Kayaking (mis)adventures

Dear Readers,

I love being close to a body of water. If I have my way, I'd work, live, and sleep by the ocean. Alright, so Lake Michigan is not an ocean but for those of you Chicagoans out there, and I've called it many times already, the "beach" ain't that bad! I'd like to indulge myself now in one of my newest hobby - kayaking. Chicago is truly a wonderful town. There's nothing like being out in open water admiring the skyline. But sometimes, things don't go the way you wanted it to happen. I'll tell you some of these instances.

Sometime around the middle of May, when my roommate Craig hasn't left for Boston, we took off on 31st beach and started kayaking north towards the city. It was a beautiful day, albeit kinda cold for the month. But we made a commitment to go and make no excuses. We took off around 2 or 3 pm and launced our kayak and pretty soon, we made our way towards downtown. The lake was a bit choppy but it was bearable. We got past the McCormick and chilled for a bit and talked about life... you know, stuff that guys talk about all the time - quilting, new recipes, fashion, celebrity gossips, etc. We said hello to a couple of boaters that came our way and then we left after about a half hour of R&R. Well, fate seems to be against us that day. The lake got a little more violent and we found out that it took us a little more effort to paddle this time to the direction where we wanted to go. And then, the unexpected happened... Yup! That's right! That's a Chicago Police Boat. They approached very quietly and pulled up right next to us and asked us where we're going. We told them we're trying to get back to the 31st beach but then they warned us that we could get hypothermia if we stayed longer. To make my long story short, they were gonna take us in if we don't get to shore as soon as possible so Craig and I resorted to asking them for a favor. We asked them if they could take us to 31st beach to which they promptly said no to. They then offered to take us north of McCormick since there is a dry dock out there which means that would force us to walk our way back carrying our kayak to our starting location. We swallowed our prides, got on the boat, went north for a bit and then hopped out of the boat and started walking. I should've taken pictures while we were on the boat. But the cold got into us fast. It's probably the longest, and most shameful walk I've ever participated in since people are staring at us and occasionally making remarks such as "Hey, aren't you guys supposed to be on the water and not carrying that with you?" It's embarassing! And the wind picked up too that time which made it incredibly cold in our lower extremities. It was painful but we survived, barely. Oh well, it was fun. And in typical Ross fashion, I thought of a cool picture to summarize our day. Thanks Arrested Development!

Next is when Seth and I took off before he left for Idaho...

The day was just absolutely gorgeous. It took us just a little bit to find a parking spot even if it was really packed by the 31st beach. We paddled a ways away from the beach and took pictures and chilled and then we saw something unexpected... The next picture is not for the faint of heart!

Alright.. so this is not exactly what we saw but, the idea is that we saw a photo shoot literally right by where we launched our kayaks. I wouldn't be surprised if we got into some of the pictures because the cameraman were pointing at our general direction while the shoot was going. It was really a bizarre experience but cool at the same time.

Well folks, another thing happened to me on Saturday but that's a story for another day. Let's just say, we got into trouble again but this time at the expense of the lifeguards! Who could've thought that they could give you such a hassle! Anyway, I had to ask the girl I was with to fake being dizzy so we could dock at the 31st beach which is apparently and unbeknownst to me is illegal for a kayak or a small raft to dock. We got to dock and received a royal treatment, literally. Anyway, it was a ton of fun and I'm always excited for more of these adventures to come.

Stay Rossome,