Everyday Systems

I finally jumped through all the hoops to get a "kayak fitness pass" good for 30 free rentals at two different SoCal lakes! Well, "lake" -- they're pretty urban. BUT you can take the boats out any time and tool around as long as you want, and one of them, Lake Balboa, is urban and artificial but has tons of interesting bird life and even a teeny waterfall.

My goal is to develop enough kakak skills and endurance to be able to do a Channel Islands paddle, maybe next spring. And it's a great complement to transportation biking or walking, because it hits the upper-body. Plus, fun!

If anyone else is in the L.A. area, I highly recommend the program!

Sounds awesome!

We just did a five-mile kayaking jaunt down the Russian River.

Oh, are you in NorCal? I've heard the rivers up around Sacto are really beautiful!

I'm in the SF Bay Area. The rivers are low at this time of year (of course), but they're lovely.

The boat rental place did something really clever. They handed out mesh onion bags, and asked you to pack out your trash, and please pick up any trash you saw. When you got back, they traded the trashbag for an ice cream.

The river was IMMACULATE.