A Little Bit of Erin

I'm talking about the Atlantic tropical storm that was a tropical depression when it hit land over Texas. What was left of her moved into Oklahoma and a pressure system there sent some rains our way, all the way in Maryland. Erin was raining on the parade today.

But we were going to kayak anyway! The rain wasn't so bad, in fact they had mostly stopped by the morning, and the clouds kept the sun at bay. We were going to try to sail, but there was not much wind. Fox, Fae, mom, dad, and I put in at Selby's Landing and headed south to Mattaponi Creek around 1115. That's when the wind picked up. And the tide was on its merry way out. We actually had to work quite a bit to gain the creek.

The rain from Erin over the night raised the water level nicely. Fox and Fae and I went without our pedals, because the aquatic grasses get very thick this time of year. With the water level up a couple inches, only rudders got caught in the grasses. That worked out well!

Occasionally, Erin drizzled on us and it was just a little chilly. But we paddled the two and a half mile length of the creek, and then rafted up for some midday snacking, letting the flow of the creek take us creepingly back to the river. On the way back, I discovered that I can turn around in my kayak on my knees (this is a trick of balance, of course!) while floating. And I even had to do a little bit of paddling this way. Before you think I'm crazy, it was because there was water in my seat and I was tired of sitting in it, so I got up to sponge it out with Fox's sponge since mine was in the most convenient place: the car.

We went back to shore after a three hour outing. Fae wanted to stay out longer, and I did too except that I was tired of being wet (remember, I sat in a puddle of water for much of the time). We packed up and heading home to clean up, get into dry clothes, and go to dinner. We tried something new today and went to a place called Lone Star (as opposed to our usual Red Robin dinner). We had only been there once before, and the server made an expensive error on our bill at that time. But things may have changed, right? There was no problem with the bill, but their choices for food were rather limited, and mostly filled with things I shouldn't be eating. I went outside my diet a tiny bit, but I don't feel bad about it because I've been pretty good at keeping it up. It was the lack of beverage choices that was most annoying. Except for water (which is what I had) all they had to offer were things I can't consume in the restrictions of my diet; black tea, soda, beer. The server did have a rather insulting reaction when I asked if they had lemonade. Almost every time we try to change things up a little after our kayak trips ends up not working out as well as Red Robin. Maybe we should just stick with what we know!

So, that's my weekend! Tomorrow is supposed to be more rain. I hope so, because we really need it, and my mom bought a Crepe Myrtle to put out front near where the Maple used to be that should really get planted. I guess I won't be getting a Sakura yet. Do you know how difficult it is to plant a tree when the ground is as hard as the sidewalk? It's hard!