Small Preparations

Vacation time is drawing near, so I took Carole's kayak out of the barn where we hang it when it's not in use. It was dirty so I hosed it down and scrubbed the hull. Also I checked the spot where I sealed a small leak and it's in good shape. The resin did its job.

Tomorrow I'll take mine down and make sure it's clean and ready to go. Not much longer till we head out for our first trip of the Spring/Summer season.

We're probably going to sell my kayak this summer and buy a tandem model. We'll keep Carole's excellent Wilderness Pungo for when our son wants to go kayaking with us. We decided a couple of years ago that we wanted to switch to a tandem kayak, but we've either just been too busy working to shop for one, or it wasn't in the budget. Recently, though, we have been able to look around and eyed a number of them. For a while we were going to get a sit-on-top model, but we have opted to get a conventional type. And, again, we'll go for the Wilderness kayak--we have really been impressed with Carole's (it tracks exceptionally well) so the company sold us on design and general quality.

Carole ahead of me when we paddled Holmes Creek in Florida in 2017.

Carole out in the bay at Gulf Shores National Seashore (also in 2017). That's her kayak in the foreground and my Perception model on the left.

Carole's New Kayak, Brief Visit to See Family

I took a brief break from the novel to run out to pick up a kayak for Carole that we found on Craigslist. While on the run out, we stopped by to see my nephew and his family before rushing back to the house.

What did I see today with my one near-sighted eye and my one blind eye?

Our truck with our new (well new for us--it's a used item) Wilderness Pungo 120 kayak.

My nephew Mark and his wife Michelle.

My grand-nephew Harris and his tiny doggie Mimi.

My grand-niece Madison.

My grand-nephew Nolan.

This is Pepe. She is really sweet. And really small.

This little fellow is their totally fucking insane hamster. Do not put your hand in there or he will bite the shit out of it. Do not put your finger through the bars of his cage or he will bite the shit out of it. Do not put your nose to his cage or he will bite the shit out of it. He spends half his time climbing up and down the bars trying to figure out how to get out or just doing his goddamndest to bite through the metal. He is totally fucking insane. If he got out I am convinced that he would run right up to the nearest living thing and bite the shit out of it.

This is Sassy, their cat. She's pretty normal.

Tiny dog. I've forgotten its name. Very sweet and very damned tiny.