From a morning canoe ride with my wife the other day. There’s just something about being on the water – the sights, the sounds, the calm – at the beginning of the day.
Enjoy!
Tag Archives: water
Bald Eagles
My wife and I saw a whole bunch of them the other day. Such beautiful creatures!
In one case, 10 of them were all in one area. Can’t say I’ve seen 10 bald eagles together, before. Have you?
It was cool getting to see them and watching them do their thing. Plus, this time of year around here we are desperate to get outside, so it was nice to do that as well.
Enjoy the photos and have a great day!
Getting Away from it All
Life gets pretty busy sometimes (or most of the time, depending on what you have going on.) I don’t know about you, but I like to get away from it all, every now and then. A little respite from being busy and, unfortunately in today’s world, a break from all the bad news and tragic events.
For me these days, that place of escape is being on the water in a canoe.
No cares, no worries…and lots of beautiful scenery to look at. That “scenery” normally includes my wife 🙂 But, last night I took a solo journey out on the water. The photo above doesn’t do justice to the magnificent sunset, but gives you a glimpse at what I got to see out there.
It was very relaxing. There’s something about the feeling of just floating on top of the water, drifting along. Ah. Wonderful. Sunsets are a bonus out there, and they often have been quite spectacular for us in our various outings.
We try to get out to different places, and we go as often as it’s practical to do so. When it comes to these evening excursions, it seems that instantly whatever cares you have from the day just drift away as you set off on the adventure into nature. Great stress relief, and always time well spent.
What about you? What do you do to relax or get away from it all? Would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment, below!
Have a great day.
Cruisin’ California – Part 1
(A blog series on the adventures my wife and I enjoyed during our honeymoon.)
California! We were so excited that the trip had finally arrived. We’d planned for it for more than a year, but at the same time, made virtually no plans for the time we were there.
To help you understand why we made no plans, we have four (wonderful) children between the two of us. They light up our lives. Being a parent is an incredible thing, but as any parent knows, it will keep you very scheduled! With four youngsters around, that is a lot of rides back and forth between sporting events, friends’ houses, and everything in between. We have an absolute blast with our crew, but we are busy folks.
It was time to give the daily planner a rest and just go exploring. And so, we did. We’ve been married for a little more than a year, and it ended up being a perfect time to take our “official” honeymoon together.
Our trip? San Francisco to San Diego, along Highway 1. If you’ve never done it…do it.
We landed in San Francisco on a sunny afternoon, picked up our rental car and headed out. Side note: We really liked the rental. It was a Jeep Compass. Nice ride, handles well, plenty of room, looks pretty sharp, and I’m pretty sure we only spent 60 bucks on gas for the entire trip. Might have to get one, the next time we’re in the market for a vehicle. But, I digress.
I have no doubt San Francisco is a wonderful city. But, the two of us aren’t really into big cities and we had our eyes on other places in the area. Sausalito was one of those places, so we headed there to check it out. It did not disappoint. (Click on the collage to see the slideshow.)
What a fun little town. Carved out along the edge of the water, this is a great place for spending a day bicycling (we must have seen a thousand bikes that afternoon,) poking your head into the little shops, walking along the harbor, or grabbing a tasty bite to eat.
One of the things we noticed right away was the houses sitting on the hills. So many of them, with a nice variety of architectural styles. This became a common theme along our journey and wherever we went, we enjoyed looking at all of the homes tucked into hills and mountains.
We took a walk around Sausalito and then enjoyed a tasty meal at The Trident. Waterfront dining, fresh food…good stuff.
As the day wound down, we decided to scope out a good place to view the Golden Gate Bridge at sunset. We found a spot on Kirby Cove Rd. just northwest of it; an elevated location with panoramic views of the bridge and the city behind it.
It was everything I imagined it to be, and more. What an amazing structure. Wow! The thing is huge, too. Snapped a bunch of pictures of the bridge and just took an hour or two to enjoy the view and relax.
We did drive through San Francisco twice that day between our other destinations, so technically we saw some of it. Looked like a pretty cool city. Maybe next time we’ll ride a cable car or something. 🙂
All in all, it was a fabulous start to our journey. We went back to our hotel, grabbed some In-N-Out Burger just because you have to when you’re in California, and that was it for the first day.
Check back soon for a look at Part 2 of Cruisin’ California – wild waves, fabulous fish tacos and some beautiful views!
Canoe
As one of our wedding presents, my wife and I recently acquired a beautiful new canoe that looks exactly like the one in the picture, below. I could not be happier about this.
I mean, just look at it. Ah.
Water has always fascinated me, and boats of course being the transportation mode of choice for getting around on water, have also caught my interest. “Vessels of freedom” as Kenny Chesney describes in one of his songs.
Built to get you out on the water and get away from the daily grind…and hey, engines are optional. A few paddles are all I need to get around. 🙂
We’ve taken ours out one time so far. Other than struggling to get it properly tied onto the vehicle (oops) it was a perfect ending to a long, busy week. So peaceful. Can’t wait to get it back in the water this summer and unwind out on the water.
I’m thankful for this blessing. Sure, it’s just a 15 foot long piece of fiberglass – but it’s a way to enjoy life and spend time with the people I love. I feel fortunate to have it.
Have a great day.
positively second 