Kayaking with Ben

I have never been kayaking and Ben wanted to teach me.  On his next day off, which was Friday, we got up and headed out to Tugboat Annie's in Olympia.  The weather was nice so we wore shorts and tank tops.  I slathered sunscreen on Ben so he didn't become a crispy ginger.  We ate lunch outside. The seagulls tried to eat our food but never got close enough.  Our waitress came and we asked her about the kayaking information.  We decided to get a double, mostly because it was my first time and Ben knew more about it than I did, and I think we paid for 2 hours and ended up staying out for 3.

We used the restroom first and then found our kayak and our life jackets.  We made sure we had the GoPro all charged up and ready to go.  We were excited to use it out on the water.

We got in and launched ourselves into the harbor.  It took a couple of minutes to adjust to the paddling and the weight distribution.  We headed out into Budd Bay.  The wind was alright and the water had some ripples in it with some whitecaps.  I took a few pictures with my phone of the Capitol building and the backdrop of Olympia from the kayak.  We spent some time adjusting the GoPro so we could get the correct shots.

We spent some time paddling and enjoying the sun.  We stopped for a few minutes to adjust the GoPro again and we saw a seal poke its head out of the water.  "Ben!  There's a seal!"  We tried to get closer to it but it disappeared into the sea.  We might have gotten on in video but it would be hard to see it.

We paddled our way towards the pier and the Bayview Thriftway grocery store and weaved our way in and out of the pier poles and underneath the 4th Avenue bridge.  We turned around and started heading back towards Tugboat Annies to return the kayak.  We paddled slowly at first just to take in everything and get some pictures.

Then we paddled a little bit faster because we weren't sure if they would charge us for the extra hour we were our on the bay.  When we arrived in the harbor I thought I did pretty good for my first time out.  Someday I might even want to get my own kayak so we can do this more often.  We returned our kayak and life jackets in the appropriate places and walked back up to the restaurant.  Ben paid and he said that they didn't charge him for the extra hour we were out.  Nice.  We got back in the car and headed out to Bonney Lake to spend some time with his mom and sister.

Next Adventure: Mount Rainier GeoTour Kickoff Event