Kayaking on the Salt River

Cindy and I went kayaking on the Salt River this morning. It was awesome! Someday, I still think I am going to buy a kayak. I just have to figure out how to store it and how to haul it....

We were at Saguaro Lake Ranch. I had never been there before and it was very cool. They have quite a few things they offer. Check out their website.

http://www.saguarolakeranch.com/activities/kayaking/

We went on the two hour kayak trip. They have them at 8am, 9 and 10. We were supposed to be there a half hour early, and so we had to leave early this morning to get all the way there. It was worth it!

There were 11 people in our group. First of all, this is easy, flat water paddling in an open kayak. Anyone can do it. Seriously. There were a few areas of faster water, but nothing scary.

We had a few instructions and then he set us off and told us where he would pick us up at the other end.

Cynthia and I have rented Kayaks at Watson Lake in Prescott, off Catalina Island, Lake Pleasant and I did it once in La Jolla. We decided this was one of our nicest trips. It was fun to be on a river as opposed to the lake or ocean. We saw herons, turkey buzzards, turtles, red winged black birds and 19 wild horses!

The scenery was nice the whole time, but the most spectacular were these cliffs right at the beginning.

He told us you can sometimes see eagles sitting on the cliffs. We didn't notice them today.

We did see lots and lots of turkey buzzards. I thought these guys in the saguaro skeleton were pretty comical.

 Some of the places the wild horses were, was fast water. I couldn't take pics then as I had to pay attention to what I was doing, but I got some. We saw horses pretty much along our whole trip.

We only saw two people tubing and so it was like we had the river completely to ourselves. We loved that too. It could be because we were the 8am group and also it was a weekday.

More horses

This horse had a rider! He was waiting for us to pull out before he crossed the river on his horse.

It's easier to get out if someone gives you a hand. My knees aren't what they used to be.

Made it to the end. We think we are going to go back and maybe do the longer trip next time.

Beach Camping

Lynnora and I introduced Dericka to camping a couple of years ago. She has decided she likes it! She has even invested in some of her own equipment. Lynnora has gone beach camping every year and I was always a little wistful, thinking that it would be a fun thing to do. So this year, Dericka and I tagged along with Lynnora's plans.

We stayed at Sycamore Cove campground in Point Mugu State Park, near Malibu in California. At first, I was disappointed that we weren't right on the beach. We were about a 5 minute walk away. But after the cold wind started to blow, I decided maybe it was better to not be right on the ocean. And we had flush toilets and water. The campground that was on the beach did not. We also had a beautiful sycamore tree to put our tents under. There were no trees at the beach campground. So we think maybe we had the best of both worlds.

 We all have our own little tents. Mine was called the "princess tent" because I had a cot with a blow up air mattress. And I put nice sheets on it and used my sleeping bag as a quilt. I probably should have zipped my sleeping bag and used it like it was meant to be. I would have been warmer. It was in the 50's at night and for a while each evening the wind blew, which was freezing.

Dericka had told us before that "black people don't camp." She was very excited to see quite a few black families camping in our campground. She had to take a picture of them to prove they existed.

Our beach was uncrowded and plenty big for us!

I enjoyed seeing this French bulldog puppy on the beach.

Graffiti in the tunnel we would take under the road to the beach.

Lynnora was our supremo fire starter and fire tender.

 Dericka was happy to get some warmth.

They had S'mores with specially made marshmallows for S'mores. They were square.

Cairns on the beach

 Nice sand and clean mostly.

Dericka enjoyed a little exploring. A group of dolphins swam by, right close to the beach!

It was a little chilly to get more than your feet in the water, although some people swam. Lynnora enjoying her adult coloring book.

Lynnora and Dericka tried a little beach badminton.

Navy helicopter flew by twice. We waved.

Before I got sunburned.

The sun did come out enough for us all to enjoy a little nap in the sun.

And suddenly they were setting up a wedding right next to us. We hung out long enough to watch.

And they are married!