argene

I went kayaking yesterday for my birthday present, on the Chatahoochee in Helen , Ga. (On my actual birthday, I was participating in a writer's conference-which was slightly disspaointing, but good overall). I would like to do it regularly, since I had so much fun doing it. It was a three mile trip, with class 1 and 2 rapids, so much different than being on a lake with in a two-person canoe. To enter the water in the kayak, I couldn't take the stairs like the rafters did, I had to sit in the kayak and get pushed down the hill/steps into the water. I was really nervous watching other people do this, but, aside from getting drenched from head to toe and swallowing a mouthful of water, it wasn't that bad. For the first few minutes I kept wishing that I had another person to help me steer, since I wasn't used to a kayaking paddle. After awhile it got easire and I began to prefer it. I figuered out a method of using strokes to keep the kayak straight, different ones in shallow water, deep water, the rapids, and when I got semi-moored on the rocks in the rapids. I figured out that I not only had to paddle harder in the rapids, like the instructor suggested, but I had to manuever 30 sec before hand in the direction I wanted to go. In calmer waters, or when I had wedged myself between rocks for a moment, I stopped and took pictures. We started in the morning, so for a an hour or so I had a wonderful view of the sun glinting off the water , coming in between the trees. Us kayakers stopped off at a "beach" in calmer waters, and played around in our bathing suits for about 45 minutes. Afterward, I switched to rafting, and after going around in cirlces for 10 minutes, loosing my shoes, and getting my glucose meeter satureated in water, and getting 25 minutes behind, I asked to be switched back to kayaking. I continued on by myself for 30 minutes, bypassing the second set of rafters and viewing a lovely mini waterfall. It was hard to stay mad at the previous events and I found myself laughing as I was splashed in the face as I wne t down choppier waters and manuevered over and around rocks. Around 25 mintues more and I met up with the three other kayakers. Me and a girl from Poland kayaked together for the last 15-20 minutes or so and were the first to arrive at the outfitter's place. The other kayakers came in 10 minutes after us. Since I had stashed my food in the raft and had had it turned to mush, I purchased some crakers and bottled water, changed, and got on the bus. It was another hour before the rafts arrived. I got a good bit of my reading done for Postcolonial Lit. I think what slowed the rafts down was weight distribution, and also that only 3 of us had any experience canoeing/kayaking/surfing. I had been canoeing on a lake 4 times, the leader of the group did ocean kayaking, and the girl from Poland surfed. There was only a brief instruction on land for those who asked for it, and one girl who had never done any boating or anything tipped her kayak over twice. Frazzled, she opted for rafting once we got to the beach. All in all, with a busted meter (I have an emergency one that I'm using until I can get another one), no shoes, and being soaked head to toe, my first experience on a river was great. I would love to do this again.


I'm going to buy Batman Begins, they showed it on the quad Thursday. It was the third time I've seen it and I want more! After the movie ended I stayed outside until 12:00am, and then I went to sleep.