Down a River With a Paddle

I have the strange notion that if something shows up on Groupon, it must be a good idea. Hence the snowshoeing, ziplining, rafting, etc. that I've tried out this year. Today was date day (brought to us in part by Uncle Dan, who watched over our minions while were were out).

Hubba Bubba loves how I am taking him on dates this year. I mean, why wouldn't he? Little does he know, 2012 is his turn. He's claiming our Evergreen Escapes snowshoe trip was the best ever, and while I kind of agree, I need to keep trying. And how does a girl compete with a snowshoe date?

Willamette Falls

Kayaking. The idea of climing into a plastic boat and having to fend for myself on the wide Willamette river terrified me. Which was why I did it.

Our guides were young, fun, and completely confident that we'd all make the trip without incident. The dozen or so of us - from teens to grandparents - were shown how to get into the kayak, how to hold the paddle, and the basic strokes. The guides stayed with us, offering guidance and instruction, but I was the only one who seemed incapable of keeping my kayak straight. I think I bumped into all of my tripmates at least once.

Paddling itself wasn't a struggle, but you had to twist your wrist to get the blades of the kayak to hit right, and my wrist doesn't twist. I've decided to blame the titanium, instead of my own dexterity and skill. Because titanium is strong stuff. It can handle it.

Hubba Bubba? Loved every minute of the excursion I wasn't bumping into him with my kayak. I told him we should have gone tandem, but I think he knew I'd wind up being a mess on the water, and wanted distance from my chaos. I wanted distance too, but since I am me, I was stuck with it.

I think we'll kayak again. They do naturalist tours that I think would be fun (and easier to keep the raft straight since there won't be as much of a current). eNRG runs excursions to lakes, islands and even Nehalem bay on the coast. I know we'll do at least one of those!