Jump Bump Goes Boating

1) Eye Spy - there was a peep hole in the side of our booth.
I took a picture of the unassuming folks on the other side.
2) Kennedy Rockhouse - notice the two-dimmesional sheep
on the hillside behind the house.
3) The Jumps
4) Me - accentuating my dimples
5) A lovely view of the lake from the lodge restaurant
6) Mindy at dinner - lodge

I had talked of leaving the house at 8am, but knew deep down inside that would be nearly impossible unless I rose at 5am. I certainly never intended to wake quite that early. Even still, leaving early was my goal. I ended up rising at 6:15am. I flew through my exercises and walk with Ykraps. I was eager also to learn how the Viking game turned out. Turns out they lost 13-10, but a lot of positive things happened. Thankfully it’s only preseason. I left for a run at 7:30am.

It was gorgeous outside. It was only about 67 degrees, but the humidity was still pretty high – about 80%. Despite the cooler temps, I ran up one heck of a sweat. It was a fruitful run. Mindy was up and about by the time I returned. It was just after 8am. After toweling off, I got busy with a few other tasks. First, I retrieved the 22lb bag of ice from the basement freezer and then went out to water the rear flowers. I took a shower before loading up the Trooper. By 9am we were loading our gear for departure. Only one minor mishap occurred. The quart of oil I bought for the boat hydraulics had somehow burst open while rolling around in the back of the Trooper. Lucky for me I had it in a bag. We were all loaded and hit the road at 9:15am. Mindy placed a call to dad. He didn’t answer either phone. We left a VM.

It occurred to us both that we hadn’t eaten anything. That’s rare for me. I was very hungry after running and doing all my chores this AM. I kept a close eye on the boat cover this time not wanting a reoccurrence of early July. It did fine. We stopped just east of Zanesville to get some food. We first tried McDonald’s but they were serving only breakfast. We wanted burgers. We walked from the McDonald’s lot to Wendy’s, which was right next door. It looked deserted, but they were indeed open and serving burgers, too.

We ate rather quickly and returned to the freeway for the final 35 miles in. The drive went much faster this particular trip. We were there before we knew it. It was 11:30am when we pulled up to the boat launch. There was no one in line making the put-in easy. Soon we were on the lake. We already knew that Jeremy & Courtney were on their way, and I figured them to be about 30 minutes behind us. We headed southeast on the lake towards the main marina through the large no-wake zone. As soon as we gave her some gas in the ski-zone Mindy’s cell phone rang. Jeremy & Courtney were at the lodge docks. We happily headed back to get them.

It didn’t take long to get back and board our guests. We were back out in the open waters by 12:20pm. This time we headed north. It’s a little quicker to the fast water. We were surprised at how crowded the lake was. There were an uncomfortable number of boats all seemingly going to the same place at the same time. I chose to decelerate a number of times to allow a crowd of boats to go on ahead of us thus avoiding the large wake. I wanted to keep my passengers, most notably the “jump bump”, safe.

We cruised up the lake almost as far as it seemed to go. The topography of Salt Fork is more like a river than a common lake, which typically looks more like a big puddle. The lake twists and turns through the foot hills of Applachia. We made our way by the famed Kennedy Rock House. It was pretty cool, built around 1840 as I understand it. We weren’t sure why but there were two-dimensional sheep placed all along the hillside behind the home. Perhaps had we docked and visited we would have learned why. Seemed kind of “sheepish” to me! :) Learn more about the Rock House at the link below. www.usgennet.org/usa/oh/county/guernsey/places/kennedyhouse.html

After a leisure cruise along the winding lakeside we went into action skiing and tubing. First, it was Jeremy taking a turn water skiing. He did well, getting up with no trouble and allowing us to pull him around a small section of the lake for quite a while. Mindy was next, skiing better than she has all summer. She had no trouble getting up and crossing the wake, however she did so cautiously. After skiing, Mindy and Jeremy each took a turn on the tube. Jeremy did a fantastic job controlling the tube all the while taking a wild ride side to side. Courtney looked a little panicked a time or two as she watched her husband, Jeremy being tossed from side to side. Mindy did a good job, too.

After the tubing we found our way to the official boat swim area right around the corner from the lodge/cabin docks. We sat in the hot sun and swam for about an hour before heading back to the dock. It was 5:40pm when we pulled into our dock slip. Jeremy & Courtney decided to head back home. Mindy and I went to the lodge to register and find our room.

It didn’t take long for us to register and find our room. This time we were on the top (3rd) floor overlooking the shuffleboard court just west of the outdoor pool. It was a slightly nicer room than the one we had in early July, but without a hillside/lakeside view. I cracked a beer and read while Mindy showered after making 8:15pm dinner reservations. I showered after her. We left for the Wildlife lounge around 7:40pm eager to get a couple of drinks in us before dinner. After our first drinks we were both feeling no pain. I tried talking Mindy out of going to dinner and instead going for a walk and an evening boat ride, but she wanted to eat. By the time we were seated we agreed that we’d go back to the bar after dinner. However, I knew that would likely not happen if we had full bellies. So, I proposed that we eat only light appetizers in lieu of a full fledged dinner. Mindy agreed. We each ordered a bowl of lobster bisque and then shared an order of crab cakes. That was plenty, and they were very good. As darkness set in we strolled out of the restaurant and back to the bar. We only lasted for only one more drink before Mindy wanted to return to the room.

Back in the room I cracked another beer, grabbed my guitar, and headed for the balcony. The noise & commotion coming from the shuffle board court below was deafening. But I didn’t mind as much as Mindy. I just played my guitar happily. I knew the noise wouldn’t last too long. After all, it was a large family at play – grandpa, mom, dad, and kids.

Sometime between 10 & 11pm we went to bed. Mindy could still hear the noise. I couldn’t, or at least didn’t let it bother me. I fell asleep quickly.