that looked like turtles. To avoid her disappointment, I finally said, "Yes! Look at that turtle's head", hoping that she didn't want to go over for a closer inspection. We paddled around for about an hour, and finally headed back to the shore. I was drenched every where that wasn't covered by my "PFD". We cruised back into the cove, slid our kayak up onto the shore and got out with a little bit of a swagger than before we left. I was ready for a class four rapid now!
Between sessions, there were various booths set up with information pertaining to water shed preservation, home repairs, and educational camps being offered in the area. We visited the tables of interest to us, picked up some koozies, stickers, and water bottles and finally got to see a REAL turtle! Yay Mom...
Spartanburg Water hosted this event, as Lake Blalock is part of their water reservoir system. They catered this event with not only thought of proper equipment for the boaters, but they also provided refreshments- waters, sodas, juices, granola bars, cereal bars, just about anything you could want. I think this "buffet" of treats was my children's favorite part of the day. I would catch my oldest son, Andrew, with a different snack in hand every time I saw him. As the day progressed those snacks got even tastier as the chocolate chips in the granola bars had melted to make somewhat of a Smore in a wrapper. When I discovered this delicacy, you could find ME with a new treat every little while- til they ran out. Somebody else was on to me!
Not only had I signed us up for the Kayaking class, I also had our names down on the Canoe event. I was determined that all of us would get this experience and we would not be leaving anyone on the shore line to watch (this was mistake number one). We found our canoes, got them into position, and launched ourselves out into the water. (we were pros at this point-- gotta get me some Keen's) We were instructed to paddle to the dock, hang on there in hold pattern until all of the canoers (is this a word?) made it into the water. Jeff, Mackenzie and I were in one canoe. He and I seated at either end, with Mackenzie situated in the middle, sitting on the bottom of the canoe (this was mistake number 2). She had no shoes on, thin soccer shorts, and the bottom of that boat felt like the top of an electric skillet. Before we smelt burning flesh we grabbed a life jacket, PFD, and had her sit on top of this (mistake number 3). As we are trying to maneuver this canoe without flipping it, and let me tell you, this was NO easy feat as it felt like we were an elephant atop a cork bobbing around out there, a teeny tiny green spider crawled its way from the folds of the PFD. She is usually all about flora and fauna, but for some reason, this itty bitty spider was different than usual. In her eyes it now became an eight legged killer intent on devouring her. As everyone around us watched, she had more moves than a Michael Jackson concert. I was hissing under my breath, trying not to shift our vessel any more than necessary, for her to KILL IT!!!! JUST KILL IT!!! Even the slightest move in my seat had a way of pitching our boat to the brink. I wouldn't have minded getting wet, as the trusty sneakers were still ashore, but as with any good mom, I had my camera in my lap to document all of the "happy family bonding" we were doing! As I was "quietly screaming" at her to be STILL, I was for the first time during the whole day thinking to myself, "what have I gotten us into?!" I finally managed to reach the offender, and handle the situation before we were having whistles blown for us.
Once we settle in, critters killed, cushion under the bum to protect from burning, canoe somewhat stable, we were ready. We began paddling with the group and very quickly learned that two paddlers have to coordinate their strokes. I was in the front of the canoe, working furiously to get headed in the correct direction, and felt like we were not getting anywhere. I tried to communicate with my co-paddler but for some reason we could not get our efforts to sync. After floundering our way, nearly crashing into another canoe, I brought back the "hiss" in my voice as I asked, "Have you EVER been in a canoe before?!" The reply, "YES! In the middle of Bass Pro Shops!" Well, this most certainly didn't count, but I could not help but laugh. After even more failed attempts, and thoughts of a divorce, I finally gave up. With paddle lying across my lap I began my boycott. I simply would NOT continue if we couldn't get our acts together. As stubborn as he can be, he paddled without my help several yards, then he quickly decided that my help would be worth a moment of team work. Once we got our plan established, we paddled the last few feet onto the shore........
The days culminating activities were a kayak race, and a canoe race. At this point, I just wanted out of the boat! Andrew, my oldest son, competitor that he is, had signed up for the kayak race. His group was the kids division. There were about 25 racers in the group, some with their own kayaks, others newbies with the borrowed ones. I wasn't sure how he would do when it came down to the pressure of a paddling a set course, racing against the others. I was proud and cheered him from the dock as he rounded the turn, agressively paddling with all he had. He was super motivated, and with a huge grin came in second! He thoroughly ate up the praise and strutted up the bank like a winner!
With the day wrapping up, we packed up our few things, stowed our gear away, put on the tennies, and threw away all of our granola bar wrappers. There was an awards ceremony to get to! Andrew was congratulated for his win, and thanks to be shared for all of the hard work and effort that each volunteer put forth. Even with all of our mishaps- bugs, rocky rides, and wet clothes we all had a great day..... we didn't need that whistle after all!!
