Take Me to the River

Up near 8am.

Beautiful - cool. Only in the low 50s but expected to warm quickly and into the 80s by afternoon.

Mindy was up by the time I returned from my run. We hung on the deck enjoying coffee for a while.

Proposed we go boating at Griggs, the boat's maiden voyage 2014. We puttered around the house until 1230pm finally heading out near 1245pm. We picked the boat up on the way to the river, but since we needed boat gas, we opted to stop at Mill Run first. And since I wanted to pick-up a couple things at Lowes, figured we could make the stop then rather than returning later that afternoon.

Filled boat at the Mill Run Super America. Immediately after we popped in Lowes, me going after some soft rope for the tree tire swing, and Mindy for a Sports Authority gift card, a Father's Day gift for Jimaken from the kids. Arrived at Griggs near 120pm. Clear boat ramp.

No trouble getting the boat in and on the water, though it stalled a couple times in the process. Still on the chilly side, especially with the wind generated from our boat speed. Heck, it was still only 72 degrees. We cruised all the way north of Hayden Run Rd/Bethel Rd to the no-wake zone that's very natural looking and quite peaceful. It's where we always end up. We threw anchor just shy of the water grass and purple water irises. More boats on Griggs than we've experienced past. May a dozen or more boats on the water, which is a lot for the river.

The clear sky and sunshine helped warm things quickly. Soon into the 80s. I took my new Canon D70 as well as my 75-300mm zoom lens. Got some cool photos of blue heron, hawks, purple martin, and turtles. We took our jambox too, so we could enjoy some tunes without worry of draining the boat battery. Nice time. Actually took my Kindle too and did a little reading. Stayed on the river until about 4pm.

As we docked to pull the boat out I offered to help a young 20/30 something couple struggling to put their boat in. Turned out they forgot to remove their trailer straps. :) They were a tad embarrassed, despite me insisting that we've all done it. Took the boat back to storage on the way home. The river is very convenient. I wish it were bigger, more versatile (tubing, etc).
We were expecting the kids home from the Outer Banks around 630-7pm. Mindy stayed in touch with Molly most of the afternoon on their whereabouts via text. We planned to attend two parties that evening one the kids were home, one at Kenny & Chrissy's, celebrating her bachelor's degree, and then Darwin's family barbeque and bonfire.

Kids were home near 7pm while I was out walking the pug. Seemed happy to be home, especially Bella, who missed her momma. We headed down to Kenny and Chrissy's around 8pm. There we enjoyed a couple beers, some City Barbeque, and cornhole. Most of the usual family and friends there, including Ben & Ryan, Josh & Rachel. We love those guys!

We told Connie, Darwin's wife that we'd be over near 9pm. We left Kenny & Chrissy's around 915pm and drove to Darwin's even though we could have easily walked. I took a cooler of beers. Jacob stayed back at the house but promised to meet us later. He was playing basketball with Evan and Jake.

Lots of family from both sides at Darwin's. Darwin had an ice cold shot of Woodford Reserve waiting for me. Sat around the fire enjoying their company for a couple hours. Good times! Mindy declared it time to leave around 11pm. Once home, Mindy was quickly off to bed. Bella and I headed back to Kenny & Chrissy's as the party was still going on. We partied for another hour or two before I snuck off home. Bella was already back and in bed.

Quite buzzed, I wasn't ready to call it an evening. Instead, I strummed by gaily strummed my guitar. It wasn't until Mindy came down the stairs with the "buzz kill". :) Instead of bagging it, I took it out to the deck where I strummed for another 15 minutes or so. Not sure the time, but guessing near 2am when I finally decided that I ought to call it a night and head to bed.