Goonie Free Beaches, As Far As The Eye Could See.....

  I was beginning to feel like the Baudelaire children.  A Series of Unfortunate Events had befallen me for the past few days, starting with the strong wind at Swan Lake and ending with the Rhythm slipping out of the rack and almost falling off the car between Ellsworth and Bucksport.  I really needed a good paddle.
 So, fortunately, my Uncle C (you've noticed a lot of people with 'C' for a first initial, huh?  You're just going to have to trust that I know who they are) suggested I try out Donnell Pond.  I had a day free ahead of me, decided to use it.
  Both Daniel and my phone (which is as yet unnamed) assisted me in getting to Donnell Pond.  Occasionally they would argue, but both wanted me to go in the same direction taking relatively the same route.  Daniel wanted to drop me off at the head of Donnell Pond Road; my phone was gracious enough to take me all the way to the boat landing.  Yay, teamwork!  
  I started out paddling along, staying just outside the reach of people jumping off their camp docks into the water.  A breeze blew me along, and I had to park myself on some rocks in order to get some good pictures.

Camps on Donnell

A pretty awesome bench that I "parked" near

My hand, holding me on the rock.

    There was this cool little rock garden in the middle of the pond, that I hung out in for awhile.  What I love about things like that it, while I can navigate them easily, motorboats cannot.  Therefore I get a good view of the surroundings without having to worry about being run over.  

Some members of the rock garden

Another member of the rock garden

That is the direction from whence I came, and where I shall return.

    I made a quick dash to the other side of the pond so that I could see some different sights on the way back, and I had to paddle like a MADWOMAN!!  The wind hit me hard; I couldn't stop paddling or I would have been blown backwards!!  I really had to rest it out on the other side, so I pulled up beside what seemed to be a forgotten dock to rest.  Hopefully no one was too offended that I did so; I did find one creature that might have been.

Whew!!  Need a break!!

I hope I didn't bother this bug too much.  He looks like he could be worse than whatever lives in the goonies if he got angry.

   Finally,  I have attempted to leave you with a small video that was taken on my journey today.  Hopefully, if it works, there can be more!

Almost Only Counts in Hand Grenades and Horseshoes. And Kayaking.

  I do not accept defeat well.  I can be just a bit pig-headed in trying to work out anything so that it works in my favor.  But, unfortunately, defeat sometimes wins.  And that was the case yesterday at Swan Lake State Park in Swanville, ME.
  I have a class in Belfast, and I decided the way to make it a little more bearable was to take the Rhythm along with me and conquer some lakes in that area.  I asked my good friend Daniel to help me find said State Park.

Daniel boldly leading the way.


  So what if my good friend is a GPS?

  I arrived at Swan Lake around noon, paid my obligatory four dollars, and carried my kayak down to the beach.  And then....wow....WIND!   "It can't be as bad as it looks."  I thought.  So I loaded up and climbed aboard.  Yeah, it was as bad as it looked.   I was riding those waves!  And getting nowhere!!  Finally, I gave up, turned around, and took some pictures.

There's that chop!

You can kind of see the waves coming on to shore here.

The Rhythm was ready for anything with the paddle float.

   A good kayaker always has a back-up plan.  I brought the Rhythm BACK UP the path, loaded it back on to the Forester, and grabbed my handy dandy beach chair.

A very pretty beach!

A pretty acceptable alternative to kayaking.

    The good news in all of this is that, on my way around the lake to class, I saw a public boat landing in a more protected area of the lake.  I'll be back Swan Lake;  you won't defeat me again!!

Thought It Was Over? Ya Tunk Wrong.

  Today's original destination was Spring River Lake, but when I got there, there was no place to put-in!  Usually I'm up for a good portage but today....hmmmmm.....not so much.  So I turned tail and headed back to good ole Tunk.  
  I didn't take a whole lot of pictures today because there weren't many new opportunities, but I did take this one.

New dry box!!

My new dry box!  It conveniently held my camera, phone, sunscreen, and keys!  And it looks nice. 
    Since it was WAY too hot to paddle very much today, I decided to try out some safety equipment.  I did not flood my boat or flip myself over, but I did pump out some lake water and inflate my paddle float.  It was pretty exciting.  Then, I decided that I had no choice but to swim.
  The hardest part of swimming was finding a goonie free area.  If you don't know what goonies are, here are some samples.

The GOONIESSSSS!!!!!

Ze grindylows, ze grindylows!!

       Goonies are gross, and I refuse to swim in or near them because the plants touch my feet and legs and it all turns into something out of a Harry Potter movie.  In fact, because of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, I seem to have this odd feeling that grindylows (water demons) are lurking in the goonies.  The goonies sure look like they may be hiding grindylows.  And let's not even mention the merpeople.  Anyway, finding a goonie free spot was harder than it may seem, but I was eventually able to find an area near the old Tunk put in spot to take a quick dunk.  
  Yes, it was a lovely day.  And the best part of all was the help I got from C with unloading my kayak at the end of my journey.  He didn't even get to do the fun part, and he was still willing to help me.  C, you are the best.  


      Here is a bonus shot for the day.

Ahhh, the force is strong with this one!

The Townships, America

   When I explained to my college roommate that there were some towns in Maine that had so few people in them that they were actually townships, not towns, she said "That is so sad.  I think they all deserve to be named."  But, I think if she had seen where I was today, she probably would've seen the point of a township.  
   Pretty Pond is now used for irrigation by one of the larger blueberry companies in the area, but when I was little we took baths in it after raking (again, sorry to the Green Peace folks).  Then, it went through a time period when it had a very bad reputation...a "used needle" reputation.  Today, though, I saw only one used condom...so  we're back on the upswing!  The funny thing is, I didn't stay here long because of the WIND!!  I got a few paddles in around the edges, then had to call it quits because I couldn't make headway on any course I tried.  What I did get was a few good shots of an apparently RAGING party, and the sign above it that urged everyone to keep Maine green.

Pretty Pond...pretty, huh?

An awesome party happened here, and I was not invited.

A sign that urges us to keep Maine green...that is a beer bottle above the sign, yes.

     My next stop was Lake Stan...an irrigation pond that my grandfather, father, and uncles built this past spring. The best part of Lake Stan was that it was big enough to paddle around, but small enough that I could drift,read, and chill.  Basically, it consisted of paddling across the pond and then being blown back across it.

The Rhythm getting ready to take Lake Stan.

A piece of my family's blueberry land.

There is where my shoes like to ride while I paddle.

   I had company on this trip, in the form of my dad, sister, and cousin for lunch (who were spraying blueberry ground) and two little frogs, one of whom I got a picture of.  Yup....good day =D.

One green and speckled frog, sat on a speckled log....

Family Friendly Kayaking (SunSCREAM!!)

  Before I post about today's trip, I have to mention that this whole ordeal with the kayaking has been a lot on my family.  We were not campers, canoers, kayakers, hikers, or anything too outdoorsey as children...in fact, had it not been for P.E. class in high school, I probably still wouldn't have set foot in a canoe or kayak. And, of course, the week that I finally take the plunge and purchase my kayak, the second kayak-related drowning takes place off the coast Bar Harbor, ME.  So to say again....this has been a lot on my family.  
  Which is how I came to be in possession of a lot of new safety gear for my kayak today. 

First Aid kit, survival blanket, water purifying tablets, waterproof flashlight, and T.P.!

Half of my paddle wearing its new leash.

My blaze orange safety whistle on my life jacket.  When I first blew it my dog looked at me like I was an idiot.

Bilge pump and paddle float, the dangerous safety equipment.

  A whistle, a bilge pump, a paddle float, a survival blanket, water purifying tablets, a paddle leash, and a waterproof flashlight all arrived in an L.L. Bean box that was only slightly damaged (depending on your definition of slightly damaged.  I mean, it wasn't open yet or anything, but probably close).  The funny thing is, I am not exactly sure how to use the bilge pump or the paddle float.  I have a pretty good idea, but I am thinking that I am going to have to PUT MYSELF IN the dangerous situation in order to determine how to get out of that situation using said tools.  There's irony for you.
      Yesterday, I added sunscreenSCREAM to my arsenal.  I am not a huge fan of sunscreen.  As I child, my mother practically bathed us in it and I wore it without question, but I often wondered if I would prefer the feeling of a burn over the inch of grease that the sunscreen created boiling on my forehead and dropping into my eyes.  Not to mention the fact that the last sunscreen I used landed me in the ER with a rash all over my body and an itchy throat and face.  These thoughts were weighing on my mind as I realized that I needed a little UV protection before my next trip, and I drove to Rite Aid in search of this protection.  If possible, I wanted to find something that smelled a little less.....evil than regular sunscreen.  Yes, that is what I imagine evil to smell like.  That old No-AD, SPF 305 sunscreen....*SHUDDER*

SPFs 70 and 85...enough to send harmful UV rays RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES!

    And this is what I found.  I love Aveeno.  It's so gentle you can use it on babies, and they have Baby Aveeno that is apparently so gentle you can use it on even smaller babies.  
   My life jacket, first aid kit, and water bottles are welcoming all the new safety equipment company in the Forester right now.  That is family friendly kayaking.


P.S. Did you notice what was in the top of the shot in the first picture?  T.P. baby....remembered it today!

Hot, Hot, Hot Tunk

  Well, it was a beautiful day at Tunk Lake, folks.  And it was hot!  Hot enough to breed dragonflies!  I know this for a fact because there were two of them breeding on the bow of the Rhythm while I tried to avert my  eyes.  
  This trip started out the same way as the other two with the still somewhat eventful loading and unloading, but it was much different when I actually got out on the water.  That lake was like glass, not even a little ripple of breeze across it.  

The start, calm as calm could be...

  I was pretty excited when I spotted a lily pad flower not far from where I was.  This was a different kind than the one that I ran over the other day, and I am proud to say that I did not run this one over, I just dunked it a little bit with my paddle (when I turned around to check it out, the flower was fine, no worries).  After that, I spotted a beaver dam!  I have some history with beaver dams, hearkening back to my La Vida days.  I checked for beavers before I got to close to take the picture you see below....I really had no desire to ruin a beaver's day.

Lily pad flower, unharmed by this picture.

Yup, that there is some mighty beaverish water!

          I both packed and remembered my lunch today, which was pretty exciting, since Mom and M both know that  packing and remembering are not as easy as they seem.  I ate cold pizza and cherries on my kayak....lovely.  You have not lived until you've spit cherry pits from your kayak. (For those of you who are worried about the "green-ness" of this idea, I personally believe that if a fish can't handle a cherry pit then "natural selection" probably would've gotten it soon anyway). It was about this time I grounded out.  Yup, hit a REAL shallow part between some weeds.  The worst part of this was the fact that there were two people canoeing behind me and I know that they saw it; for some reason I found it very embarrassing.  I paddled away from them as fast as I could because, like I felt with the older gentlemen who peed in the bushes near Fox Pond, I did not want these people ruining my experience.

Mmmmmmmmm.......cherries........

    While I eating, I paddled around to another part of the lake, and suddenly met enough head wind to make up for all the lack of it before hand.  I had to paddle hard to make my rounds, check out some random rocks, and get back.  Then I let 'er drift....sweet ending to a sweet trip

Drifting away...

...away...

  Finally, let me mention that I did all of this, and have been doing all of this, with a nasty belly scar.  

B-A belly scar

     I know....ewwwwww.....but a little bit B-A, right?  (Ask for help if you need to know what B-A means.  I don't want to ruin my blog with any bad words  =D).

First Day Jitters and Second Day Twits(ers)

  Yes, I have been twice already.  In fact, it was those trips that inspired the idea of this blog...well that, and my boyfriend C's obligation to begin a blog for one of his classes (thanks, C, for all of your on-going inspiration.....  =D).  On my first day, I went to Fox Pond.  I have been swimming at this pond several times with my little sister M, and I was excited to get a glimpse of the other side of it.  It was as great as I imagined!  Mostly because I was propelling myself across it in my lovely little boat, but also because, for the first time in my life, I got to see a lily pad flower (I don't even know the real names for them) up close and personal.  It was untouched, it's beauty bursting forth from the dark depths of the pond, unsullied by human force, ....until I ran over it with my kayak.  Imagine!  The very first person to run over that flower with a kayak.  Wow.  First day success.

  There was a slight blip on the fun radar when a strange car pulled up to the swimming section of Fox Pond.  Now, I really have no right to call it a “strange car”  because this person had just as much right to be at Fox as I did, but I am from Downeast Maine and any car I don’t recognize is a “strange car” and therefore subject to suspicion.  An older man exited the vehicle, and I have reason to believe he voided in the bushes, right where I could see him!  I mean, I was very far away, but, honestly sir, get behind a taller tree, you are ruining my brand new kayak experience.  He went back to his vehicle and started to pull away when he stopped and got out AGAIN!  Now, history was telling me that some unsavory things might happen, so luckily I was close enough to my departure point to hop on out and haul on out.  I did not take a moment to see how the older man saga ended.  I can only hope that he chose a more private location to take care of his needs. 

*Fun fact* On this trip, I spotted my sister C and her fiancé, J, driving home from town in his giant truck!  Thank you, J, for driving a giant truck so that I can recognize you and C while out on a pond!

  On the second day, I traveled to Montegail.  This was a different type of trip, because there were a lot of people around and I was feeling a little more confident.  That is, until I had to haul my kayak one eighth of a mile down a dirt road on my shoulder.  You see, Montegail is similar to a super private, uppity country club where you are either ‘in’ or ‘out’.  Yes, just like that, except with shirtless, farmer’s tan lawn-mowing, beer, and illegal firecrackers.  Anyways, there are very specific rules about who has access to the pond by which road, and who can drive down past the “special” blue sign, and who needs written permission, etc., etc.  So, silly me, I thought I had to follow the rules and not drive down the “special” road.  Well, come to find out, there was a “special” section of the “special” blue sign that said one could drive down the “special” dirt road to unload boats.  And the Rhythm counts as a boat.   

I got all the way down that gosh-durn dirt road only to have a man say to me “I would’ve just driven it down”.  I aspire to be just like you, sir. 

Thankfully, the trip turned out beautifully.  I don’t have any pictures of either lake right now, but hope to have them soon on future trips (dry bags for my camera are on the shopping list…).  However, I do leave you with the most beautiful sight from that trip that I could capture:  The Rhythm and the Forester as one  =D.

All strapped up and ready to go!

                *I would like to take a moment to address my Subaru Forester*

Dear Forester,

  You have been a wonderful car.  You have kept me safe on winter roads, and have been much more fun to drive on the Moose River Outpost roads than the Dodge ever was.  I am sincerely sorry for the scratches that you have obtained with the appearance of the Rhythm in my life, but I liken it to an old dog enduring a new puppy; you’ll come to love her in the end.  I am so grateful that you are so supportive of my new hobby and all of the gear that goes with it.  I look forward to many more wonderful years together.

Much love,

D

Let the Adventures Begin!! With as little pain as possible!

  Some of you may know about the blog that I started a long time ago that never took off.  For those of you skeptical about the life of this one, have no fear...I think I have a little more motivation this time.  See, the problem with the blog I started before (which I can't even remember the name of) is that it had no basis, nor did it have a theme.  It was just....it.  Now, however......there will YAK-TION!!!!!!


  Three days ago, a dream was realized by this small-town, Downeast girl.  I bought my very first kayak.  It is green, my favorite of all colors since before I can remember (you should've seen my green crayons when I was little), a Perception Rhythm purchased from Dick's Sporting Goods in the great city of Bangor, ME.

My brand new Perception Rhythm

  The first adventure came with strapping the darn thing onto the rack.  I mean, I have had the rack for awhile, but I hadn't had the chance to play with it until that moment.  So, after choosing my kayak, I politely asked the  Dick's Sporting Goods employee who had helped me for assistance with the tie-down, and he graciously volunteered his time and effort.  As I pulled up, I said, "I've only ever used flat racks and I am not sure how to use this one..." and he said "Ummm....yeah."  Apparently, neither did he.  But, with some bumper-standing, some maybes, and with all God's grace, we strapped 'er on.  As he was pulling the final strap, I made some comment about how I had had nightmares about the kayak falling off the roof and killing someone behind me, and he said "Yeah, that's why we're not supposed to help tie them on."  Okay.


  So, thank you, nameless Dick's Sporting Goods Employee, for risking your job to aid a poor, hapless, hopeful kayak-er.  I wish you had been there to witness my first attempt on my own, because I think you may have secretly enjoyed watching the green plastic almost break my nose when I dropped it on myself.  But, because of you, a dream was realized, and the population at large remained unmaimed.  Cheers!