Day of Mishaps!

I love the first Sunday of the month. It's the day that our little circle of friends from the Renaissance Festival decided to get together at the same place in Annapolis at 1200 for brunch and off-season catching up. We say it every year that we're going to do *something* in the off-season, and we never do. This year it was a reality! I know it is a day that many of us look forward to.

My friend, who keeps my kayak and his two on the rack at his apartment complex, asked my dad to bring his kayak so we could go out after brunch, because we have enough kayaks for the 5 of us (two of them on a tandem, and then one each for my parents and I). This is a fine idea, except we can't seem to work out how to get dad's kayak, which lives at home, up to Back Creek (it won't fit on top of the car in the parking garage, you see). To complicate things more, my dad was officiating a soccer game at 1030 that morning.

We decided dad would take his kayak to the game, then bring it to my friend's apartment, then they would drive to brunch together. So the group would know we were coming, my mother and I would pick up my friend's wife while he waited for dad. Sounds good, right?

Mom and I didn't leave quite early enough to pick up our friend and get to brunch at 1200, so we were a little late. As it turns out, no one was there! We're wondering if the excitement of off-season meeting has worn off for the rest of them. If we had known no one would be there, we would have started our day earlier (for more water time). Of course, my dad and our friend arrived not long after we did. It was a wonderful brunch.

Now, the real fun part! We're suiting up to get on the water. My friend forgot she had an adverse reaction to the sunscreen if she put it on her face. Yup, she put it on her face! My dad was getting his kayak off the car, and I went down to fix a bungee on mine (I didn't tell you that I broke it last week!), while my friend washed off the old sunscreen and put on a different kind. You're right, that wasn't a good move either.

Her husband came down to the water and unlocked one kayak so we could get it ready. He dropped his keys in the grass and picked them back up before returning to the apartment. (she was now putting aloe on her face, and that wasn't helping!) My parents and I got our kayaks put in when they approached. And that's when my friend noticed he didn't have the lock key! We searched all over the area, but found no key. Back to the apartment he goes to get the spare. And we're finally heading up the creek! Yahoo!

And as a final point, my poor friend fell in as she was situating herself to get back in the kayak and go solo for a bit. But then we went to the pool and had a VERY late dinner and all was well! (Nope, not in bed by 2100, not even home by then!)