Last year for Ian's birthday, Jamie asked if I would accompany him on a hot air balloon ride. It sounded like fun, so we took off at 4 AM to drive an hour to the site where we loaded into the balloon and took off. Best time to go is in the early morning, thus the early hour. It was the most fun and fantastic experience and a great thing to share with my son on his 38th birthday.
This year he told me not to get him anything - "just take me out to dinner, Mom". Well, fine, if that's what you want. But I happened to pick up this little magazine called "The Ramble" that described all these hiking, canoeing, kayaking, etc. adventures you could take in our area. I found a sunset kayak tour on the Hudson that was a 3 hour trip. I have only kayaked once, but really liked it. Ian had been kayaking across the Hudson with his friend James this summer. Bingo - perfect gift! So I signed us up.
Last Saturday afternoon was our appointed time so we drove about an hour south of here to a little town called Cornwall-on-Hudson to Storm King Adventures. We met our guide, Mike, who showed us how to put on our life vests, use our paddles, and adjust our seats and foot rests in our kayaks. There were only 7 of us, so it was a good sized group.
We loaded into our kayaks, Mike pushed us all off, and we were on the move. The water was muddy and lots of debris floating in it - most from the heavy rains and Hurricane Irene. But it was calm and easy paddling.
We stayed on the water for about 3 hours. We saw two bald eagles as well as one of their nests. We also saw a great blue heron and several white egrets. But the eagles were the highlight. It was overcast when we took off but by the time the sun was setting, it had cleared some along the horizon and it was great to sit there calmly and watch the sun set.
After we finished, we had dinner at "the best restaurant in Orange County" - at least that's what the sign said! Good dinner, fun evening, great kayaking, and a happy 39th birthday to Ian!
What should we do next birthday??? He suggested skydiving! I don't think so...
