Vacation: Wednesday

Pictured Rock Kayaking

We took a 40 minute boat ride to our drop off point.  I really liked the idea of having the big boat with us the entire trip.  We didn't need it, but it gave me peace of mind.  A group with younger kids did go back to use the bathroom (Ryan had a walkie talkie and could hear everything that was happening with the other groups, but we really had our own tour.)  I also liked that if someone go tired, they could take a break.  In the end we didn't want to miss anything.  We did hurry a bit due to the weather (the 10 am group stopped short, while we got to do the entire 5 miles).

This photo showed the waves.  We only had 2 times with any waves (related to the passing of the big tour boats, not actual weather issues) and retrospectively they weren't big at all!  At the time, they felt bigger :0)

This was called "the limbo".  I begged Matthew to skip it, but now I kinda wish we had done it.  I think if I could do the trip a 2nd time, I could have enjoyed it even more.  A bit of the unknown made me nervous.  Plus we had a bit of rain, although this was a little bit of a blessing because then only 2 sight- seeing cruises were out while we were there.  They add waves!  Although as Ryan said, we had sea-kayaks and they were built for waves.

Joel and Carolyn were the most adventurous, paddling right along the rocks the entire time.  Matthew would have been more adventurous without me, but alas he drew the short straw.  (We didn't really draw straws, but I insisted that Anna be with Ken.   It probably was good I was with Matthew, because the person in the back controls the kayak and I would have been at Joel's mercy.  He is more athletic than Matthew so I think he just flew through the water, while Matthew was willing to stay further from the rocks for me.)

Most of the photos were taken by our guide, Ryan.  I certainly didn't take my camera on the kayak.  Matthew and Joel did and took a few photos.  Here is a photo from Matthew of our guide.  He was fantastic.  Nice, funny, experienced and knowledgeable.  Plus he took so many nice photos and shared them with us.  I felt a great deal of happiness having him there with us.  He was only responsible for our family.  (There were 4 guides total off of our big boat.)

I know we saw the place that inspired Michigan's 2018 quarter.  Not sure if the photo above is the exact spot.  I will need to look a bit closer at all of our photos and ask the kids.

I ordered each of the kids one of these quarters for Christmas.  I will hunt for it in the wild too, but am pretty sure I could never find 4!

Update....here is the spot!

                                              

I highly recommend the trip.  It was like nothing we had ever done, like nothing we had ever seen!