From Turkey Creek to Okaloosa Island

My exercise today was paddling down Turkey Creek. This was the first time I tried this and I found out I didn’t know where the north part of the park was where I would take the kayak out.. This is where Penny would leave my car—so we had to get it right. Penny saved the day by asking the right guy the right question. In the process I wasted an hour of her time trying to find the place.

I took the short Turkey Creek run—only 3.5 miles. There is a longer run that adds about 2 miles to the run. Penny dropped me off at the creek just above where Rt 123 meets hwy 85. I thought I was in for a pleasant “float” down the creek because the water level was high and the current was swift (3-5 mph). This is the first time I’ve had the kayak in a long flowing body of water and I quickly found that the mechanics of navigating and steering are vastly different than cruising on the bayou. I found myself consistently drifting sidelong into the low hanging branches and bushes along the creek bank. Even when I got the kayak pointed in the direction I wanted to go the current would override my steering and push me to the bank. I gradually learned how to make the kayak go where I wanted most of the time but it took a lot of work—especially on the “s” turns. I ended up getting a good upper body workout.

There were only short periods on long straight runs where I could actually rest and just drift. I had to pay attention every moment anticipating which direction the current up ahead was going to send the kayak. Taking pictures was not easy. The distraction of lifting the camera and taking a shot usually meant I would drift into branches or ram a tree stump because I gave up control to the creek. I couldn’t sit back and enjoy the view. It reminded me of the way Penny has to hike, watching her feet all the time instead of enjoying the scenery.

I managed to get a few decent pictures but pictures were not the priority. By the time I had gone about 2 miles I was finally getting the drift (pun intended) about handling the kayak. The creek had widened a little by this time because several smaller creeks had joined the flow. That helped some because there was a little more room to maneuver.

The bottom line—I did not have a relaxing float. Instead I got a more exciting workout trying to thread my way down the creek. It still was enjoyable and probably good for me. Once again I gave my shoulders a good workout and they came through fine.

Once I took the kayak out of the creek I had to carry it 900 ft to the car. If there is a next time I’m going to continue another mile or so into Rocky Bayou and take out the kayak at a public park on the south side of hwy 20 where I can park closer.

Back to the house I had lunch and put the kayak away. Penny came home from her lunch with Pam. I suggested we go out and try out Penny’s new camera. We had a cloudless evening and good sunset light to play with. We were going to do this yesterday but when we headed out it clouded up and cancelled our picture taking for lack of good light.

We went to the park on Okaloosa Island, strolled around and played with our cameras. It was a perfect evening. There was very little wind. Two wedding parties were there taking pictures. There was a nice arch of flowers all set up for one of the weddings. There was another professional photographer there taking family pictures in the sunset. Penny was pleased with her camera.

KITTY UPDATE—I had just about given up on seeing Meredith again. She hadn’t shown up for almost 2 weeks. In fact, the cats have only been showing up in 1’s and 2’s, when they did show up, ever since we came back from Montana. Marmalade, who usually shows up on Thursday through Sunday showed up on Monday this week and has been there each morning and evening since. Tonight, for the first time all 4 cats were back. Go Figure! Meredith acted as if she’s been here all the time.