Saturday, September 22, 2007

No Wake Zone




I slept late – I didn’t get up until almost 8am. I didn’t feel too bad at all, although I did feel like sleeping longer. But sleeping longer would only impede on my free-time plans. I so much more I wanted to be doing besides sleeping. I whipped out my exercise shortly after making a pot of coffee. I was surprised how chilly the morning air was after such a warm Friday and the warm Saturday forecast. It was only in the mid 50’s. By the time Ykraps and I completed our walk I was wide awake.

I drank coffee and played on the PC before committing myself to a run. I took Mindy some coffee at the same time I went upstairs to dress for it. It was a nice run. The sunshine warmed the air quickly. I could tell that it was gonna be a very warm day by the time I returned home. Mindy was up and on the phone chatting with friends. Our plans called for boating. The weather seemed most cooperative. It was 9:45am as we began getting things ready. I headed out back to water plants/flowers. They needed it sorely.

I retuned inside around 10:30am. I woofed down some fruit and then ate a leftover bunless cheeseburger. We were ready to hit the road by 11am. As far as I could tell, we had everything we needed – cooler full of food and drink, towels, keys, and tools. By the time we hitched & fueled the boat and Trooper it was 11:20am. I was almost certain that the lake would be near desolate. I mean, shoot, if it is anything like years past, after Labor Day the boating public goes back inside. I counted on it.

I was surprised to see so many trailers at the marina. Even still, there was next to no trailer traffic putting in. We took our stress-free time. The water level was down about four feet. That was obvious from the outset. I could see rocks and land where there is normally plenty of water. I could see that there were a number of boats just out from the marina. We had no trouble putting in and getting started. It went very well. Soon we were taking a cruise around the south lake. The water was choppier than we expected. I suppose that was due mostly to the light breeze. The beach is large, and it looked almost abandoned. Even still, I’ll bet there were 30 people on it. This late in September that was surprising. Surprising, save for the fact that it was 85 degrees and sunny. We headed northward towards the swim cove after retrieving my fallen, wind blown ball-cap.

As we approached the first bridge three marina patrols came cruising through. Uh-oh! Once we made it to the swim cove we cruised further north for the first time in years (Mindy never). As we passed under the bridge I was shocked to see what looked like tens of boats anchored just to our immediate north. Also, there was a sign indicating that the area to the north is “all boat swim” – idle speed only. I knew of the idle speed only but didn’t realize you were now allowed to swim. Cool! We decided to escape the crowded area and keep trudging northward. I was curious just how far we could go.

We did our best to stay close to the middle as there were many tree stumps protruding upward from the depths all around. A mile or so further we encountered yet another bridge. We crossed under and kept heading north. We decided to turn around after another mile or so. The geography was very attractive. There were trees turning colors cast against all of the shale rock cliffs lining the cost. Most impressive! As we returned towards the lakes main body we once gain passed through a maize of boats anchored just north of rt 36. Finally on the other side we pulled into our favorite swim cove.

Geesh! There were about ten or more boats back there too. Late September and full of boats. We anchored about two thirds of the way back. The boats already anchored were being very loud. Not only were kids swimming, yelling, and having fun, but they had yelping dogs too. Of course that often comes with the territory but I wanted badly to nap. I tried my best. Mindy pointed out a group of about six very large boats all anchored together who floated a satellite dish to shore to apparently link up to the Buckeye game on the water. Those were some dedicated fans. We had our radio tuned to the pre-game action. Around 3pm or so the sky became almost completely overcast. I was ready to head out. I think Mindy was too. But truthfully, I felt the urge to be at home all day long, But I went boating knowing that opportunities in the immediate future might not exist.

As luck would have it, getting out was tight. There were a crowd of boats either pulling out or putting in. I did my best to remain calm. Mindy did a more than admirable job of dropping me at the dock so that I could retrieve the trailer. We were out and covered by 345pm. The Buckeyes were already up 14-0 by the time we got on the road and the game was only five minutes old. Wow!

We made good time heading home. And while the sky seemed to clear towards home, we could see darker clouds to our north. Good call heading out when we did. At home we tuned into the Buckeye game on the television. By then it was already a blow out. We were up 35-0, I believe, when I got up from the sofa to start working on my storage shelves. I worked on the shelves for the next three hours. Mindy walked Ykraps for me. She wasn’t pleased that I was spending our “alone time” working on my project, however. In hindsight I can understand, at least to a certain degree. At 8pm I called it a night. I got much further than I imagined I would. I pretty much had the entire thing framed. I headed in to shower. We had talked of grilling steaks but they weren’t thawed thoroughly, and besides, it was late. I asked Mindy if she felt like doing Barley’s again tonight. She did. After a fast shower we headed out.

We ran into Jeremy and Courtney at Barley’s dining with his parents. They were there Friday night, too. This, we surmised, would be the last time that we’d see them before baby Jump arrives. Later, while we were enjoying our meal, Thad and Monica showed as well. We laughed it off. I had a Cuban and fries that were to die for delicious. Mindy had the Saturday special – brisket. I had only two beers – a Mean Manalishi & a Double Dog Dare IPA. Both were superb. We headed for home around 10pm and pretty much went straight to bed. I had to be up early for golf!

Buckeyes won 58-7 over Northwstern.
Michigan beat Penn State.

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