Pages

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The time Matt was a superstar. And I almost peed in a canoe.

We've all read about the time Matt and I tried to kayak together and how horribly awful it was. So it was no wonder that I put off canoeing with him for as long as I possibly could. I have canoeing on my 30/30 list and since I turn 30 in March we're pretty much in the last few weeks to canoe up in northern Wisconsin. I suppose you can go until November and December, but given how shallow the Brule River already was today.. I bet it'll freeze over in those months. So this weekend? I was pretty much faced with a "shit or get off the pot" situation.

So I obviously went because if you know me by now, once I've committed to something (no matter how stupid it is) I do it.

The fun part was that after we dropped the kids at my in-laws house and drove to the canoe rental place? The rain started. Which.. yay. It was about 50 degrees, a little windy and the rain was between a mist and a light sprinkle. But this bitch? Got her ass into a canoe while a lone fisherman was trying not to laugh at me.

 We took the short route which was about an hour and a half total? According to the map, it was 45 minutes from this starting point to the Bois Brule point, and then another 40 minutes to the Hwy 2 landing point where we were parked. So off we went.
 I got to be in the front and Matt was in the back. Which (brace yourselves) THANK GOD because Matt has canoed before and knew what he was doing. I was worried because A) I suck at anything athletic and B) I had never canoed before and C) I was incredibly tired which means I'm kind of useless but punchy.

The un-fun thing was that our little trek had several areas of rapids. Matt assures me that they were only class 1 rapids but I don't care what those fucking signs say. Rapids are rapids, yo. And since I was sitting in the front of the canoe, I'm not going to lie. I kind of panicked. Like a bunch. And I'm certain that one of the worse sets of rapids came before our half way point and not only were they scary and fast, but we got stuck on a rock. It was at that moment I almost peed myself. Thankfully, Matt told me to get my shit together and help. So I did.
 And yay! We made it to the half way point!
 And I was still dry!

So we paddled even more. We saw two eagles, one of them was just chilling in a tree. We saw a duck. We saw a turkey on the road on the way there. We did not see any bears.

The really great thing? Is that though I'm still grossly uncoordinated with a paddle or oar, whatever the damn thing is called, I had a good time. Matt steered our canoe better than he steers a vehicle and for that I was thankful.
 Because I made it to the end completely dry! And I have to say? That he was a canoe rock star. He really was. I was so happy to be in the front because I couldn't see him laughing at me when I freaked out like a girl when I saw a rock or a log. I didn't even get mad when he steered us into a tree and I hit my head. Or when a bunch of branches slapped me in my mouth. I also appreciated the fact he didn't tell me that our canoe was thisclose to tipping over until we were out of the rapids. I'm sure he knew I would panic and flail and probably clear the woods of anything still alive. And tip us over in the mean time.
But all in all? I would do it again. Granted, I would prefer it to be on a sunny summer day while wearing flip flops and a bathing suit, but I would do it again. Especially if Matt was steering because he was awesome at it.

I think this was a good exercise for us in communication anyways since the kayak trip only highlighted how bad we are at it. I also think it's kind of cool to think how we've grown as a couple since that trip to now.

Before I sign off for the night, if you missed Day one of the KY Intimacy Experiment, you need to go HERE to catch up.

9 comments:

  1. That's awesome. Just AWESOME. Go, you. And Matt totally needs a t-shirt that says Canoe Rock Star. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. yay for staying dry and having a good time! Sounds much better than the kayak experience lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's awesome that you guys got along so great AND you didn't tip over OR pee in the boat :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Glad you had a good time.
    I don't even remember the last time I was in a canoe.

    ReplyDelete
  5. awesome! Sounds like you two were a married bunch of rockstars! Good for the marriage, good for the 30/30 list... good for, everyone!

    Way to go!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sweet! You are totally a canoe rock star!

    My husband and I accidentally canoed 17 miles (we missed the first get-out point) on the St. Croix. It was quite the bonding experience. I haven't been canoeing since...

    ReplyDelete
  7. i'm glad your trip rocked. i was fearful you'd end up smacking him with the oar, after reading about the kayak trip.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My first canoe trip was kind of a disaster because I was so scared. We went on the St. Croix river for a 17 mile ride and M took us back into what truly seemed like the Amazon and I thought we were lost but 45 minutes later, we were back on the normal river. We've gone 4-5 times since then too and I love it!

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Latharia-- Xmas present idea!!

    @PLR- Definitely. It was kind of nice doing something where we weren't fighting.

    @Julie- I'm glad I didn't pee either, but you know I would have claimed I sat in water.

    @Ruth-thanks!

    @Ang- I know.. it's weird how we've come full circle but it's better. :)

    @jill- If that had happened, I would have been yelling the entire trip. It would not have been good.

    @Dianne- Well our oar was some shitty plastic piece of shit that was hollow. I would have had to smack super hard.

    @Dana- You and Jill should chat about your experiences.. maybe you passed each other! ;)

    ReplyDelete

Hi Lambs! Thanks for commenting- I read them all, no matter what. If you want a reply- please leave your email addy on here so I can do that. Email me at sarastrand9438@hotmail.com if you want to be best friends.