Back to civilization

I am so happy, and relieved, to be home after two days in the wilderness. As I mentioned in Thursday’s post, the hubs and I joined some friends on a 23-mile canoe expedition, complete with an overnight campout by the river. We had to rise and shine (or really, rise and whine) at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, so determined (and stupid) me decided to do Saturday’s EA Active workout at exactly 12:01 a.m. I didn’t want to find out what Sassy Sarg would do to me if I missed a session, so I sleepily put my sneakers on and trudged through more lunges, bicep curls, jumping side to side, running, tennis and inline skating. I had also completed Friday’s workout earlier in the evening, so by the time I was done with my midnight sweat-a-thon, I basically melted into bed. The alarm sounded at what seemed to be two seconds later, so with much prodding from my hubby, I finally got in the shower, and we gathered our supplies and grumpy dog and headed out to meet our group.

Day 1 of canoeing actually started out pretty well. The morning sun was already baking us, but luckily, the water was cold to perfection so we could take a dip anytime it got too hot. (Including our dog – he got his first swimming lesson!) The trees provided ample shade as well in patches along the way, and a welcome breeze whisked by from time to time. I have to say the hubs did a lot of the paddling the first leg of the trip, since I was soaking in all of the nature around us. After about six hours of serenity and a moment of drama (our friends’ boat tipped, and one of their dogs was under water for a few minutes. But after a brave rescue from his mom, he’s ok), we picked out a place to park the canoes and set up our tents. This was my first time sleeping in one, and I can’t say that I would want to do it again. It was hot…the bugs were knocking down the nylon…and every time a grasshopper would chirp, our dog would start barking his head off. Not fun!

So after a sleepless night, we got up at dawn to begin Day 2 of canoeing. The hubs and I had a rough go of it, since our boat seemed to have a magnet on it for tree stumps. We slammed into at least three of them along the way, almost capsizing our vessel and spilling all our belongings into the murky water. But, we kept going, in tact, for another five hours before our entire group was done with the bugs, heat and fervent rowing. We stopped at a bridge and called the canoe rental company to come pick us up, but they wanted to charge us an extra $60 to do that, so we decided to suck it up and finish the hour we had left. Seeing the flat rock bed piled with canoes and a guy from the company waiting to pull our boats in was better than the smores we polished off the night before. (And that was some good eatin’! Ha Ha!)

Even though I am sunburned, bruised and shaken from almost falling in the river countless times, I am really proud of myself and the rest of our crew for making it to the 23-mile finish line. Hoorah! I hopefully lost a boat load of calories, although I was Weight Watcher free on this adventure. We tried to find some healthy fare – including apples and 100-cal canned fruit and granola bars – but I did indulge in some campout favorites, like hot dogs and M&M-filled trail mix. (Not to mention the celebratory meal at Outback that evening. Mmmm)

But, I’m back on the food plan starting today, and am actually looking forward to tonight’s workout with Sassy Sarg. Just as long as it has nothing to do with a canoe and paddle, I’m up for it!