And I do not like to pee in the woods, nor am I particularly adept at it. My parents never really took me camping (my mother shudders at the thought of sleeping outside), and no one ever told me it was ok to do things like pee in the woods (people are supposed to pee in designated areas). And no one really said, "ok, this is how you pee in the woods," because, for a girl, it's not always as straight-forward as you might think... there's the Rodin's The Thinker position, the lean against a tree position, the hang off a tree branch position (yes, this is a real peeing position; I seen it!)... there are so many, and it's just such a vulnerable position to be in generally, and it just makes me uncomfortable. But, today, I'd say I excelled. Go me!
Chris and I took our new/old kayaks out together today for the first time. We went on a two-hour long paddle on a creek where you can put-in like eight minutes from our house (lucky us!). Also, conveniently, Chris's parents got him kayak racks for his van for his birthday. Happy birthday to him/me!
We were lucky and had a gorgeous paddle on a gorgeous day. We saw Canadian Geese, Mallard ducks, fish, purple flowers, white flowers, and green all-around. It poured yesterday, so the water was really high, and we spent some time down a small fork, which was breathtakingly beautiful. I could have sworn we were in some other country; it didn't look like the Virginia landscape I was used to at all. And it was just peaceful and relaxing (and I'm sure you've all gleaned that I have trouble relaxing by now!). Here are a few pictrures, most of which Chris took:
 |
| Bow |
 |
| Me paddling! |
 |
| The end of the line for us up a small fork in the creek. |
 |
| The captain. |
 |
| I can't believe this is Virginia. |
 |
| We really lucked out weather-wise. |
 |
| These small, flowering trees dotted the countryside with purple. |
 |
| At the end of the paddle, we ran in to one of our best friends, Jared. Hi Jared! |
On the paddle back, I realized I had to pee. Pretty badly. Those two cups of coffee I had to have at brunch seemed like less of a good idea. I thought maybe I could make it until we got back, but then I realized that we'd have to get the boats on the car and all that jazz before we'd even leave for home. So I made the brave decision to pee in the woods. I paddled down a ways out of the way of where any traffic would be (though we saw all of three other paddlers the whole time), and, much to the chagrin of the Canadian Goose couple that was back there, I found me a damn-good tree. I made Chris my lookout. But don't even get me started on the whole drip-drying thing...
And I'm glad I made the decision to go, because I really enjoyed the paddle back to the car instead of feeling like I would die if we didn't get there RIGHT THIS INSTANT, DAMNIT!
I'm hoping to go paddling more weekends than not this warm-season. There will be some whitewater and some overnight trips on the horizon!
Oh, and if you ladies have pee-in-the-woods tips for me, please share. Please.
