Kayaking and the Fam

This weekend we did some kayaking and spent time with family.

Kayaking:  Right now it takes us longer to put the kayaks on our car than it does to hook up our tow car to our motor home.  

Jim researched kayak carriers and bought a Thule system.  It brought the kayaks safely from Utah to Ohio, so it works great.  Jim has also used it by himself to get his 44-pound Delta kayak to Little Dell reservoir in Utah.  

But now we're using it together.  Any married couple can see the folly in that.  I apparently don't have the "furniture moving gene" which helps create the best case scenario for loading and unloading kayaks and which Jim thinks exists only in people with a Y chromosome.

But we're getting the hang of working together to move a 44-pound boat and a 50-pound boat up on top of the car, securing them so they're tightly held by the carrier and then taking them off in reverse.  Like the motorhome/tow car attachment (and most other things) disassembly goes more quickly than assembly.

As for actually being on the water,  we paddled the the 21-acre lake at the Wellington Reservation, a county park two miles from Mom's house.

Family:  We spent time with my brother Bob and sister-in-law Suzie who live in Brecksville.  Bob is a veterinarian and Suzie retired from her teaching career at Cuyahoga Community College.

The kayaks as they ride on top of our Honda CRV.  When we go long distances we also secure them with a strap that circles both boats. Jim says it's the angle of this photo is what makes the kayak on the right look less than upright.

My kayak on the Thule kayak carrier.

I took my digital camera (stored in a zip-lock bag when I wasn't using it) with me this time.  

Jim kayaking at the Wellington Reservation.  The lake was longer than it looked during the many walks we've taken on the Reservation's four miles of trails.

Jim is ahead and to the right.  In the background is the very cute Wellington Reservation Visitors' Center/park office.  The Reservation has four paddle boats people can use for free.  

 From left to right are Suzie, Jim, Mom and Bob eating blue cheese our brother Don and SIL Trudy of Nebraska sent us from Maytag Dairy Farms of Newton, Iowa.  The dairy is owned by the same family that once owned the Maytag Appliance Company.  While the appliance business was sold, a fourth generation of Maytags still owns the cheese company and makes the cheese almost entirely by hand. 

We followed the cheese with, as Trudy said, "a Blizzard chaser" at Dairy Queen.

Jim multitasking (drinking coffee and looking at his iPhone) by our rig, which is parked at my Mom's house.