down the river

Yesterday may have been a Monday, but I was certainly not at work. Instead of gracing the library with my presence, I took a vacation day and went kayaking with one of my co-workers.

Prior to yesterday, I had kayaked a grand total of 1 time, so when Karen asked if I wanted to go kayaking, I was a bit hesitant at first. The other time I kayaked was in a 2-man kayak, and the other person was an expert. I was really just along for the ride to get a story about Missouri River Expeditions for the Volante. That trip was amazing, but I wouldn't say that I gained very much "experience" kayaking.

However, in the spirit of adventure, I decided to give it a try. This time each of us had our own kayak and 7 miles of river to cover without an expert or guide there to make sure we didn't capsize or injure ourselves or the boats. I was a little nervous about the prospect of navigating down the river on my own, so when the weather turned out to be bit chilly, I almost used that as an excuse to back out.

In the end I didn't back out, and I'm so glad I didn't. I can imagine a better way to have spent my Monday. Kayaking down the river was infinitely better than sitting at my desk working all day.

The guy who coordinates the river trips is married to a professor where I work, and he gave his contact information to me and Karen just in case we want to take advantage of any unseasonably warm days during the off season. I think we may take him up on that. I'd definitely like to see some more kayaking in my future :)