Monday, October 23, 2006

Daisy State Park - Lake Greeson - Oct 14

Missy, Little Bit and I went to Daisy State Park on Lake Greeson Friday evening. It was dark when I got to the campsite so it was not too fun backing in to this spot on the hill. Needless to say, I got out and checked to make sure I was backing up ok many times. It took me about an hour to set up camp by myself. But I managed to get everything set up and did not even hurt my back.

Saturday was a beautiful day and I asked my neighbor across the drive to help me take my kayak down to the water. There was no way for me to take it myself since the water was very low and there was a precipitous 2-5 ft drop to the beach from the hill. So after my nice neighbor came by and helped me to bring my kayak down to the lake, we went kayaking.

It was Missy's second time to be out in the kayak and she was quite active. She would go from one side to the other looking at things on the shore. And when all 24 lbs of her little body went from one side to the other...I had to make sure to lean to the opposite side. She can certainly cause the kayak to roll a bit!

But she had a good time, I think...at least she looks like she's having fun... I decided to go across from the campsite to a fairly large cove and when I got into the cove...

I saw a flash of large wings and...

An eagle swooped out of the trees and circled in front of us.

His mate was in a tree on the right side of the cove and off they flew. They were never close enough to get a picture of both of them at one time. Quite an exciting thing to see. And because I had both dogs in the boat, I had not brought my good camera with me...so I guess I was lucky to get pictures at all with Mike's little A85 Canon. It doesn't have a good telephoto lens. But with both dogs in the kayak, I did not want to carry an expensive camera, so I made do with his...

After they disappeared from sight, we meandered down the Lake. I guess Little Bit got tired. He curled up in the front of the kayak and went to sleep while Missy kept guard.


After about an hour and a half, I found an island. So, I landed and let them have a run about for a bit. They had lots of fun smelling all of the new smells. On the mainland across from where we were I saw a flock of geese. They were having fun posturing. We got in the boat and headed closer so I could take a picture, but they decided to take flight. Missy and Little Bit really liked that part.

And even though this picture is blurry...I still like it, so I am putting in the blog anyway...

I decided to head back to camp after that. As I paddled back, I thought it was cute how they rested their heads on the boat...like they were too tired to even hold them up... LOL.

Little Bit looks like he is ready to abandon ship here as we see our only blue heron.


After we got back to camp I put Missy and Little Bit in the trailer. Little Bit kept his eyes on me.

As did Missy...

I decided that it was a good time to take a short nap, so we curled up in the trailer and snoozed for a while. After I woke up, we went for a nice long walk on the shoreline. As the sun was getting that afternoon reddish glow, you could see the autumn colors coming out in the trees across from one of the coves.

It was a nice relaxing trip for me. I did not really eat meals on time, read a lot and hiked quite a bit. I was not certain that I would like camping alone, but with the dogs to keep me company, it was ok. Not something I want to do all the time though... I really prefer having conversations with those who can talk back...

Well, until next time... Happy kayking.
Cathy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cathy - i love your posting! the pix of the doggies are just too fun. Glad you had a good time, and you were quite adventurous as well. Can't wait to see you.

JD

Jessica said...

Awww...the dogs are too cute! It looks like you're having a blast!
Maybe when I come in for Thanksgiving, we can go out Kayaking?!