Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Friday, July 15, 2016

An Adventure To Remember


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This is Billy Clapp Lake.
It is a 5.45 mile long deep water lake
 surrounded by canyon walls.
This is where we put our kayaks in the water. 
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There is a boat launch and a sand beach. 
As you may notice there are also storm cloud brewing.


Because of the storm clouds 
we decided to stick close to shore 
and explore the many sand coves 
this lake has to offer.


Look at this tree growing out of the rock.
There were some beautiful purple flowers 
growing out of the rock, too, but
my photo didn't turn out. 


After exploring the calm coves,
we got brave and decided to cross the lake.


The water was just a little bit choppy.
We were headed for that huge rock ahead of us
 it's about a half mile away.


The rock is an island and very tall,
at least a ten story building.


It had many caves.
This one was at least 12 foot high,
although it just looks like a little hole
from my photo.


As we were going around the rock,
the storm clouds were growing darker.


I quit taking photos at this point and
 dug my life jacket out of the nose of my kayak.  
The waters were getting rough out on the lake
 and we decided to head across 
before it got worse.

By the time we were out in the middle 
we were experiencing foot high waves 
and the wind was blowing hard.


My arms were aching and ready for a rest.
We headed back into one of those sandy
 protected coves and took a break.
Here were climbed the sand dune . . .


To discover this beautiful desert meadow.


Our recent rains have made them pretty and green.

After this break we paddled back along the protected shoreline.
Loaded our boats and ate lunch looking out at the water. 

It was a fun day, but a bit scary
while paddling against those waves and winds.
The thing that I did discover is that my little 
kayak handled very well.
That makes me feel good and love it even more :)

I hope you enjoyed today's post
&
that you will leave a comment
to let me know you visited.
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Keep Smiling!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your blogging sister,
Connie :) 

46 comments:

  1. What a beautiful experience, albeit a little scary out there in the middle. We got caught in a lightening storm once.....talk about scary. I never paddled so hard in my life. We were in salt water creeks that spill out to the ocean. So we were paddling against a fast moving current, which made paddling back even slower, with lightening striking all around us. It was 30 minutes of pure fear. I never prayed so hard in my life. But after a few years now, I'm glad I had the experience because like you it taught me a lesson. It taught me to really pay attention to the weather before going out and that we truly can do a lot more physically than we think.

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    1. I know I look back and think how easily this could have turned into a lightening storm. I will stop and consider the weather more carefully in the future. You must have been so frightened.

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  2. So beautiful! It's like you kayaked through Narnia!

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    1. It was quite beautiful . . . Very peaceful too, until the bad weather.

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  3. Quite an adventure! My kayak handles very well in a nice wind and some choppy waters. As long as it's not lightening, it's always fun. We went out for a bit on Tuesday, but it's been too hot since.

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    1. I was delighted in the way mine handled itself in the waves and wind. Although my friend has one that is more streamline than mine, it did not handle was well in the choppy waters. Mine is short and deep . . . It will not win a beauty contest, but it handles like a dream and feels very safe.

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  4. Beautiful pictures of your day of kayaking.
    Makes me want to get out there with ours. We are planning on a day next week.

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    1. Here's wishing you a fun day. I hope you take a camera.

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  5. What an absolutely lovely adventure you had. Thanks for sharing it and also for all the pictures of the scenery. I'm glad you got back safe and sound and that your kayak handled so well.

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    1. It was a fun day and every lake is a new adventure.

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  6. Absolutely gorgeous, Connie! Thank you so much for sharing. :)

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    1. I am delighted that you enjoy your visit, the shoreline was so beautiful. We will be kayaking that lake again, it will be a great lake for packing a picnic and for swimming, too.

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  7. That looks like a great adventure.. I'm glad you're enjoying your kayak. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Hi Teresa, I had know idea how much I was going to enjoy it . . . Every time we get back from an outing, I'm thinking about the next one.

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  8. Connie--you are a brave girl. I won't even go out on our speedboat when we have ominous skies. Severe storms roll in within minutes. With lightning we pull up to the closest dock no matter who it belongs to! Our lake is too choppy for our kayaks so I love seeing the photos you have. We paddle along our bay. These are gorgeous pics!

    Jane

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    1. Hi Jane, It was my decision to paddle out to the rock and it probably was not the smartest thing to do, for sure. Lightening can show up with those dark clouds and that would have been horrible. I will use better judgement from now on. It was nice knowing that we could come up with the strength that we needed against the wind and waves. It goes to show that we can do more than we think, when needed. My poor old arms were in pain by the time we made it to the calm little cove.

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  9. You certainly too us on a beautiful tour of the lake despite the storm clouds. What a lovely place to be. Take care.

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    1. It is a beautiful lake, we want to go back on a pretty day with sunshine.

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  10. What a great adventure... even if it did have a few hairy moments that got the heart racing. Stay safe!

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    1. It was good to blow the cobwebs out of my adrenaline system, LOL. We will be making safer choices from now on :)

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  11. What a wonderful adventure. I would have been a bit scared kayaking on those choppy waters. You sure picked a beautiful spot to explore

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    1. That spot is calling us back, next time a warmer day and time spent swimming and picnic on those sandy benches :)

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  12. Connie, my sweet friend, I am so glad that you are okay and that you were able to enjoy the scenery the rest of the day. How scary. Be safe now. Nancy

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    1. It was certainly and adrenaline rush, but it could have been a terrible day if lighting would have started up. We have decided that we won't be crossing in weather that bad again, even if we have to wait it out on the other side :)

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  13. I used to love to kayak and my kayaking friend moved back to Texas. Once in a while the kids will go out with me but not often enough. I need help now getting it out of the car and miss it a lot. Once on the water though I am good to go, lol... Keep enjoying your adventures. Hugs, LJ

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    1. Dear Jane, I wish you lived closer, we would be more than happy to help you load and unload and it would be nice having another friend join us. Keep looking for another kayaking friend. Life is too short to not do some of the things in life that bring you joy.

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  14. Not only are you very talented, you are very brave. I got goosebumps thinking about being on that water with storm clouds brewing. You sure got some pretty pictures.

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    1. I remember you are my blogging sister that doesn't like storms, period . . . it is scary out there on the water, but it made me paddle faster than I though possible, LOL.

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  15. My hubby just bought a kayak and is really enjoying it. Glad you didn't get caught in anything worse and that you were able to handle it, sounds like you both had a really nice day out!

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    1. Have you tried your husband's kayak . . . I think that you would love it :)

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  16. Ok...so...remember when I said you would never catch me in a kayak??? Yeah...well...I've decided to give it a whirl! What brand is your yak and what is the weight limit? I want one that is a bit bigger because I will probably end up taking my Mister's and giving him the new one! I hope we can exchange yak-ing stories soon!

    Grace & Peace
    Pam

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    1. Well, you won't want mine then, it would be good for you but probably not what your husband would want. It is only 8 feet long and weights 28 pounds (easy for me to carry by myself). It will hold up to 270 pounds so I have lots of weight to spare for a small ice chest and even firewood if I wanted. http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=32953606
      Copy this link into Goggle and you can see mine.

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  17. Wow you had quite a journey across the lake. The caves would be neat to explore. I'm not sure I'd enjoy being out in choppy water in just a Kayak though. - Hey if at all possible could you add a Follow-By E-Mail feature to your blog?

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    1. Hello Ida, I'm so happy that you are interested in following my blog. If you will go down the right-hand column and look just under the photo of the spools of thread you will find it :) Welcome! I love making new friends :)

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  18. How beautiful. I am so glad there was no lightning nor other severe weather.

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    1. I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo glad that there wasn't any lightening either :)

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  19. That is quite an adventure, Connie! I'd be so scared out in a kayak in that kind of weather. Glad you stayed safe and sound. The desert meadow you discovered is beautiful. :-)

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    1. It was a fun day and we learned that we had the strength to keep paddling in unfriendly water, even if our arms were more that ready for a rest :)

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  20. Your photos all look so peaceful.. hard to believe there were big waves. I guess it's hard to take pictures while paddling through rough water :)

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    1. The minute we turned the corner from that big rock island and saw the water that we had to paddle through, my camera got put away and my life jacket got put on. If I had stopped to take a photo I would have gotten so far away from my friend that we both would have been in trouble. We were in a keep paddling and don't give up situation.

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  21. Now you must be learning new kayaking skills, which is great. Exploring new places results into the new experiences and thoughts, which are important to lead a happy and successful life.

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    1. Every time out is a new adventure. So far we have been picking different areas each time .

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  22. I just got a kayak in March and got out that one time. Going out when it was that rough would not be fun for me. You are very brave. Looks beautiful there and I can tell you had a good day. Paddle on.

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    1. I'm loving my kayak and I hope that you fall in love with this fun sport, too. The more I go out, the more I love doing it, especially going places where there are lots of coves and wildlife :) We'll be going back to this spot and packing a picnic to enjoy the sandy coves and do some swimming.

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  23. It looks so deserted, but in a good way. Such stunning scenery, so different to anything here. I am glad you were safe, I bet it was a bit hairy for a while xxx

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    1. It was hairy as you say . . . but there was not time to worry about it, because we had to concentrate on paddling. If we slowed down at all, we lost ground and went backward. My arms were so wore-out when we reached the calm cove again. The best part was the knowledge that we could handle it and that my little boat did so well on the ruff water.

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