Sunday, September 18, 2011

The time Matt was a superstar. And I almost peed in a canoe.

We've all read about the time Matt and I tried to kayak together and how horribly awful it was. So it was no wonder that I put off canoeing with him for as long as I possibly could. I have canoeing on my 30/30 list and since I turn 30 in March we're pretty much in the last few weeks to canoe up in northern Wisconsin. I suppose you can go until November and December, but given how shallow the Brule River already was today.. I bet it'll freeze over in those months. So this weekend? I was pretty much faced with a "shit or get off the pot" situation.

So I obviously went because if you know me by now, once I've committed to something (no matter how stupid it is) I do it.

The fun part was that after we dropped the kids at my in-laws house and drove to the canoe rental place? The rain started. Which.. yay. It was about 50 degrees, a little windy and the rain was between a mist and a light sprinkle. But this bitch? Got her ass into a canoe while a lone fisherman was trying not to laugh at me.

 We took the short route which was about an hour and a half total? According to the map, it was 45 minutes from this starting point to the Bois Brule point, and then another 40 minutes to the Hwy 2 landing point where we were parked. So off we went.
 I got to be in the front and Matt was in the back. Which (brace yourselves) THANK GOD because Matt has canoed before and knew what he was doing. I was worried because A) I suck at anything athletic and B) I had never canoed before and C) I was incredibly tired which means I'm kind of useless but punchy.

The un-fun thing was that our little trek had several areas of rapids. Matt assures me that they were only class 1 rapids but I don't care what those fucking signs say. Rapids are rapids, yo. And since I was sitting in the front of the canoe, I'm not going to lie. I kind of panicked. Like a bunch. And I'm certain that one of the worse sets of rapids came before our half way point and not only were they scary and fast, but we got stuck on a rock. It was at that moment I almost peed myself. Thankfully, Matt told me to get my shit together and help. So I did.
 And yay! We made it to the half way point!
 And I was still dry!

So we paddled even more. We saw two eagles, one of them was just chilling in a tree. We saw a duck. We saw a turkey on the road on the way there. We did not see any bears.

The really great thing? Is that though I'm still grossly uncoordinated with a paddle or oar, whatever the damn thing is called, I had a good time. Matt steered our canoe better than he steers a vehicle and for that I was thankful.
 Because I made it to the end completely dry! And I have to say? That he was a canoe rock star. He really was. I was so happy to be in the front because I couldn't see him laughing at me when I freaked out like a girl when I saw a rock or a log. I didn't even get mad when he steered us into a tree and I hit my head. Or when a bunch of branches slapped me in my mouth. I also appreciated the fact he didn't tell me that our canoe was thisclose to tipping over until we were out of the rapids. I'm sure he knew I would panic and flail and probably clear the woods of anything still alive. And tip us over in the mean time.
But all in all? I would do it again. Granted, I would prefer it to be on a sunny summer day while wearing flip flops and a bathing suit, but I would do it again. Especially if Matt was steering because he was awesome at it.

I think this was a good exercise for us in communication anyways since the kayak trip only highlighted how bad we are at it. I also think it's kind of cool to think how we've grown as a couple since that trip to now.

Before I sign off for the night, if you missed Day one of the KY Intimacy Experiment, you need to go HERE to catch up.

9 comments:

Latharia said...

That's awesome. Just AWESOME. Go, you. And Matt totally needs a t-shirt that says Canoe Rock Star. :)

Anonymous said...

yay for staying dry and having a good time! Sounds much better than the kayak experience lol

Julie H said...

That's awesome that you guys got along so great AND you didn't tip over OR pee in the boat :)

Ruth said...

Glad you had a good time.
I don't even remember the last time I was in a canoe.

Ang said...

awesome! Sounds like you two were a married bunch of rockstars! Good for the marriage, good for the 30/30 list... good for, everyone!

Way to go!

Jill said...

Sweet! You are totally a canoe rock star!

My husband and I accidentally canoed 17 miles (we missed the first get-out point) on the St. Croix. It was quite the bonding experience. I haven't been canoeing since...

Unknown said...

i'm glad your trip rocked. i was fearful you'd end up smacking him with the oar, after reading about the kayak trip.

Dana said...

My first canoe trip was kind of a disaster because I was so scared. We went on the St. Croix river for a 17 mile ride and M took us back into what truly seemed like the Amazon and I thought we were lost but 45 minutes later, we were back on the normal river. We've gone 4-5 times since then too and I love it!

Sara Strand said...

@Latharia-- Xmas present idea!!

@PLR- Definitely. It was kind of nice doing something where we weren't fighting.

@Julie- I'm glad I didn't pee either, but you know I would have claimed I sat in water.

@Ruth-thanks!

@Ang- I know.. it's weird how we've come full circle but it's better. :)

@jill- If that had happened, I would have been yelling the entire trip. It would not have been good.

@Dianne- Well our oar was some shitty plastic piece of shit that was hollow. I would have had to smack super hard.

@Dana- You and Jill should chat about your experiences.. maybe you passed each other! ;)