The view from my kayak.
Last week, I did a first person account of my trip down the Susquehanna for the paper.
It was quite a doozy, and I wanted to share it with you here.
HUMMELS WHARF — Knowing myself, I wasn’t all that surprised that my adventure down the Susquehanna ended early, escorted back to the Shady Nook Boat Launch after losing my lunch on a river island.
I tend to somehow get myself into these conundrums.
But one thing really stands out to me about my ill-fated trip: I really had a good time. And that photographer Rob Inglis and I are much stronger on our right sides than our left.
When we heard about the opportunity to take part in the legislative and media kayak trip down the Susquehanna in a two-person floating vessel, we were ecstatic.
It was my first time in a kayak and the first time in a long time for Rob.
Our fellow kayakers included state Rep. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-108, of Sunbury, who said that if she went overboard, she was taking as many people as possible with her, and Kurt Masser, R-107, of Elysburg, and his son, who just took his bar exam, but told anyone who got injured on the trip to give him a call.
Immediately, the first thing we noticed was that we were pulling hard to the left. Like every 15 seconds or so we would noticeably headed left.
“You can tell we’re both right-handed,” Rob joked.
But we weren’t laughing when we had to make a hard right to go around some rapids and ended up stuck in the shallow water, needing to be rescued by the very helpful and friendly Jim Charles, of the Isle of Que River Guides in Selinsgrove. We were the only people to get stuck, but we kept in good spirits.
As we made it to the first stop, on a rocky river island, I was feeling good. Not too tired, not too hot.
That changed when, as our guides were talking about the river’s history, the sun came out. And I was hot.
That’s when it happened. I lost it — or, more accurately, my stomach contents.
Everyone was so nice about it, giving me water and a snack to calm my stomach. But I was embarrassed.
And that’s when our river adventure ended. Charles took us back in his motorboat and we went back to the office to cool down.
But I swear, I only have fond memories of the trip.
Though maybe next time, I’m making sure that I’m able to take a dip in the river to cool down if need be. Hopefully that will add up to a little more “ka” a little less “yak.”
Suquehanna Reporting 