Glenn – Happy 48th B-Day!
I woke a couple of times through the night and even considered getting up at 6:00am to get a serious jump on my day. I fought that urge, however and ended up sleeping until just about 7:15am. I was hopeful that the sky would be clear & blue just as the morning before since we had hopes of boating today. A glance out the window confirmed that it was.
Without much hesitation I tucked my toes under the sofa’s edge and whipped out my sit-ups. Within fifteen minutes I had completed all of my exercises, started the coffee and was headed out the door with Ykraps. Jacob was up and milling about while I was preparing to walk out the door. I asked him to join us on our walk, and he did. We were out for about ten minutes. Ykraps enjoyed himself and took his dear old time.
Once we returned, Mindy and Bella were up and about. I poured the both of us some coffee and Mindy made the kids a bowl of cereal. Just after 8:30am I left for my run. Like a few other times recently, I took the Trabue to Hague Ave route along the golf course then south to Western Run. I love that run.
Once back home we discussed our boating plans and strategy. Jacob and I would go retrieve the boat and Mindy and Bella would go to Kroger to pick-up boating snacks. That plan worked well. Jacob and I were back well before Mindy and Bella, so we took the time to ready the boat. We started it to ensure that it would run, place some textured safety tape on the wheel wells of the trailer to prevent slips, and then loaded the anchors and additional life vests. Just as we were wrapping up, Mindy returned with the snacks. We loaded the cooler and beelined for Alum Creek.
We stopped for ice along the way since Mindy had forgotten to get some while at Kroger. We arrived at the lake around 11:40am. The drive goes really quick – about 30 miles door to door. To my surprise, there wasn’t a line at the dock to put-in. More often than not there’s a line at least 5 or 6 boats deep.
Mindy did a good job being my dock mate, and the kids were cooperative and boarded the boat before we put it in the water. That made things easier for Mindy since she didn’t have to keep a watchful eye on them while tending to the boat. The boat started without incident and soon we were off on our Sunday boat outing. First we circled the immediate area then headed towards the boat swim area as we often do. The lake was extremely choppy despite the relatively calm weather and low number of boats. Both the kids & Mindy, I think, were a bit surprised at the bounciness of the water.
Soon we were at the route 36 boat swim area. There were probably fifteen boats already back there, which really isn’t that many. We headed towards the very back. About half way back I took notice of a seemingly familiar face in a Sea Ray already docked. It was Steve Androw, a friend and ex co-worker, & family. We exchanged hello’s but kept proceeding to our final destination. As we anchored, Steve & family made their way back to where we were. We ended up anchoring together and hanging out for the better part of the afternoon. I introduced Mindy and the children to Steve and his family. Steve has a daughter, Madison who’s ten, and a son, Cameron, who is 6. He and Jacob hit it off swell.
After about 1.5 hours in the swim area we pulled anchor and headed towards the beach. The beach seemed much hotter which was probably due to the sand. The kids liked the idea of building and playing in the surf. Plus, there was a mother load of fresh extra fine beach sand mounded up for the kids to play in. My guess is that they have/had it there for a sand castle building contest.
We stayed at the beach for about an hour. Steve and family left and headed for the dock around 3:20pm. We took another leisure ride around the lake before doing the same. I was worried about pulling the boat out of the water knowing from past experience just how hectic it can be. I had few options since Mindy had never as much as driven a boat. But as we approached the marina there didn’t appear to be much of a line at all. So, I pulled up towards the dock first thinking that I’d simply tie off then get the trailer. Last minute Mindy agreed to drop me off and pull back out until it was my turn. That’s how you’re expected to do it. Mindy dropped me and back out to the lake with little if any trouble. There was only one trailer in front of me as I pulled around, but he waived me around for not being ready himself. In the end, I could’ve simply tied the boat off to the dock after all. No worries, I backed the trailer and Mindy began circling the boat towards the trailer. A closer look revealed that she was having some trouble. The boat had stalled and subsequently she was drifting slowly towards the rocky side of the dock area. I was beginning to fret the potential disaster and could only visualize the worst – the lower unit getting bashed against the rocky terrain. After many tries she finally got the boat started again, and regained control of the boat. I couldn’t blame her, though. She had never even driven a boat. She guided the boat without incident into the dock where I was able to commandeer it onto the trailer. Trouble averted!
After pulling out we pulled off to the side and readied the boat for travel by stowing the gear and placing the boat covers. We were on our way by 4:45pm headed for Lee’s RV and Boat Storage. We stowed the boat with no trouble at all, and soon found ourselves back at my house with two sleeping kids. Mindy had already contemplated our dinner and decided on hot wings since we hadn’t had any for about ten days. Te kids slowly woke and asked to watch a movie. They watched Elf. I grabbed my book and tried taking a short nap. I slept for about ten minutes tops. After waking and while the wings baked in the oven, I proceeded to light the grill and top the coals with some mesquite chips. I like doing the final five or ten minutes on the grill to give them a crunchier texture and a bit of a smoked flavor. Mindy has come to like that too.
Soon we were enjoying some of the best wings ever made along with a delicious garden salad. Some time before starting dinner Pat, my neighbor, called and invited us over for a visit. We accepted. After cleaning up our dinner mess we grabbed a drink and walked over to Pat & Lisa’s. There backyard is much like mine in that it’s a little slice of heaven. To the kids pleasure, they have a nice little pond stocked full of gold fish and a tree swing strung from a bow about 50 feet up. The kids really enjoyed that. As I often do, we stayed at pat’s until late given that it was a Sunday and a ‘school’ night. But we had fun visiting. Mindy and the kids had already decided to stay the night at my house again. So once we walked home we were all in bed in short order. I was exhausted from the weekend of travel, exercise, boating, and yard work.
%20sunday%20boat%20home.3.jpg)
Glenn – Happy 48th B-Day!
I woke a couple of times through the night and even considered getting up at 6:00am to get a serious jump on my day. I fought that urge, however and ended up sleeping until just about 7:15am. I was hopeful that the sky would be clear & blue just as the morning before since we had hopes of boating today. A glance out the window confirmed that it was.
Without much hesitation I tucked my toes under the sofa’s edge and whipped out my sit-ups. Within fifteen minutes I had completed all of my exercises, started the coffee and was headed out the door with Ykraps. Jacob was up and milling about while I was preparing to walk out the door. I asked him to join us on our walk, and he did. We were out for about ten minutes. Ykraps enjoyed himself and took his dear old time.
Once we returned, Mindy and Bella were up and about. I poured the both of us some coffee and Mindy made the kids a bowl of cereal. Just after 8:30am I left for my run. Like a few other times recently, I took the Trabue to Hague Ave route along the golf course then south to Western Run. I love that run.
Once back home we discussed our boating plans and strategy. Jacob and I would go retrieve the boat and Mindy and Bella would go to Kroger to pick-up boating snacks. That plan worked well. Jacob and I were back well before Mindy and Bella, so we took the time to ready the boat. We started it to ensure that it would run, place some textured safety tape on the wheel wells of the trailer to prevent slips, and then loaded the anchors and additional life vests. Just as we were wrapping up, Mindy returned with the snacks. We loaded the cooler and beelined for Alum Creek.
We stopped for ice along the way since Mindy had forgotten to get some while at Kroger. We arrived at the lake around 11:40am. The drive goes really quick – about 30 miles door to door. To my surprise, there wasn’t a line at the dock to put-in. More often than not there’s a line at least 5 or 6 boats deep.
Mindy did a good job being my dock mate, and the kids were cooperative and boarded the boat before we put it in the water. That made things easier for Mindy since she didn’t have to keep a watchful eye on them while tending to the boat. The boat started without incident and soon we were off on our Sunday boat outing. First we circled the immediate area then headed towards the boat swim area as we often do. The lake was extremely choppy despite the relatively calm weather and low number of boats. Both the kids & Mindy, I think, were a bit surprised at the bounciness of the water.
Soon we were at the route 36 boat swim area. There were probably fifteen boats already back there, which really isn’t that many. We headed towards the very back. About half way back I took notice of a seemingly familiar face in a Sea Ray already docked. It was Steve Androw, a friend and ex co-worker, & family. We exchanged hello’s but kept proceeding to our final destination. As we anchored, Steve & family made their way back to where we were. We ended up anchoring together and hanging out for the better part of the afternoon. I introduced Mindy and the children to Steve and his family. Steve has a daughter, Madison who’s ten, and a son, Cameron, who is 6. He and Jacob hit it off swell.
After about 1.5 hours in the swim area we pulled anchor and headed towards the beach. The beach seemed much hotter which was probably due to the sand. The kids liked the idea of building and playing in the surf. Plus, there was a mother load of fresh extra fine beach sand mounded up for the kids to play in. My guess is that they have/had it there for a sand castle building contest.
We stayed at the beach for about an hour. Steve and family left and headed for the dock around 3:20pm. We took another leisure ride around the lake before doing the same. I was worried about pulling the boat out of the water knowing from past experience just how hectic it can be. I had few options since Mindy had never as much as driven a boat. But as we approached the marina there didn’t appear to be much of a line at all. So, I pulled up towards the dock first thinking that I’d simply tie off then get the trailer. Last minute Mindy agreed to drop me off and pull back out until it was my turn. That’s how you’re expected to do it. Mindy dropped me and back out to the lake with little if any trouble. There was only one trailer in front of me as I pulled around, but he waived me around for not being ready himself. In the end, I could’ve simply tied the boat off to the dock after all. No worries, I backed the trailer and Mindy began circling the boat towards the trailer. A closer look revealed that she was having some trouble. The boat had stalled and subsequently she was drifting slowly towards the rocky side of the dock area. I was beginning to fret the potential disaster and could only visualize the worst – the lower unit getting bashed against the rocky terrain. After many tries she finally got the boat started again, and regained control of the boat. I couldn’t blame her, though. She had never even driven a boat. She guided the boat without incident into the dock where I was able to commandeer it onto the trailer. Trouble averted!
After pulling out we pulled off to the side and readied the boat for travel by stowing the gear and placing the boat covers. We were on our way by 4:45pm headed for Lee’s RV and Boat Storage. We stowed the boat with no trouble at all, and soon found ourselves back at my house with two sleeping kids. Mindy had already contemplated our dinner and decided on hot wings since we hadn’t had any for about ten days. Te kids slowly woke and asked to watch a movie. They watched Elf. I grabbed my book and tried taking a short nap. I slept for about ten minutes tops. After waking and while the wings baked in the oven, I proceeded to light the grill and top the coals with some mesquite chips. I like doing the final five or ten minutes on the grill to give them a crunchier texture and a bit of a smoked flavor. Mindy has come to like that too.
Soon we were enjoying some of the best wings ever made along with a delicious garden salad. Some time before starting dinner Pat, my neighbor, called and invited us over for a visit. We accepted. After cleaning up our dinner mess we grabbed a drink and walked over to Pat & Lisa’s. There backyard is much like mine in that it’s a little slice of heaven. To the kids pleasure, they have a nice little pond stocked full of gold fish and a tree swing strung from a bow about 50 feet up. The kids really enjoyed that. As I often do, we stayed at pat’s until late given that it was a Sunday and a ‘school’ night. But we had fun visiting. Mindy and the kids had already decided to stay the night at my house again. So once we walked home we were all in bed in short order. I was exhausted from the weekend of travel, exercise, boating, and yard work.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.