Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Weekend playing

FliesWithKiwiBird and the wee one flew back to San Diego early Saturday for a few weeks, or three weekends as I am counting it. It's the wee one's great grandma's big 90th bash, and his other great-grannie also lives nearby. Lucky wee sprog, meeting all the whanau. Pity he won't he remember it.

Anyway, this mouse is at play. I spent the weekend paddling one of our best local watering holes, Jordan Lake, or what's left of it. I've lived here three summers now, and the water level for this big man-made super pleasure lake is waaay down. North Carolina is feeling the drought pretty hard.

Even packed all the camping gear for the night and found my favourite place at New Hope Overlook - which you can only reach via water or a good walk-in - vacant. Heaven, for $9 bucks a night. Normally I have to clamber out at the bank to reach shore - now I have an entire "beach" to land on.

What was really good to see were three other families at three of the nine sites, all tents apitched, and three or four youngsters each from around three year-olds up. That'll be us, one day, I threatened over the cell to San Diego.

It was pretty darn warm Saturday in the mid-30s Celsius (mid-90F) - we just don't get temperatures like that in NZ, which had me snoozing for two hours at midday in my tent. Kind of shocked myself - after only two hours and eight miles paddling - dang this age business ;)

Sunday had me exploring a few bays I haven't checked out for two seasons, and a nice cooling headwind back to the put-in.

Sigh, Le tough. And I'll be out paddling every night after work Monday through Wednesday. Haircut Thursday and to Beaufort on Friday for a paddle/camp around Shackelford over the weekend.


4 comments:

Steve said...

Kristen,
we'll be missing you by about a week down in the Beaufort area. A friend and I will sail my Welsford yawl from Harkers Island up Core Sound, then across the bottom of Pamlico Sound and the Neuse River to Oriental. From there we'll head down ICW to Beaufort and back to Harkers Island.
I believe you and Sandy Bottom have done some training down in that area. Do you have any suggestions/recommendations/warnings about the area, particularly possible anchorages like Wainwright Island or Racoon Island? Any advice would be appreciated.
Have a nice trip down at Shackleford.
Steve

Michael said...

Sleeping in the noon-day heat? Sounds like a 'siesta' country like Spain or Mexico might be on the horizon!

Kristen said...

Hi Steve, I'll also be back down for a three-day w/e Sept 21-23. Do you have an e-mail address we can chat by?

Steve said...

I'm at steve.earley@verizon.net