Doing Lunch on Dickenson Bayou - Kayaker Style

Dateline: Saturday, January 9, 2013

It's so fun to be back where I can paddle any day I wish.   Saturday, I joined another HASK (Houston Association of Sea Kayakers) trip, this time on Dickinson Bayou.  This was to be a very social paddle as our destination was Garcia's Grill in the little Town of Dickinson on Benson Bayou. We paddled upstream from out put-in at the Highway 3 boat ramp until it was time to turn around and go back, in order to be at the restaurant by the time of our reservations.

Boats came off cars and lined up by the boat ramp

Putting the hatch covers on Linda's new kayak

Trip Leader Donna putting in

This paddle is through neighbors with huge houses on large tracks of land with a few still wild areas in between. It doesn't  get to be really wild until a ways past where we had to turn around.  Still, we enjoyed being on the water, visiting with friends, and enjoying the birds.  Herons and egrets were fishing, as was an osprey, and a pair of red-tailed hawks were courting. Lots of spotted sandpipers bobbed along rocks and logs at stream side, or flew weakly to new landings.  Black and turkey vultures circled lazily overhead. I was able to get real close to a tri-colored heron, but alas, I didn't have my camera on the correct settings to get a sharp picture of him as the wind moved and bounced my canoe around.

Bayou View

 The day was partly to mostly cloudy with soft air.  I wore my long pants, river sandals and a a Coolmax short-sleeved shirt.  When the sun went behind clouds and the breeze picked up, I could have used a layer on my arms but I could stay warm when I was paddling.

Donna with  some of the group

By the time we reached the restaurant the temperatures had risen to high sixties and we were comfortable sitting out on the deck.  We had nineteen of us for lunch when friends of one of the paddlers joined us. It made for a long, relaxing lunch.

Taking out at Garcia's Grill

Coming under the Hwy. 519 Bridge to reach the restaurant

Lunch bunch sans three

 After lunch, we had a short paddle back to the boat ramp. About half the group elected to paddle on downstream.  I am still fighting a shoulder problem and didn't want to stress it by paddling into the increasing wind, so was in the group that packed up and went home.

Getting ready to continue our paddle

Nap time, Gus?

This is not the prettiest paddle, but is close to most of us - I was only  thirty minutes away from Galveston - to make it an good place to go for fresh air and exercise on the water. In the winter, it is quiet and there are few motor boats around.  And if you are willing to paddle upstream longer, it does get wilder. However this is a place to avoid in the late spring through fall as there are lots of motor boats and jet skies on it.

My shoulder didn't get worse paddling here, and I enjoyed visiting with friends and observing the birds,  so I deemed the day a success.

Paddling with Zootie

 Dateline: November 18, Clear Creek, League City, Texas

I got to go on my first paddle since I've been back in Texas.  I've already been here for over a week so it was getting to be desperate times to live so long here without wetting my boat. I've been house sitting for my best friend, Natalie. She takes her small springer spaniel, Zootie, paddling so I thought I could probably handle her.  So we loaded up the boat, snacks, water, paddles, and both our life jackets and set off.

A little dry land practice pre paddle

 Zootie has been going lots of places with me and is a good little passenger.  But when we got to the park, she got really excited at all the great smells and sights of birds there. She got so wound up, I wasn't sure I could make her sit still  in the boat.  The first time I got in and both times we went under the Interstate 45 bridge, she was a little hard to manage. In fact she was totally terrified going under the bridge the first time and only a tight squeeze with my legs and grabbing her with my hands saved us. The second time, she was again reduced to shaking but she sat like a little trouper.

John has almost conquered  his spray skirt while Jim loads his kayak

Two pelicans weren't disturbed at all by our passage.  Zootie didn't try to retrieve them. So we stayed dry.

The group coming in to Challenger Perk

And I got to paddle with several of my friends - there were nine of us - in really beautiful weather; temps at about 70, with a light wind and little current in either directions. We had a good stopover at Challenger Park where we ate lunch together. 

 Notice that I'm the only one in a canoe?  This paddle is by the Houston Area Sea Kayakers and they don't invite canoers. But they let me get away with paddling since this canoe is fast enough that, with doubleblades, I can stay at the front of the group. And this way Zootie can have fun also. She loves water and walked and swam in it while we were waiting for everyone else to get ready.  She also needed some practice staying in one place in a boat since I think Natalie and I will be paddling solo canoes on our Thanksgiving trip.

Ann used my camera to get a picture of me and Zootie

Time to head back after lunch.

Spray skirts and life jackets go on, lunch gets packed away and we will soon be underway

This is a very urban paddle but we paddled between two parks so it still has lots of birds

The all-too-short end of a lovely paddle

Since I got home,  I had to get the turkey out of the brine - a major undertaking since I had to lift over 40 pounds high enough to get the bucket on the sink counter. I drained off the brine, rinsed the turkey and returned it to the refrigerator.  Tomorrow I'll bake it, then slice it up into dark and light meat bags.  The little pieces will become the meat for Friday's wraps. I'll make gravy to add to each bag of turkey and it will all be ready to reheat.

I cooked a huge batch of curried butternut squash soup this morning and just left it on the stove to cool.  I'll have to heat it all again for supper, then put most of it in the freezer. But my work for today is almost done.