Joy with Alpa and her family. Are they in Hawaii?
By 7:30 A.M., I'm on my way. Poe Road, my take-out location (map point 7), is no more than 10 miles away and I ask Joy to be there by 10:30 A.M. I always asked her to be at my destination well ahead of my expected arrival. Many times our car would be the only landmark and thus it was important for her to be there so I would know where to take out.
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Joy with Alpa and her family. Are they in Hawaii? |
I'm feeling very confident having already covered 70 of the 110 miles. The scenery is gorgeous and I move at a fair pace. Soon, I see a long rock wall jutting out into the Sea. I had seen this wall from Poe Road when we were scouting the access roads and it had appeared to be about a half a mile away. I go around the wall and then continue along the shore. It is only a little after 10 o'clock and Joy is not likely to be at Poe Road yet. I look for a road instead of our car, but I don't see anything. I paddle some more and then stop. I wonder if I haven't passed the road somehow. That dirt road was certainly not very conspicuous. I turn around and head towards the wall. I float near the wall till 10:30 and then, once more, paddle towards the road. I pass the point where I had turned around and in five more minutes, I spot our car. In fact, I see two cars. Unlike yesterday, though, I know that the other car belongs to my niece. Alpa and her family drove from Yuma this morning and arrive just as I paddle in.
Dinesh loading the kayak |
As I prepare to load my kayak on top of our Explorer, I realize that the front passenger side floor mat is missing. It is an essential piece of equipment in loading and unloading the kayak. To get the kayak on top, I would lay it behind the car and position the mat on the rear of the roof. After lifting the front of the kayak and resting it on the mat, I would slide it on the roof rack. Finally, I would flip it upside down by standing, more like hanging, on the floor near the rear seat.
I think for a moment and decide that I must have forgotten to take it off the roof after unloading the kayak at the Base this morning. It probably fell off somewhere along the dirt road on the Base. We go back and sure enough, we find it lying in the middle of the road.
By noon we all descend on a Mexican restaurant for a long relaxing lunch. It felt as if I was on a leisurely vacation rather than on a demanding adventure.
6 month old Anika. One can never go wrong with a baby picture. |