m r pigs... m r not pigs... m r SUP!

SUP?  According to the Urban Dictionary, SUP is a term that cool people use because they are too damn lazy to say What's up.  Well, in our quest to find more toys to play with, we discovered another meaning... Stand Up Paddling.  


Last fall we were in Cocoa Beach, Florida, waiting for a shuttle launch (pre-blog) and we saw our first stand up paddle boards.  There were a couple of guys standing on what seemed like surf boards and paddling them with long paddles parallel to the shore.  Once in a while they would catch a wave and ride it in a ways, turn and paddle back out.  Looked like work to me and blew it off.


Last June we were in North Carolina getting ready to put our inflatable kayak on the Tuckasegee River and we met a woman that had an inflatable SUP board just getting off the river.  Again, interesting, but who does that on a river?


This fall I decided to do a little Google-intel on these things and became a little more intrigued.  The reason for me is that I have a hard time exercising in the basement in one place.  So between my bicycle and paddling, I get to work both the top and the bottom of me to some extent.  I found a new start up company in the area that rented these curiosities and between the wind and the cold, we finally found a day last Saturday to check them out first hand at Lake Jacomo.


We met Jill (she and her husband began renting these this last August) at the boat ramp with her boards and paddles.  She gave us a short what to, how to, and Miki, Greg (Greg from Canada, my old P.E. teacher Greg), and I mounted our boards on a two hour trip to exhaustion.  


As I started to brace myself to stand up for the first time, the board was a bit wiggly from side to side (to be expected, after all it/we is a floating object), but after a few minutes of waking up some muscles that had been dormant and getting the paddle in the water and moving forward, what was a bit disconcerting was becoming possible.  We made our way to the next cove to get out of the slight breeze that was working against us and it became even easier.  We each had a different board from the other, so we swapped over the next two hours to see how they were different.  Some turn easier, some glide more easily through the water, some are wider and more stable, the paddles can be heavy (aluminum) or light (carbon fiber).  We paddled a while and rested a while and repeated the process until we wore ourselves slick.  At one point I realized that my feet hadn't moved from their initial position for some time and were going to sleep.  I laugh at Miki when that happens, but it is not so funny floating in the middle of a lake.


It was a good day (all two and a half hours of it).  We visited with Jill a bit more after coming ashore and then parted ways.  The 3 of us were jazzed about using this new thing (even though they have been around for a long time).  They have Polynesian roots, but gained popularity in Hawaii in the 60's, primarily for surfing.  Now people are bringing them inland to rivers and lakes...that's right...rivers...with rapids...

It became clear to me that we would have one of these paddle boards when I started looking on Craigslist that evening after trying them out at the lake and found an inflatable one near Topeka for $50.  At first I thought it was a misprint and should have been $500, but it really was one zero after the 5.  They easily go for $700 and up, inflatable or not!  I figured for that price I didn't care if it had a few holes it it or not.  It does hold air, seems brand new, and we just got paddles for it.  It seems looking back, that adding a stand up paddle board to our arsenal of toys was inevitable.  Now... will we love it... that is yet to be seen.  Stay tuned.

My Zen from the water:  I followed my own Zen from the last post and did something for the firs time.  I usually don't walk the walk, but babble on like the Zen Master I am not. While on the water, Greg and I were talking about all the little muscles dealing with our balance to keep us from falling, without a whole lot of thought.  In that moment I began to appreciate my body for what it is capable of doing, not what I thought it couldn't. After this realization, I promptly fell in the water...just kidding!  Aloha!

P.S.  I told Miki that if I had my own paddle board store I would call it... (wait for it...)

"What SUP?"  (like "what's up" ...get it?)

Okay, I probably won't have my own paddle shop.

Pre-Blog...The Original

Last spring, Miki and I loaded our newly acquired Montana 5th wheel with food and fur (the animals... Tuck, Tooga, and Mulligan) and headed out on our first travel adventure to Yosemite National Park. We would meet up with my sisters Alice and Betty and Alice's husband, David.

Before I stumbled into the land of the blog, I emailed our daily, sometimes weekly, antics from the road. This was primarily aimed at family, so they knew what the hell we were doing, where we were doing it, and cut down on our cell phone bill.

I found a few of the emails from that inaugural trip and am posting them now, so they too can be a part of our traveling history of observations, blunders, reactions, and learning curve to our life after teaching. Some editing (like capitalization) has taken place on the original emails so it looks like I care. 

April 21, 2011
We left Blue Springs Tuesday about 11am and headed for Yosemite, dragging a 13,000 lb doghouse behind us. Being our first big inaugural trip, I thought I would have written each night, but after two nights now...not a lot to write about. Have you traveled through SE Kansas, Oklahaoma, the panhandle of Texas, and eastern New Mexico...yeah, thought so. You haven’t, because there is no reason to. There is nothing to share about what we have seen (not that it is okay to generalize!). I am thinking Dodge City, KS is looking pretty good in comparison (no offense Stephensons!)...we may look for rv parks in Dodge to winter up next fall!

I thought surely there would be great stuff to see off the highway... not, we may have a partial solution to our southern border problem...give Mexico back the land we took from them...they might not want to travel that far in those conditions??? Just a thought. 

We will stay in 3 walmart parking lots and a KOA on the way. The pets are great traveling in the truck. The cat on the floor of the passengers side and the dogs in the back. Thanks for reading, I’ll try to only pass on stuff slightly more interest as the days pass on the way to Yosemite.

Our second of three Walmart nights. We awoke to a
half dozen new friends. Some traveling, some homeless,
and I am sure a few sleeping off a really fun night. 

April 22, 2011

Welcome to day 4, of what I thought would be a never ending sea of featureless hell, but what a difference a shower can make!...and a change of scenery...and underwear for that matter! We left the comforts of our Albuquerque Walmart and headed out at the butt crack of dawn Wednesday. Not that I am wanting to come across as a whiner, but when we walked the dogs in a nearby Albuquerque park, there were fire ants the size of Volkswagons and tiny burrs that stuck to the dogs paws making them limp, for what appeared to be no reason. You can only tell a dog to suck it up so many times before you feel like you need to investigate. I guess the point is, we won’t be relocating to Albuquerque anytime soon. I’ve incorporated the name Albuquerque a number of times to impress you... the spelling of it, that is.

We arrived just west of Flagstaff, AZ (Williams, AZ) Wed. afternoon to find our KOA awaiting...this meant “hookups!” in the RV world, hookups, have a totally different meaning than in the real world. To me it meant a hot shower! (the one mentioned earlier). Hookups are your “utilities,” not your next...well, you know. These utilities we take for granted at home... water, electricity, and sewer (cable if you are lucky...not so lucky tonight).
We ended our day by hoofing it 60 more miles north, to the big ditch, the Grand Canyon...just in time for sunset. Of course, since our retirement has become all about our pets, we dragged the dogs with us and like “flat stanley,” see an elementary teacher if you don’t know who that is, we took a picture of our dogs on the rim of the Grand Canyon for them to always cherish this moment in dog years time. Have included 4 pics this time, for your enjoyment or amusement. We will be in Yosemite over the weekend, so we’ll see you next week for more adventures of Tuck and Tooga (our dogs), the flat stanleys of the canine world.
We hope you have survived MAP (state testing for you non educators) and know that the rest of your year will be awesome.... HA!...remember, its the thought that counts.

April 27, 2011
Oh my god! No, I don’t have texting yet, but we hiked to the top of Yosemite Falls today. A mere 3.5 miles, one way, yet a staggering 2500+ feet elevation change…straight up. Let’s have some perspective here. This is approx. ½ mile up (½ the depth of the Grand Canyon), some 60+ switchbacks, through some small, yet slippery snowfields, all while telling your legs they can lift you up one more time, over and over again. The first hour wasn’t too bad. The second hour was doable, because we had most of the switchbacks behind us. And the third hour we kept going only because it was farther to turn around and go back down. Hitting the top was awesome though. There was a rock climber who had strung a rope across the precipice at the mouth of the upper Yosemite waterfall. At first, we thought it was some kind of stunt like a tightrope walker. It was just a couple of guys doing their rock climbing thing…anywho… after an hour on top for lunch, we headed down for another 3 hour punishment, targeting another group of muscles. It wasn’t too bad starting out, but then the bottom never came. Those 60+ switchbacks seemed to have doubled. Knees, feet, thighs started to scream. Hikers that came too close could have been punctured by my hiking poles (the only thing that saved my knees from totally giving out…sort of)…had they uttered, “How’s it going?” one more time. Eventually we made it to the bottom and hobbled back to the car and home for some pizza in town! Spectaclular views (see photo). The pic is of the upper falls, I think I sent a pic of the lower falls already. I think each of you has a twin out here, due to the fact that I think I have seen you all at one time or another…not to mention I had a school dream last night, but that is another story.

Hope all is well. We head home next Monday. 

P.S. Send a few positive thoughts, since I won’t be able to walk normal for a few days…or wish me more pain since I am here and you are there, I’ll take either.
P.S.S. In the pic, we ate lunch on top left of the falls!

Back to present time:

Well, if you didn't get these reports last spring, the void has been filled.  Shortly after the Yosemite trip, I discovered blogging and have subjected you to it every time we've hit the road since, and then some.  I have a love/hate relationship with blogging, but more love than hate, so I will continue to put it out there when the rubber meets the road again.  Until then I will leave you with a post, first, Zen from the the road...

My Zen from the road:  The first time you do anything, there is a certain amount of stress, unknowing, and excitement.  This has been a year of firsts...our first time being retired, first time buying a 5th wheel, first time dragging a 5th wheel across the country while being retired.  The important thing to remember here is that there needs to be that first time, so there can be a second, a third, and so on.  So do something for the FIRST TIME!