Awwwhh. Nice!
What an interesting day! We arrived in Key Largo, stopping at Speargirl's house to say hello. She says that there is a springer spaniel downstairs that the owner wants to get rid of. I do Springer Rescue, so immediately I am on the phone to Springer Rescue to get paperwork. We look at the dog, and it's not a springer, but a Cocker Spaniel. Debby jumps to action as she is involved with small dog rescue and starts making phone calls.
Fast forward a half hour or so and we are at the shop getting the kayak. Debby has graciously brought her yak down too, for Hermit Crab with the intent of us doing some yakking together while she ventures further down the road to do some diving.
Paddles were on sale also, and I picked up a nice used rental paddle at a decent discount. We take the yaks down to the bay and set out to the west. There is a point to which we are aiming for, and being novice yakkers, it was a bumpy ride. I never knew kayaking was a contact sport! LOL. We finally get to the point and find a spot among the mangroves to eat a bite of lunch. Yanno, fish that have never been hand fed don't know what bread is when dropped into the water. We decide to venture back, staying close to the mangroves as the wind has picked up a bit and we are going against the wind. We never did find the cut in the mangroves to a nice shady trail. The clouds were building and turning gray to the south west of us and we knew a storm was approaching. The boat and jet ski traffic has picked up and we have become more vigilant of our small status on the water. We are trying to stay out far enough to be seen as the boats come out from the two cuts, but in far enough to stay out of the open wind. Marine patrol makes a stop informing us of bad weather coming our way and to seek shelter sooner than later. No problem we, are right......over......there....dang, it looks different going this way!! Where the heck did we put in? Eventually we found our spot, and brought the kayaks in.
Big lessons learned.
Like beach diving, look at where you went in so you know where to return.
Kayaking with a teen in a not so perfect mood is no fun. Enough work for Hermit Crab that she has decided maybe she doesn't really want a kayak for her birthday (like she was gonna get one, huh)
Know your limitations.
Back on land and waiting for the storm and Debby to arrive, we are sitting outside when we hear a thud. Hermit Crab screams that a dog's been hit! Huh? She's pointing and I start running to the highway. There laying on the highway is a dog. I try to stop traffic so we can get to the poor thing. An employee of the shop sees me running and once traffic stops, he goes over to get the dog, brings him back to the side of the road. He is bleeding from the head. A few people arrive and we try to figure out who this dog belongs to and where he's from. We gather that he came from the neighborhood across the highway and one guy is gonna find out who the owner is. A few of us are trying to find an animal hospital or more importantly, what to do. He needs medical attention. His legs are moving, and he is alert, and his status seems to be improving rather than worsening. A few moments pass by when the owner is found and brought to the dog. They gather the dog up, who is now trying to walk, and put him in a truck to be taken to the hospital. Hope Linus is ok. Good job to Hermit Crab who alerted me, and used the cell phone to make some phone calls.
Back to the kayak. We load Debby's and my kayak on her CRV (gotta love a CRV!!!). Awesome having Debby to help this novice with learning the ropes and straps! LOL.
We go back to Speargirl's house, with surrender papers in hand (Debby has contacted Small Animal Rescue in the Ft. Lauderdale area and with the use of Conch Republic's computer has the papers sent down. Kudos to Gary and Brenda) for the owner to sign for the cocker. Peanut sits quietly on Hermit Crab's lap the whole way home.
Wow! What a day!
Debby and I are planning my first yak dive on Sunday. Whoo hoo!! I have till then to fashion a way to put it on the car and work with the gear config.
