My 20-year-old grandson Jake and his girlfriend Miranda were visiting Houston from Buffalo, NY for the Easter holidays.  Fortunately, they like to do all the same things that I like to do – hike, play golf and PADDLE!   So after a trip to the zoo, a round of golf, a hike in Stephen F. Austin State Park and lots of good down home Texas food at local restaurants, it was time for a paddle.

	Jacob Ledyard, Linda Gorski and Miranda Fritz

Louis Aulbach, John Rich and Dana Enos joined us at Allen’s Landing for a quick trip down Buffalo Bayou.  Here we are at the put-in (right).  The day was bright and sunny and despite warnings from Gramma the kids did not wear long pants, long sleeves or sunscreen.  Needless to say, they looked like lobsters when we came off the Bayou.  They don’t have sun like this in April in Buffalo NY!!!!  Jake and Miranda both go to Niagara University in Lewiston, NY which (coincidentally) is also an alma mater of Dana Enos who also grew up in western New York! 

Easter ducklings		John at waterfall

Check out the cute duck and babies (left) that symbolized Easter for us.  A short way down from Allen’s Landing we discovered the “Buffalo Bayou Waterfall”… and it was really pouring water on Easter Sunday.  Here’s a photo of John posing in front of the waterfall (left).

The paddle down the bayou was short but really enjoyable.  The kids were impressed with the number of historical structures – wharf features, foundation features, silos, and smokestacks -  that remain along the bayou.  Nothing like getting out on the water on a beautiful Sunday afternoon… and getting a history lesson from Louis Aulbach as a bonus!

	Jacob & Miranda with Houston skyline

A note about the following photo that I took of Jacob and Miranda paddling with the Houston skyline in the background.  I sent this photo to Chita Johnson, one of the weather anchors at KHOU-TV Channel 11,  and she ran it during her 4 p.m. broadcast on April 10.  The best part about this is that she lets you know about a day in advance when the photo is going to run on TV so you can be sure to see it.  Thus, if you have a child or grandchild doing something wonderful outdoors they will see their photo and their name on TV.  Chita followed up by dropping me an email asking us to send her other great photos for her daily weather reports.  Her email address is chita@khou.com.  She’d love to hear from you and see your photos!

The author, Linda Gorski, at the Buffalo Bayou waterfall