When Irv and I kayak here in Illinois on the Fox River....it is calm water. There are no waves, it's pretty straight and there are certainly no rapids. When Irv, Matt and I kayaked on the San Miguel River in Colorado, it wasn't always calm, it was wavy because of the rock walls and there were rapids! We had a blast!! I don't know if I'll ever be able to kayak the Fox River again.
We drove quite a ways to get to the river. The rock walls actually kind of hung over the road in spots with signs that said, "Watch for falling rock!" Yikes!
It was a very, very long dirt road, and poor Adam was so full of dust it was awful.
Once again Matt was a wonderful instructor and made sure to tell us what to do if we tipped over or if we lost our paddle. Matt is learning how to kayak in rough water. He goes and practices tipping over so he can practice flipping back up again.
Irv really enjoyed the day. When we came upon rough water, he always picked the toughest route.A friend of Matt's loaned us these awesome inflatable kayaks. The only thing I didn't like is that anytime you hit a little wave, your butt got wet! Then the water stayed there in the little seat so you were sitting in a puddle the whole day!
I took my hat off for this picture, but I was covered from head to toe with my sun screen pants and jacket and I globbed on the sunscreen many, many times while we were out there. We were actually close to the desert and it was darn hot and very sunny.
I followed Matt along one of these walls and almost got dumped. The water was moving really fast and I tried to use my paddle to keep myself from smashing into the wall. It was actually pretty funny once I realized I wasn't going for a swim!
If you enlarge this photo you will be able to see a couple of cars that flew off the side of the cliff. One is right about in the center, and then if you look at that tree on the left, you can kind of see the one that is wrapped around the tree. The road was way, way up there. There were actually three cars but you can't see the other one in this picture. Matt said that they are able to retrieve the bodies of the people in the cars, but often times they can't get the cars out.....and THAT is why I HATE those creepy mountain roads that don't have any guard rails!!!
This is where we took out. We had already left Matt's SUV there, so we just had to load everything up and then drive back to where we put in to get Adam.
I was perfectly happy on the way back to take some shots of the river from the road, but Matt decided that we needed better pictures. So he climbed out on some ridiculous little ledge...scaring the hell out of me...to get this picture.
and last but not least....this little lizard was so funny. He would NOT let me take his picture. Every time I would get close he would run around to the other side of the rock. I told Matt to try and I stood in front of the lizard watching him. Matt came up from behind him. I think the lizard was entranced with my pink outfit and he never saw Matt behind him. Matt took about six pictures, each time getting closer and closer until he could almost touch the little guy. We were laughing so hard.
It was another great day in Colorado. Next time we visit...we will definitely kayak again!
We drove quite a ways to get to the river. The rock walls actually kind of hung over the road in spots with signs that said, "Watch for falling rock!" Yikes!
It was a very, very long dirt road, and poor Adam was so full of dust it was awful.
Once again Matt was a wonderful instructor and made sure to tell us what to do if we tipped over or if we lost our paddle. Matt is learning how to kayak in rough water. He goes and practices tipping over so he can practice flipping back up again.
Irv really enjoyed the day. When we came upon rough water, he always picked the toughest route.A friend of Matt's loaned us these awesome inflatable kayaks. The only thing I didn't like is that anytime you hit a little wave, your butt got wet! Then the water stayed there in the little seat so you were sitting in a puddle the whole day!
I took my hat off for this picture, but I was covered from head to toe with my sun screen pants and jacket and I globbed on the sunscreen many, many times while we were out there. We were actually close to the desert and it was darn hot and very sunny.
I followed Matt along one of these walls and almost got dumped. The water was moving really fast and I tried to use my paddle to keep myself from smashing into the wall. It was actually pretty funny once I realized I wasn't going for a swim!
If you enlarge this photo you will be able to see a couple of cars that flew off the side of the cliff. One is right about in the center, and then if you look at that tree on the left, you can kind of see the one that is wrapped around the tree. The road was way, way up there. There were actually three cars but you can't see the other one in this picture. Matt said that they are able to retrieve the bodies of the people in the cars, but often times they can't get the cars out.....and THAT is why I HATE those creepy mountain roads that don't have any guard rails!!!
This is where we took out. We had already left Matt's SUV there, so we just had to load everything up and then drive back to where we put in to get Adam.
I was perfectly happy on the way back to take some shots of the river from the road, but Matt decided that we needed better pictures. So he climbed out on some ridiculous little ledge...scaring the hell out of me...to get this picture.
and last but not least....this little lizard was so funny. He would NOT let me take his picture. Every time I would get close he would run around to the other side of the rock. I told Matt to try and I stood in front of the lizard watching him. Matt came up from behind him. I think the lizard was entranced with my pink outfit and he never saw Matt behind him. Matt took about six pictures, each time getting closer and closer until he could almost touch the little guy. We were laughing so hard.
It was another great day in Colorado. Next time we visit...we will definitely kayak again!
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4 comments:
Another great adventure! You look very chic in your kayaking pink. The car thing is a little creepy...And yes! If we ever head up your way we must go to a Cubs game.
Fabulous! You are such a fabulous WOMAN!!!! I would love to have your adventuresome spirit! You are such a role model to young women today! Thank you for sharing your wonderful Tales of the Pink Kayaker!
AWESOME!!! That's the kinda trip I would LOVE to take too! And I'm proud of you for getting out there w/ Matt and doing it! What funky IK's those were-- they're a blast though aren't they? And, like your son, I too spent some time practicing my roll for hardshell kayaks-- takes a bit. ;)
By the way, I wanted to thank you for "sticking with me" and continuing to visit from time to time, despite my internet/blog absences this summer! Love to "see" you! And keep up the great work on your blog!!
Oh, what an amazing trip! I have been canoeing on the Snake river and it was quite scary. It's such a feat to get down to the rivers in Colorado isn't it?
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