Kayaking

The friendly folks at Central Oregon Adventures recently dropped us off at a small stream called the Little Deschutes River. No, not for us the rapids of a swiftly moving body of water. We were more interested in a serene and peaceful journey on "flat water." After practicing a bit and remembering how to keep from going backwards and crashing into the river bank (Hey, they said this thing turned on a dime!!!), we were on our way. It was a hot, sunny day and we were glad for the water bottles, suntan lotion and hats we had brought along. First off was a view of a huge osprey nest, and not too long after we saw a yellow tailed hawk being chased off by some much smaller birds. It was similar to the redtailed hawk here. Later on, there was a colony of swallow's nests plastered to the side of a bridge. Red-wing blackbirds flitted through the vegetation on the bank. The river took us through an up-scale neighborhood of beautiful log lodges. Not a sound came from any of them. Where were the people who owned these places and what did they do for a living to be able to afford such summer homes??? We kayaked through a golf course and Rob retrieved 23 golf balls. A few golfers along the banks were glad to see that their balls weren't the only ones to plunk into the river! Onward we went and finally the Little Deschutes joined the Deschutes and we could see the bridge which heralded the end of the journey. The guys loaded up the kayaks, paddles and life jackets and we headed back to Sun River with only a few blisters on our hands, no sunburns and lots of memories.