After a summer of touring Richmond alone, I was excited that my Adcenter friends would be returning soon. I spent much of my time outside of work outdoors, and found myself hoping that people might want to join me in my tourist activities once we were back together. Thankfully, people like Kelly exist to make my outdoor aspirations come true. A few days ago, Kelly acted as tour guide and hostess when she took Megan and I canoeing down the South Anna river.
I used to love canoeing; I even went to a 7 week overnight camp where that was one of the main activities. But before this trip, I cannot remember the last time I was in a canoe. Camp, family outdoor vacations and duck hunting on Wisconsin's Twin Lakes with my Dad hadn't happened for at least ten years. And so, I was a bit shaky getting into a canoe for the first time. Did I remember how to steer from the stern? The half moon strokes they taught me at Camp Osoha?
Ten minutes later, I found out that it didn't really matter. The South Anna moves so slowly that all steering decisions can be made at the last minute. The water was too low to paddle effectively anyways, and Megan ended up pulling us for much of the second half. And lastly, Kelly's canoe, dubbed the party boat, is so indestructible that bad-steering just resulted in us happily bumping over the rocks with no consequence.
Lessons for the day:
1. Polarized sunglasses really do help in underwater rock spotting
2. Megan is stronger than she looks
3. Half an hour outside of Richmond is a totally different environment
4. Sometimes it only takes a few hours to relax for a few days
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