My Kayaking Dreams

In the north end of Tacoma is a public beach which is usually crowded in the summer. Other than the beach the shore is dominated by very tall concrete bulkheads, and just off shore is a small island with tall concrete cliffs. The entire island is one solid abandoned concrete structure.

Just off the freeway is a large lake.  It's more like a pond really, because the water is only a few feet deep.  It gets really warm in the summer.  The water stays clear so it's a great place for summertime rolling practice.

On the coast I've stayed in this house that was built at the end of a long spit.  The sand is brown and coarse but very soft.  At unusually high tides the water will cover the road on the spit that leads to the house. The water actually gets pretty warm in the summer.  There is some nice gentle surf that rarely gets over 4 feet.

There is a river out in the forests near my hometown.  The place I am thinking of is actually a confluence of two or three rivers that have deposited a wide expanse of river rock in the middle of the trees . The current is not very swift so it's possible to explore them by sea kayak.  I was thinking of choosing a tributary and paddling up as far as I could until it got too rocky or shallow.

I was at this huge outdoor pool once.  It was a summer evening and they kept it lighted.  It was a great place for rolling practice because no one else was there that late in the day.

There are some tiny islands in the outer San Juans that are one of my favorite destinations. They are exposed and usually surrounded by rough water.  One of them has a lighthouse.

None of these places actually exist.  These are places I've seen in dreams. They must be recurrent dreams because the places seem so familiar.  Imagine my disappointment when I wake up and discover I've been dreaming. I find it funny that I dream about kayaking.  

Merry Christmas and may all your kayaking dreams come true!