Summer is Coming!

This is definitely on my to do list.  My to do soon list.

It's not for inexperienced paddlers, but what I love about it is all the permutations.  From the head of the Cape Cod Canal you can get to four or five inns or b&b's in less than ten miles of paddling.  

I haven't done this trip yet, except for the loop from Woods Hole out to the Cuttyhunk Bass Club and back.  (I didn't stay at the club, but with a friend on the island...)  But it's part of a larger plan to finish circumnavigating the entirety of Cape Cod.  I've done from Massachusetts: Inn to Inn Along Cape Cod, and from Provincetown down to Wellfleet.  So though this gets a bit sidetracked--I'm going around the bay rather than through the Cape Cod Canal--it's part of a piece.  

The only downside about this trip, and sea kayaing inn to inn trips in general, is how much the weather can play with your plans.  So flexibility is the key.  Even in the relatively sheltered waters of Buzzards Bay, if the wrong wind kicks up you could be in for a hell of a push.  Or, if your smart, a lay in day.  

The Endless Beach

Ever walked on a beach and wanted to keep on walking? No turning around to retrace your steps? On an island, you can do it.  And on Florida’s pristine Gasparilla Island, you can do it on gorgeous white sand, stop to snorkel in crystal clear gulf waters, sort through 

obscenely big piles of shells for prime specimens, watch marine biologists document sea turtle nests, and catch glimpses of leaping manta rays, dolphins, and giant tarpon.  Once you make it to the island’s town of Boca Grande, you can shop at hip boutiques, eat real cuisine, not to mention home-made ice cream, and stay in a roomy ol’ downtown inn.

Look for Me by the Sea

Bill Sargent, a naturalist, author, and consultant to the NOVA Science series, had agreed to take a nature walk with me at low tide on an early fall morning. In a few hours I received a better education than in any biology textbook. For example, did you know that the Horseshoe Crab has nine eyes, including in its tail?

A Tale of Two Cousins

After reading an article in Westways magazine about two women who had walked from Hermosa Beach to Topanga Canyon, my cousin & I decided WE could do this.  Each year we try and do a trip together and for some reason we seem to make them a challenge. Could it be because we are both competitive? So we started to plan our trip and thought why not start in Laguna where I live and go to Santa Monica where we could enjoy a spa day at the end of our trip.