The Kayak Kid

Several weeks ago my friend got me a kayak. I've never really been on a kayak before and I was really excited about having my own.

Mine is the red-ish one on the right. The past few weekends I've only been able to get in it a couple times. Yesterday we kayaked for about an hour and then another 30 minutes or so today.

My friend looks really comfortable and almost graceful moving through the water with his paddle. I however keep hitting the sides of my kayak with my paddle, smashing my fingers and large amounts of water slide down into my lap. Also, my feet feel like they are about to fall asleep after about five minutes. My right shoulder is a little tender today but no injuries otherwise. I'm sure I'll get better the more I practice. In the meantime, I'll enjoy being out in the sunshine and sweating away some unwanted calories.

The red kayak is actually the second kayak from my friend. First, I tested this one...

So, if you can picture me looking like a klutz using the red kayak, this one was ten times worse. Apparently, it is a style kayak that is usually used in rapids, whitewater stuff. It is impossible to go in a straight line in this thing (going in dizzying circles in unbelievably easy though). It was exchanged for my nifty red (and easier to manage in the lake) kayak.

Now for an eBay update. I think I'm done for now. I've purchased a lovely collection of handbags and unique pieces of jewelry, not to mention a couple dresses.

I went to see G.I. Joe on Friday. I enjoyed it and I think it's a pretty good family film. The action scenes were great and the supersuits (I think that's what they were) were darn cool. I also watched Run, Fat Boy, Run. Very funny and cute, loved it. I'm traveling this week for work and so far I'm looking forward to the change of pace. I may feel differently by the end of the week.

Hot Vacation

I left for Myrtle Beach , S.C. just before noon last Wednesday. The trip was okay but very rainy. The GPS I borrowed was slightly difficult to adjust to but I was very glad to have it. I arrived after 5pm at the condo. After I dropped off my stuff I went straight to the balcony to see the view. This is what greeted me...

I took several pictures of the rainbow and many more photos of the view from the balcony throughout the week.

Most evenings it rained or looked like rain which lead to extremely humid mornings. The air was so thick it felt like a wool blanket was wrapped around my face. Running in that muck was exhausting. Every morning I took walks with my folks along the beach and looked for rocks. I picked up a few shells too. There seemed to be an abundance of shells this year and no rocks. I think it took a total of six walks to gather my stash.

Miniature golf was played (twice!) and I even tied with my dad, the golf master, on the second game. Each day we plopped ourselves at the beach for a few hours to read and walk and swim. We saw an IMAX movie in 3-D, did some outlet and cheesy souvenir shopping and sightseeing.

I ate far too much and I'm paying for it now. I guess that running and walking didn't help me much. The food was good though so I shouldn't complain. I was glad to be home on Sunday and sleep in my queen-sized bed (yep, you guessed it, I slept in a twin at the condo). Work was busy today with helping students do their research for papers and training a new employee. My eBay addiction has started to ebb and I'm ready to get back into a normal schedule once the fall quarter begins.

Here are some more pictures...

Sunrise from Thursday morning. My dad took this, I was still asleep.

Sunrise from Friday morning. My mom took this one, I was still asleep (it's called a vacation people--look it up!).

Incoming storm. It looked like this everyday at some point. Usually around 7pm.

I took this one morning while walking and looking for rocks.

This is a picture of what I searched through for days to find rocks. My neck started to get a crick in it and I dreamed of finding rocks our last night in Myrtle Beach.

Local methods of advertising. I know this method is not unique to Myrtle Beach but seeing the cheesy gimmicks make me smile. How else can you make your beachwear shop/specialty shop/restaurant stand out? Tourism is huge in Myrtle Beach and most businesses will try anything to set themselves apart from all the others. The resulting effect is they all look the same--outrageous.

This gem is posted on our private entrance to the beach from the condo building. The extra "L" really drives home the seriousness of the message, don't you think?