Wild on the Wildcat

On Saturday, after a morning working at the church for the "Dayton Dash" Deke said we needed to veg out and do something fun and relaxing. Ah, yes, a kayak float trip down the Wildcat Creek was just the ticket. We asked Austin and Amber, our youth pastor and his wife, to join us so the four of us packed up the gear and headed to Knop Lake access. We dropped off the first car then headed to Cutler to the Adams Mill Covered Bridge to "put in." The day was gorgeous, but by the time we actually got on the creek, it was past 2:00PM. The sun was shining and the trees were just a little past their fall color prime but still lovely reflecting off the water.

We leisurely paddled our way down the Wildcat, stopping only once for a potty break. But what's this? We come to a complete stop when we encounter a log jam that stretches clear across the creek. No way around so we go over. Oh well, that's just a little loss of time- no big deal. So we take off again, winding our way through still water and rapids before coming once again upon yet another log jam. This happens three times.

Say, how far is Knop Lake anyway? We've been on the water for almost 4 hours and we still aren't close because we still haven't come to that other covered bridge and it's at least 2 miles beyond before the Knop Lake take-out.

By now it's getting on to 6:30 and the sun is rapidly disappearing. Where is that bridge? I feel a great need to get going and get going fast. As the others start to lag behind, I kick into gear and start paddling like a madwoman. Someone has to get to the take-out spot before the darkness overtakes us preventing us from spotting the rutted path down to the water.

I shoot the last 2 rapids in total dusk, barely able to see the rocks or obstacles in the way. I come upon a camp of fishermen and ask how far to the take-out. OH, a couple of thousand feet, one of them says. Furiously now I wind down the creek. Is that the path? No. How about that spot? That can't be it, can it? I back-paddle to make sure I haven't passed, but the stream is too swift for me to make much headway. I step out of the kayak into about a foot of water and try to drag the kayak ashore. Splash. I trip and get soaked from my chest down. I run up the rutted path to find our car parked at the entrance. Total relief! I made it! But now it's absolutely dark and I'm soaked and the other three are still on the water somewhere behind me. I go back to the water's edge and whistle. No one. I try phoning (cell was in a zip-lock bag) but get no answer. Finally, straining my eyes, I see the reflection of Amber's yellow paddle just feet away. The guys are right behind and we all feel a need to kiss the ground. We drag our kayaks up the hill and just as we make the parking lot, we see headlights. Strains of the music from "Deliverance" race through my brain. But no, it's the conservation officer checking up on us. He approaches us with his flashlight and begins his inquisition. Do you own the car and trailer at the Adams's Mill put-in? (How did he know that?)Who owns these kayaks? Did you fish? How many life jackets do you have? All the time he is questioning us, he is inspecting our kayaks and gear. Alcohol? Drugs? Fishing without a license? On the water after dark? Idiots? Fortunately we pass the inspection without getting a ticket. It's a 40 minute round trip drive back to our put-in spot to pick up our car with the utility trailer, so Deke volunteers to stay with the gear while the rest of us make the trip. I am dripping wet and the temp has dropped to 50 degrees. By the time all of us are together again, I am experiencing some hypothermia, haven't eaten in 8 hours, am totally exhausted, and have a headache. So much for a relaxing paddle down the creek.

We left our spare car here so that we would have transportation back to our put-in spot when we completed our trip

This was our put-in spot. 

Amber with the kayaks just before we launched

On the water at last

Amber and Austin oblivious to the nightmare yet to come

Cuties

Oh no, we hit our first snag

No problem.  Upsey daisy

One down and 3 to go!

Self-photo

Is it getting dark, or is that my imagination?

So ends our saga on the Wildcat. It's hard to take pictures in the dark so you'll just have to imagine the rest of the story as I told it. Moral of the story: Start earlier if you want to kayak the Wildcat.

Flying High

After visiting with Emily and Jonny, we flew to San Antonio for Deke's Air Force Pilot Training Class Reunion.  It had been 5 years since our last reunion and 40 years since we had seen many of the attendees.  What fun we had catching up on our lives.  The guys picked up right where they left off years ago and, as Deke said, they were all 2nd Lieutenants again.

We all took a bus to Del Rio to Laughlin AFB to revisit their training base.  It's situated on the Mexican border and when we were there 40 years ago, there were no fast food restaurants and most of the roads were dirt.  Things have changed.  As we drove around the town, we saw restaurants, motels, malls and it got to the place where we didn't even think we were in the right town any longer.  We ended up at the base being met at the gate by a protocol officer who took us to lunch at the club then proceeded to take us on a tour of the base.  We ended up at the flightline where 3 student pilots met us and took us to a T-38, the last and fastest jet the guys flew in training.  The latest training strategy no longer lets every student fly this plane.  If you are heading in the fighter pilot direction, you can get training in this plane, but if you are wanting to fly the "heavies", the big cargo planes etc, you fly something like a biz-jet.  So for the guys in Deke's class, this was an extra treat to be able to crawl up in the cockpit once again and relive those terrifying memories of flying this little rocket.  Actually, Deke got the award as the outstanding pilot in the class flying this particular plane. He loved it and said he could "feel" what to do when flying it.  Anyway, it was nostalgia all over the place for these guys.  What a rush!

Touring the Alamo (again)

On the flightline talking with current pilot training instructor

"Tiger" picture with Deke's favorite trainer, the T-38

Now this is a machine!

Don't laugh.  This too will be you in 40 years! By the way, a poll was taken of how many flying hours these guys have accrued over the years. 200,000.  You see before you 3 career AF pilots, 4-5 airline pilots, vast majority flew for the Guards or Reserves, two preachers (one a Bishop), a NASA man, a couple of financial types, and Tony Stewart's pilot for the past few years.  One of them is a Dane who now lives in France flying for a French airline.  Can you guess who is who?

Go West, Old Folks, Go West

For the past 8 days we have been traveling.  We left on a Saturday and flew to Burbank, CA to be with Emily and Jonny for a few days.  You can find their place just off of an itty-bitty alley, where they park on an itty-bitty incline, to get into their itty-bitty second story walk-up apartment.  It's really ideal for them as affordable apartments with parking are few and far between.

I don't know what to say about Los Angeles and the surrounding environs.  One thing I know for sure, I don't ever want to live there.  Too many people, too many cars, too many freeways, too many houses, too much smog, too few civilities, ... My soul felt spiritually bereft of faith, hope and love.  But I can tell that it once was a beautiful place nestled in a huge valley surrounded on 3 sides by mountain ranges.

Jonny had flown to Chicago for a gig, so Emily, Deke and I spent a few days exploring the area and seeing some of the tourist sites.  The day we arrived we headed to the Getty Museum, just a short hop on the freeway from the apartment.  The grounds were breathtaking.

Front entrance to the museum

Just one of the magnificent gardens

The art and antiques were exquisite:

Deke in front of a Renoir

Some french aristocrat's bed

On Sunday we attended their church (which is right across the street ) and that evening ate dinner at the pastor's house with a few other former Wilmore, KY folks. The minister had been our kids' youth pastor when we lived in KY while Deke was completing seminary, so it was a great evening of catching up on our lives and loving on one another. 

On Monday the three of us went to the beach at Malibu.  It was a gorgeous day and we loved lounging on the sand, reading our books,  watching the surfers do their thing while munching on cheese and crackers. 

When Jonny returned to CA, we took a day to visit the Griffith Observatory. It sits high on a hill commanding a magnificent view of the valley.

Griffith Observatory-the site of many movies eg: Rebel Without a Cause and Rocketeer

Los Angeles in the background

Obligatory pose with the "Hollywood" sign

We ate some exotic meals, snacked on Pink Berry yogurt, and inhaled our first ever "In-N-Out" burger (yummy). We played Aggravation, Euchre and learned the game of "Golf." We had a great time just being with the kids and enjoying their society.

From Los Angeles, we flew to San Antonio to attend Deke's 40th Pilot Training Class Reunion. I'll blog about that later on this week.

My Favorite Tinkerbells

I've been gone for 2 weeks helping Mark and Lori get settled in with their new little guy, John Mark.  He's the sweetest little baby and is a real chunk.  Oddly enough, I didn't get even one picture of him the whole time.  When I checked my pictures on my digital camera, I only have the shots of two of the granddaughters at one of our get-togethers when I presented them with their "fairy" outfits.  Not one other picture did I take of anything else. I guess I was so busy taking care of things I just didn't take care of picture taking.