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| We made it! |
Away back in October when I caused the death of my little red truck I did not know what to do? How am I gonna get my canoe to and from the water? Would be a pretty long portage for an eighty pound canoe! A couple of weeks ago I decided to put a couple of cross bars on the existing roof rack of my Mazda Tribute and give it a try. Went online and found what I wanted then went to a local store and bought them. Cost way more then I really wanted to pay, but you "gotta pay to play!" Put them on the car that day and have been riding them around ever since, they didn't fall off so I guess I'm good to go. All I need now is a big red canoe and some straps able to secure it to the car. I got them so lets see what happens.
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| Looks like it works! |
Gracie's excited, the car is loaded with paddles, PFD, camp chair and cooler, time to go. First time in a long time we have headed to a lake, the remote boat ramps are closed on Lake Jocassee - this is why we have chosen to go to Keowee. Arriving at the landing we discover a number of up grades, a new rest room facility and picnic tables, a pier has been built extending into the lake between the two boat ramps. Every thing looks good for the upcoming summer.
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| Keowee Town Access |
While I'm putting in and getting ready to go Gracie checks out all the work that has been done and she seems satisfied, if she's happy I'm happy. Mild wind blowing as we paddle around to the right eventually making our way to the island directly across from the landing. It is a beautiful day to be off from work and I take advantage of it by beaching the canoe on the island's sandy shore. [ When you stop a car you but in "P" for park, when you stop a boat you put it in "A" for anchor, but when you stop a canoe you put in "B" for beach! That's about as good as it gets! ] I unfold the camp chair and use the cooler as an end table. Yeah, we stopped and bought some groceries; twelve inch sub, Sun chips, quart of sweet tea, Snickers fun size candy bars -- all diet food! I share with Gracie - I take a bite, she gets a bite, she eats a chip and I eat a chip, I sip sweet tea and she - she drinks out of the lake [ come on she is just a dog! ] She's really not into Snickers either! Sleepy time after lunch and we doze.
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| You may be jealous! |
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| A February barefoot day! 2-15-13 |
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| When I open my eyes - a taste of Heaven! |
Canoeing across the wide water we are exposed to the wind and some whitecaps. We hurry to the shelter of a much larger island where I hope to see some critters. Early one morning many weeks ago there were deer and geese in this area watching us float by. They're gone now, to late in the day. As we circle back around this isle of rocks and trees and sandy beaches and mud flats we encounter a much stronger wind and higher and whiter waves. Gracie is sitting with her head above the bow and the wind is blowing her ears like sheets blowing in the wind [ not something you see hanging on a clothesline in the backyard anymore, I remember hanging the sheets and towels and shirts and pants and socks and unmentionables out in the sunshine, after drying, Ma would bring them in the house and fold or iron them - what a good smell, I can smell the fresh clean smell even now! Not to digress too far afield, but my mother, we called her Ma, had eight kids and one husband to care for, she was a hard working mother. I remember all ten of us sitting around the big supper table eating Ma cooked food, we all sat in the same place and each day a different one would say Grace before we could eat. I don't remember helping to cook the food except to mash the potatoes, but we all took turns washing the dishes. Ma had this wooden spoon that she used in her cookin', it prepared the food for the future meal. She also used it for whippin' our backsides when we did wrong, there wasn't any of this "Wait till your Daddy gets home!" if we needed our bottoms spanked - she could do it! Sometimes there would be three of us laid across the bed waiting for her to spank us. That wooden spoon was preparing us for the future! I guess it worked! Between Ma and Dad and God Himself, He has kept us secure in our upbringin' by His goodness and Grace! ] Well, that's a long way from today and canoeing on Lake Keowee. Back to the strong headwind. In my many years of canoeing experience, I have learned it is easiest to paddle in the wind if you angle into it rather than head-on or side ways, not 45 degrees, but close. The waves hit the canoe and you sorta roll over them instead of have them crash into you. Canoe rolling is OK. Canoe rocking is bad. Words to live by! When you find yourself in this situation keep your head centered over your butt and your butt centered on the seat. The canoe will roll from side to side , but you dare not lean side to side or you will be beside yourself in the cold water!
We made it back to the takeout and took out, loaded up and called it a good day.
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| Nothing needs to be said! |
In the woods or on the water!
Turtle
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