Saturday, 10-May-14

(Ed Note:  This post links to the previous post “It’s not always bad when dates don’t go as planned…”, since that was when this was planned out)

I’d texted my adventure partner the day before, but was still waiting for a reply when I headed to bed on Friday… when that happens, you sort of have a feeling what’s going on.  I was right, unfortunately; when I did hear back at 9:30 (when we were going to meet around 10:30) it was to cancel out.

But you know what?  Screw it, I’m going alone – I want to do an adventure, and it’s a perfectly humid day out, and I am good company if I do say so myself.  So I’ll explore the river, talk to myself a bit, and hope that the other boaters on the river don’t think that I’m too crazy, heh.

• Bike to breakfast, eat it, it’s excellent and starts me out right
• Relax a bit, and call in to make sure I don’t need reservations.
• All that’s left is to actually rent a boat and get on the water… once I do? My life finally transforms back into one that’s calm and relaxing.  This is what adventures should be like – physical labor, and a bit difficult… but un-stressed and fun.  I love just moving slowly down the river, and spend my time swapping between paddling hard, and letting the current carry me onward…
• Lots of photo opportunities, and I take advantage of most of them as I paddle & drift down the river

• Watch a rowing race by some high school teams, get yelled at by some standard-issue sports moms who are saying that I shouldn’t be near the river while they’re racing.  I’m honestly not convinced that’s true, but I’m not really in a position that it matters.  The banks of the river there border Storrow… which means that they’re high brick walls.  Not really an option to leave the river, even if I wanted to… which I most definitely did not want to.
• Continue on, having water and snacks as I keep playing photographer
• Once I get near the Longfellow bridge, I turn into the Esplanade, and get ready follow the route that Emma and I took before
• Take a short break on the boat launch near the end – pull the Kayak out of the water, relax, and have a bite to eat
• Get back in the water… shoot.  Maybe I should have put the paddle in first… now I’m drifting too far away, and it’s still on the dock.  Crap.  Just before I jump into the river to swim back, someone on the shore tosses it back to me.  Whew!  Note to self – remember the paddle next time!
• I head inbound and explore the esplanade a bit, which is really fun and very beautiful…  Though I do have to dodge a few other boaters who seem intent on paddling on the wrong side, straight at me, as maniacally as they can.
• Keep going on, and finally head in to the rental place and return the boat.
• From here, I need to get back to Allston… roughly a 6 mile walk, via “an unknown road” as google has told me.  So I tie up my gear, clip it to my bag, put on some headphones, and start walking!
• It’s a good walk, and it honestly doesn’t even seem that long.  I make a few phone calls, catch up with some people, and listen to a lot of music.  It’s nice, and I stick mostly to the North Bank of the Charles, which is one that I don’t usually spend much time on.  Always good to explore the road less traveled, even if it was only less traveled by you.
• Finishing up the walk / kayak / adventure was a nice drive home – basically, a good end to a relaxing day.