Kayaking Conesus

Since the weather was to be unbearably hot, I got the kayaks ready so we could jump in the van when the girls got home and go kayaking. Well, good intentions and all... it was almost an hour before we actually got to the lake. But we had a blast!

Zoë was, as always, amazing at helping me unload and get everybody launched. She even helped some others get their canoe launched!

Miranda (front) and Nica (middle) rode in the tandem with me. It was perfect! And not even difficult for me to paddle the three of us around. I LOVE MY NEW KAYAK!!!

Megan brought a friend, Angelina, and the two of them managed to paddle the single kayak together. They both took a turn paddling by themselves, too.

Zoë, who is as tall as I am now, got her own kayak and had fun racing circles around the rest of us.

Miranda lasted about five minutes in the kayak. She then got out and swam the rest of the time.

Don't Smile! And she didn't. I guess I've used it too much. Still, I love this expression on her face. She is so beautiful.

Nica lasted a little longer in the boat, but she loved swimming and running back and forth on the dock.

Megan goofing around in the tandem with me.

We met some friends from school getting into the water the same time we did. Miranda and Molly were having more fun swimming and kayaking. Molly's mom and brother enjoyed their new canoe.

Nica on the dock, Miranda in the water at the left, Madison and Molly in the water

Conesus Lake is rather nasty for water. There is beauitful Hemlock and Canadice nearby, but they don't allow swimming. Boo. My next adventure is to try some of the rivers/creeks around here. Genesee River or Honeoye Creek (pronounced honey-oi).

I'd Rather Be...

In celebration, Travis and I got a tandem kayak! We ordered it at the last minute before the sale was over, and saved a few pennies. It was ready for pickup on Monday (Memorial Day), but we weren't ready.

Tuesday morning, I texted my friend, Veronica Morphy, and asked if she wanted to kayak. "Sure!" She even offered to help me pick up the tandem kayak from the store in Rochester.

Well, then Megan came down, feeling sick and complaining of a headache. I called my friend back and said it was "off", but we decided to drag Megan and a puke bowl with us to get the kayak anyway.

I was SUPER glad that Veronica was along! She helped me cinch down the kayak and taught me how to use the ratchet straps (not pictured). After some salty chips, Megan was giggling and feeling much better (Hmmm, salt relieves nausea... where have I heard that before!?!) so we decided to go for it and kayak down Conesus Lake.

We did the back-and-forth drop off (leaving kayaks at one end, driving trailer to end point, driving back to kayaks. Although the morning was hazy, it was calm and beautiful. By the time we got the kayaks in the water, the wind was blowing, the sky was grey and the water had 18-inch waves that were cresting! It took us almost an hour to paddle (against wind and current in the lake) only half-a-mile. We decided we probably wouldn't make it the entire eight miles of the lake that day.

Veronica Morphy giving Megan (and the camera) a face.

This makes it look so calm, but if you peer at the front of the kayak, you can see the swell she's riding. Megan and I would SLAP down and splash on these cresting waves. Thankfully the air temp was warm (in the 80s), because we got soaked and the wind was blowing like crazy!

I paddled in the back of our new tandem kayak. Like my fishing life vest?

We stopped at one point, dug out our snacks, and Megan flipped off the kayak into the (chilly!) water. We had a good laugh getting her back into the kayak, which we finally managed. By this time the clouds and wind were gone and the sun was out! Our trip to this point took us nearly 1.5 hours, but the trip back was only 25 minutes!

This was Megan just after climbing back into the kayak. Veronica held the boat stable while I helped pull her in.

I love Veronica's laugh!

We all got some sun, and had a great trip. Next time we will look for better weather, start earlier, and try the whole 8 miles!

I am excited to spend more time on the water!

Honeoye Lake with our new neighbors

We had a family move in just up the street from us. The parents have three kids: boy age 8 going into third grade, boy age 6 going into first grade, and a little girl age 3.

I invited them to come to Sandy Bottom Beach at the north end of Honeoye Lake (honey-oy), hoping to spend a day playing in the water and kayaking. I also invited lots of other friends from the neighborhood and church, but apparently the Friday before Labor Day is just as busy as a holiday for most people!

We Bailey Girls were glad that thenew  neighbors were still up for joining us!

We loaded up the van with kayaks, noodles, life jackets, sand toys and drove to up the street to have the neighbors follow us to Honeoye and drove the fifteen minutes! to get to the lake.

Where we were immediately disappointed and grossed out. The smell was TERRIBLE and the water was full of blue green algae, which meant that the beach was closed. Bah!! This was the SECOND time we had tried to go swimming in one of the Finger Lakes and had the beach closed because of this rotten algae. What are people doing in these lakes!?!? I want more kayaks so we can go as a family to Hemlock- although we can't swim there, at least we could all boat across and hike up some of the gorges. Maybe next summer...

So, the new friends were total troopers and we hung out on the (nice!) playground, ate our picnic lunches, and then the mom and I took the kayaks out. This was the first time she ever kayaked and she did great! I felt awful that the water was so nasty. She was even brave enough to to carry one of her kids in the kayak with her! We picked the kids up on the beach shore (the boat launch was even more gross) and took them for a 5 min ride out and back. Her boys even paddled the kayak!

Not a total disaster, but we were all disappointed we didn't get to go swimming in the water.

First time in a kayak! She's a natural.

With her daughter, just floating.

She was nervous, but she relaxed after a bit and just enjoyed floating.
(Both mom and daughter)

Big brother was really excited to paddle on his own. He was lovin' the kayak!

Little brother did great paddling the kayak, and wanted to do it all by himself the whole time.

Watermelon, Capri Suns, cracker sandwiches... the kids good food as well as fun.

My girls played really well with the new neighbors.

It is SO HARD to get even three of them smile, let alone look at the camera!

What could've been a total disappointing disaster turned into a great fun afternoon. We look forward to playing more with our new friends!

Kayaking!

I've always been the least outdoorsy in my family, especially when younger. Remember my jeeping post and all that talk about what great memories I have? Well, my sisters probably have 100's more because I usually opted to stay home with my Grandma Winkie instead of heading out on those dirty, dusty, smelly jeeping trips (that I LOVE!). I'm glad I've come into my own and now enjoy being outdoors. It's been a learning process (although I know half the reason why I stayed home was so I got some one-on-one time and attention from Grandma!)

Well, my younger sister is the one who has taken outdoor activities and made it a lifestyle. She's run a marathon and a couple of half marathons, she's loving living in the "country".

Let me explain that. We lived four miles outside of Snohomish growing up, and she always said she'd never live in the country. When I tease her about that fact, she objects quite loudly and strongly saying that she currently lives in town (one of about 400 people) but that she's just close to the "country". I'm still laughing.

Anyway, aside from all those amazing activities and accomplishments, she's also an awesome kayaker. I never would've guessed she'd be so into that! She will grab her bicycle with the trailer on it, put her 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter in the subaru, with a kayak and bike on top, and head out to run a river somewhere nearby. She drops the bike off at one end, drives her car to the put-in point, gets her daughter and herself settled in the kayak, runs down the river and then bikes them both back to her car, then picks up the kayak. WOW! That's dedication. Did I mention the fact that she's taken her daughter kayaking since her little girl was about 4 weeks old?

She also goes cross-country skiing in the winter and even had our dad build a contraption for her daughter to ride in! It's pretty cool, I must say.

She's expecting her second here this year, and I hope that two won't slow her down too much. She seems to think she'll be alright, and I agree with her. But she's thinking there can't be three kids cuz that'd mean she couldn't run around outside as much. I think she'll manage: she may just have to shift what kind of outside activities she's doing.

The whole point of this post is to show off and have you see an article about her recommendations for Kayaking with Kids. Yep, I have an awesome sister!