Kayaking today..

Today I got up around 9 and took roommate Max to work, then Nick came over and we loaded up his kayaks which he keeps in my back yard. We drove down to Shore Acres, a waterfront subdivision of St Petersburg, where we met his friend (and former client of the flight school I managed) Mike Kutz and his two daughters Lydia (10) and Natalie (13). Mike already had his big green Coleman canoe in the water and was waiting for us. We unloaded the kayaks from Nick's truck, then Nick drove 2 blocks over to Mike's house and left his truck there. He walked back to the shore and we dropped the kayaks in and paddled across the bay to the mangrove "tunnels" cut around Weedon Island. I hadn't been in a kayak since Nick and I went 10 years ago! It came back quickly. I can't swim, so of course i wore a life jacket, although the water was seldom over waist deep, and at times was less than a foot deep. It was a gorgeous, warm day with barely a cloud in the sky. I wore my Tilley hat that Linda and Maynard, my "2nd Parents" bought me many years ago to prevent sunburning my shiny bald head. Paddling through the mangroves, we were met with shade and a nice cool breeze. Crabs clicked along on the branches overhead and to our sides, and Nick pointed out two very large banana spiders overhead. None of the critters bothered us though, thankfully. Halfway through, we beached the kayaks and carried our cooler containing sodas and a couple of Subway sandwiches to a designated picnic area and rested for a bit. My shoulders were very sore from the rowing, so to prevent having an OAR-gasm (badoom-pshhh), Nick switched boats and oars with me. After sharing food and beverages, we shoved off again, navigated through a couple more miles of tunnels and clearings, and then to a large sandbar area where many other boaters had beached and were wading around in the water, playing ball with dogs, fishing, etc. Mike likened it to that country music song, "Redneck Yacht Club." We all got out of the kayaks and waded around for a bit, then made our way back to the launch point. I helped Nick lift the kayaks up to the top of the seawall, and somehow managed to slip on a sharp rock and slice the bottom of my left foot open...it didn't bleed, but is like a big, deep paper cut...very painful and cut down thru the first layer of skin. I didn't even know it was a cut until we had carried the boats back up the street to Mike's house, where I took my sandal off and had a peek. By then my foot was talking to me with a throbbing pain. We had a couple beers with Mike and his wife, and I shaved Nick's head in the front yard with a #1 clipper...it looks nice. Then we rinsed off the boats and loaded them back up on Nick's truck and made our way home. We unloaded the kayaks, then nick took our shared golden retriever, Bentley, and went home. I showered, then treated my foot with peroxide and neosporin, bandaged it, and then wrapped it with an ace bandage. Next, I went to pick up Max at work. He works for Staples, and since school has just been in session one week, they were bombarded with business...kids needing school supplies and such. So, I had to wait for him over an hour, but didn't really mind because I was happy to be sitting in my Saturn Ion Redline, held snugly by the Recaro seats, relaxing. We came home and I made some pasta shells topped with Ragu garlic cheese sauce. Good stuff. Other than doing laundry and mowing my yard, that was pretty much my weekend. I think tonight will be an early night! I will post this, then it's bedtime. I hope all of you had a good, healthy weekend!