slowing down

I think there is a fine balance between getting out there to move whether it’s walking, on a bike or hiking up a mountain…and pausing along the way to take it all in. There’s gotta be good stuff along the way and not just the endorphin high or fit bit count at the end.

I got my bike out for the second time only this year. I had done a ride with my trainer for one of our weekly sessions, and wanted to try and keep the momentum going. When I head out, I’m often already thinking about getting back home. Does anybody else’s mind go there?:-)

So as I pushed down on the pedal the first few times, I thought about trying to enjoy the time on the trail, noticing what I was riding by, saying hello to people I passed by. And not just racing to get it over with.

It worked. So I tried it again on the weekend with a paddle down the river. I’m not in quite the same hurry in a kayak, as on my bike, but I often think “okay, you have an hour…paddle to the bridge and a little farther, then turn around and get back.”

But this time, I tried to find the perfect place between effort and ease.

CJR

friday favourite – mini vacations

I love the big holidays that take you away from it all, suspending you in timeless travel where your life stands still as you step into another space.

This summer, I’ve realized that I can get that same experience in smaller, shorter vacations. And these little getaways are my Friday favourite.

We already wrote about our PEI trip – for me, just over two and a half days that felt like a week.

And this week, I started a week’s vacation with about 36 hours away. We paddled into a cabin on Saturday afternoon. The lack of electricity calmed the day and my mind as the sun set over the lake. And rose again to start a perfect paddling day.

We packed up, paddled out and headed to part two of the mini vacation. A day-long, guided kayak trip around the Franklin Islands on Georgian Bay thanks to White Squall Paddling Centre. It was my second trip with these outfitters and they make the whole experience seamless, safe and really quite perfect. At many points, the paddling actually felt effortless. How is that possible?

These hours away were a great change of pace. And the scenery certainly helped take my mind off anything else. The short trip did the trick and I was ready to head home content and energized for the rest of my vacation week.

Next up: long weekend in CA. Stay tuned.

CJR

islands

There’s something so very “vacationy” about travelling to an island.

If you fly in, there’s the stunning banked approach as the airplane slants towards the sea on one side and reaches straight up into the sky on the other side. If you drive to your island destination, there’s inevitably a spectacular bridge crossing.

Last week, HAR and I took at trip to Prince Edward Island on Canada’s east coast. My sister, her husband and another couple did the drive, including a crossing of Confederation Bridge, and I flew into Charlottetown.

PEI is known for it’s red sand (high iron-oxide content), amazing seafood, beaches, lighthouses and potatoes. Lots of potatoes fields. Beautiful potato fields that run into the Atlantic Ocean.

We packed a lot of lobster, beaches, shucked oysters, and kayaking into our three days on the island. We stayed at the Inn at Bay Fortune – chef Michael Smith’s cedar shake inn that sits atop of the gentle hill looking down into Fortune Bay.

If you go – splurge on a room at the top of the north or south tower building. Stunning sun rises await.

Take a paddle up the Fortune River with Paddles, a brand new paddling/kayaking business just steps from the Inn. Our morning kayak took up just far enough to spot a bald eagle, perched along the tree-lined salt water river.

And make the drive to Greenwich National Park where you are likely to have the beach to yourself after an amazing walk across the boardwalk to the dunes…and the ocean.

We’ll have more on all the great food stops later this week.

CJR

 

 

an hour on the water

Every day on my route to work, I drive over the river and pass by a “canoe and kayak” rental sign. It calls my name, every time I see it. And I’m always wishing I could just stop there for a little paddle, instead of wherever I am headed.

I finally just did it. Last week, I keenly showed up before they even opened. Brought my own life jacket and rented a kayak for an hour. I have done big canoe trips full of adventure. But what I have realized I really love, is to just paddle around for a little while sitting right on top of the water.

I don’t crave white water. I love getting a closer, quieter look at nature from the seat of a kayak or canoe. On my last paddle, I glided past a turtle sunning on a partially submerged park bench, and a female mallard with two little ducklings just hanging out on a sand bar.

I think I’m going to make that my summer plan. Find more places to take a little rented paddle around.

CJR