Mondays with Mike: Splash
July 9, 2018 • 9 Comments • Posted in Mike Knezovich, Mondays with Mike, travel, visiting librariesGreetings from Anacortes, Washington, where Beth’s doing some book-related promotion, we’re visiting with Beth’s sister Cheryl and her husband Rich, we’re breathing pristine air, we’re eating fresh seafood, and I’m consuming some beautiful views. There’s a ton to say about the San Juan Islands and Anacortes, Skagit County…but I’m too tired.
I paddled a three-hour kayak tour around a couple islands this morning, and boy are my arms tired. And about everything else—I forgot you use all kinds of muscles when you kayak. And I’d only ever kayaked in the still waters of Pamlico Sound at North Carolina’s Outer Banks, so this ocean thing was a little more of everything.
Today was windy and choppy and a test but thanks to a great guide, I and everyone else in the group had a ball and lived to tell about it.
But I’ll do that on another day, except for one tale that maybe the guide would rather I not. At the end of the the tour as we docked our kayaks, our leader was emphatic: “Please, this is the only part of the trip I’ve ever seen anyone fall in the water, so be careful getting out of the boat.”
A worthwhile warning. After stretching out straight in a skinny little boat in front of me for two hours, my legs didn’t want to do much of anything. So I gingerly dragged myself out and onto the dock, where I collected myself for bit before attempting to stand. Once I did, I followed my fellow kayakers, all wobbly-legged, and as we were headed off the dock, our guide caught up to me. I noticed him behind my right shoulder. And then I heard a grunt and big splash. The guide had caught his foot on the dock, and did a hop into the water.
The first thing he did was hand me his phone. Then we helped him out of the water. “I’ve always thought about how embarrassing that would be,” he said. “Now I’ve got it over with.”
The phone worked, and he laughed it off.
And boy am I tired. With that I’ll leave you with a video I took at a scenic lookout in a park named Cap Sante last night. This place is beautiful.