I just got back a little while ago from my church's annual Battenkill River canoe trip. The Battenkill was running pretty low this time, and I spent most of the trip in a kayak that I suspect wasn't quite big enough for someone of my poundage - so I ran aground an inordinate number of times in the shallow, rocky stretches. Worse, many times I couldn't push off against the rocks; I had to get out of the boat, walk it downstream a ways and get back in. Of course, this wasn't one of those "sit-on-top" kayaks; it was a whitewater boat that is not particularly easy to get into or out of. So there was a lot more in the way of aerobic and anaerobic exercise on this trip than I'd expected.

I also managed to run my car battery flat; I'd been powering my CPAP machine via an inverter off the cigarette lighter both Friday and Saturday nights, and didn't run the car on Saturday to recharge after Friday night. Good thing I keep a set of jumper cables in the car.

Despite those frustrations, however, it was a good time. The Friday night sky in particular was wonderfully clear, and we could easily see the Milky Way (a frustratingly rare sight in the Boston suburbs). Saturday was just about perfect - warm, low humidity, and sunny for most of the day. The traditional Saturday evening cookout was its usual success, even if we did run low on hamburger buns and had to substitute hot-dog rolls.

And I managed to get all packed up before the first thunderstorms rolled in Sunday morning ...