Early Paddle at Red Rock

Last night at Mass at St. Francis of Assisi we learned that our pastor, Father Bob Hoefler passed away Wednesday due to prostate cancer. Fr. Bob Obituary

Father Bob was an interesting guy, and a nice man. He was a very good priest. If you read his obit, you'll find out that he came to the priesthood later in life. I'm sorry he passed at such a young age, and had to suffer through such a dreadful illness. He never sounded sorry for himself as he battled cancer. RIP Father Bob. Job well done.

This morning Paul and I got up early and strapped the kayaks on the Subaru. We headed East to Elk Rock State Park at Red Rock Lake and scoped out a place to put the boats in. I had checked out my paddling book the night before and saw there was a 2.5 mile trip east from there (5 miles round trip). The water was smooth and the wind to our backs on the first leg - not as much on the way back, as the breeze picked up a bit later in the morning. It's a beautiful lake - built by the Army Corps of Engineers - the dam was completed in 1969. There are giant boulders (that made me think of my departed bro-in-law Bolder), and sandstone walls. It was interesting to see the water marks.

early day light was pretty

my kayak partner of the day

There were caves like these

We paddled up to the next boat launch and headed back - roughly a 2 hour trip. I was glad we didn't do the 8 mile trip the other way! This is a great workout for abs and arms. I need to do it more often. It's very relaxing too, but getting the boats on and off is a bit of work. Later I went for a pedicure and that was heavenly...prep for my 6 hours of State Fair work tomorrow!


kayaking makes me smile!

A mile long bridge is off in the distance
 

After we got back - Paul worked on finishing up his big project landscaping near the front of the garage. I had purchased a little gift for him at the Farmer's Market - see if you see it nestled in the new area.

It's a lil iron deer...so cute! Plus he planted cone flowers, black eyed susans - and picked up rocks in his hunting area.