Gertrude Goes

Alright...don't get too excited. We haven't converted Gertrude to a houseboat. Ha! But she did come into the decision process on a purchase....of a kayak.

Last year some time, we started thinking about exercise once again. Kyle loves to hike about, as well as ride bikes. I enjoy riding bikes, but also feel a draw to the water. I don't enjoy walking/hiking as much (in large part due to my weaker knees and generally being out of shape). So we thought about kayaking. This would be a great way to take the pressure, literally, off of my knees and still get some great exercise in! Another thing we noticed was all the Thousand Trails parks we were frequenting had some sort of a water feature on the property, or very nearby (a lake, river, pond, etc...), so having a kayak made perfect sense to us.

Next step, I started my research. I found that due to my current weight I needed at least a 12 ft kayak. There were a lot of options out there at various price points. Then we started figuring in storage and transportation of the kayak. We have an SUV and we would need to order luggage racks and "J" racks to transport it on top of the car. So now we were up to around $700 for the whole thing (kayak and transporting needs). We were having lunch at a cafe in one of the parks when we struck up a conversation with a man about the subject. He suggested we look into an inflatable. I didn't realize such a thing even existed. I went home and started searching. I found several options at all different price points. I was hesitant to get one from Walmart or such, as I didn't have a lot of faith in their lasting that long for me.

I went to YouTube and found a couple that people were calling "top of the line" in easy to transport kayaks. There was the Oru Origami folding kayak that REALLY intrigued us!

The bad thing about this was the price point...$1,599.00 USD!! And I wouldn't have a paddle or life jacket yet. So I kept searching, and found Advanced Elements. They had LOTS of options and priced ranged from $399 to $1,099.

That priced did not include the pump, PFD (life jacket), or paddle, but I felt we might be on the right path. The weight limits were comparable to hard shell kayaks. And being that I was interested in something that would accommodate me and possible some gear and such, I went with looking at the bottom three kayaks on the list above.

I watched videos about stability, set up, portability, and just general reviews. Everything seemed to be great! So we weren't really interested in a tandem (2 person) kayak at this time. We figured when we both want to go out, Kyle would just rent from a local place since he wouldn't have as many opportunities as I would due to still working M-F. We went to Amazon and found the Advanced Elements Expedition Elite kayak for about $700. We added an Advanced Elements paddle and their pump, as well as an Onyx MoveVent PFD.

Altogether, this added up to about $900. I'd be ready to go out on the water when it got delivered! Yay!! We were in Texas at the time and I got everything delivered over the course of a week. We set out to the lake at the campground we were in at the time. I got it out of the back of the car, packed it to the lake, read the instructions on inflation, and got it all set up. Then onto the water! **Keep in mind I'd always been enamored with the idea of kayaking, but never actually done it myself. And it was December. Granted, it was December in Central Texas, but the water would still be cold if I fell in.**

Below are some pics of that first experience.

I was dressed in layers to be warm enough. I was nervous about being "tippy", but found that it was INCREDIBLY stable. I had watched videos of people who regularly do whitewater kayaking and they know how to "roll" a kayak. They had intentionally tried to do that in this model and found it REALLY difficult to do. I stayed out for about an hour and a half that first day and LOVED it. I really wished I had discovered this much earlier in life. I was hooked! And for the record, i stayed almost completely dry the whole time. The most I got wet is up to my ankles, and that happened when I was getting out of the kayak.

Since we have gotten it, I've been out on lakes, ponds, rivers, bays, and even in the ocean! I'm looking forward to taking it out in the Florida Keys this winter. I have been asked by several people about this kayak when I'm out on the water. Until people get up close, a lot of them don't know it is even an inflatable. I have learned on my own, through videos and practice, how to maneuver and paddle. It tracks REALLY well and I don't feel as affected by wind as I thought I would. When we went out with sea kayaks, I had to work a little harder than I had previously, but still handled really well. I'm ending this post with photos from many of the places I've taken the S.S. Minnow (the name I gave it). Kyle thinks eventually he'll get one also, but for now we just enjoy mine.

I would absolutely recommend this kayak to anyone out there looking for a great craft that is tops in portability! It lives in the back of our SUV, always ready to go out on the water! :)

Patten Pond in Ellsworth, Maine

Leonard's Pond in Rochester, Massachusetts

Green River - Kentucky

Homosassa Springs - Florida

Ready to go in Contoocook, New Hampshire

Lee County Manatee Park - Florida

Contoocook, New Hampshire

Onset Beach - Wareham, Massachusetts

Patten Pond - Ellsworth, Maine

Sarasota Bay, Florida

Stone Mountain, Georgia

Lake Whitney, Texas

Fort Gorges - Portland, Maine

Name of Campground: Sandy Beach Family Campground
Date of first visit: July 2019
Length of stay: 2 weeks
Location: Contoocook, NH (just outside of Concord)

On our venture Northward, we decided to make a stop in New Hampshire for a couple of weeks. The path to the campground was alright overall. It took us about 2 hours to traverse between parks, most of that on a proper highway. Our GPS tried to take us over a small (9 ft clearance) covered bridge, but a quick call to the campground helped us avoid this minor problem.

There was a small grocery store about 5 miles away in the small town of Hopkinton, nestled along a very picturesque river. There was a nice post office just up the road in Contoocook. Walmart was a little further drive (maybe 30 minutes) in Concord.

The park itself was set up rather uniquely, but it was a wonderful place to sit outside and enjoy the surroundings. We happened upon a 50 Amp FHU site with plenty of room to spread out and feel comfortable. The park had pay for WiFi, but it was spotty at times, so we raised the cell extender in an effort to hedge our bet on coverage a bit. There was a great little pond on the property where I regularly enjoyed kayaking. here was no parking near the places to put the kayak in, but it wasn't a far walk to get there. (And the new addition of a cart for my kayak made the transition even easier!)

The park doesn't have a pool, but they have a wonderful beach area and swimming in the pond is a favorite activity for those here. We purchased firewood from the park and had more than enough for a fire on multiple nights, as well as some smores (I admit I had trouble keeping mine from being messy).

We met some friends we'd made earlier at a meadery (Moonlight Meadery) in a town about an hour and a half away for a tour and tasting. Kyle had learned of them at the Homebrew Convention in Rhode Island and we were thrilled to be fairly close to their facility. We spent a bit on several meads and then went into town for a nice dinner. Touring was quite wonderful in the area! We went to Mount Washington and rode the train up to the top with my husband's stepmother one day. On our way to the rail station, we went by the Old Man in the Mountain and toured about there. After our train ride, we enjoyed lunch at a great little place at the base of the mountain and then went out to the Trapp Family Lodge as well as the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream facility.

Being so close to Concord, we decided to go out to New Hampshire's capitol and then venture over to Vermont to check out Montpelier. Both had beautiful capitol squares that felt reminiscent of small town Texas for us.

After our two weeks here, we left and ventured onto our next location in Maine.

Below are some of the pictures from our time in the area.