Early on Saturday morning, December 14 some of the Houston Canoe Club Members gathered at the Armond Bayou boat ramp at the Bay Area Park around 8:30 a.m. It was a very foggy ride down the Gulf Freeway to the park and the park as well was covered,  Yet you could still see the bridge. The three of us were greeting by Kent Walters.  The paddlers included Kent, Mark Andros, Paul Woodcock and myself, Mary Zaborowski. 

 

We started by going north under the bridge towards the old Exxon Bridge and islands.  Plenty of ospreys, mullet,and one lonely night crested heron, on the floating platform at the park.  It was not too cold because we had no winds, yet a light jacket and paddling clothes were in order for the day.  About a mile down, we heard a very loud splash behind our tandem and Kent had fallen overboard out of his sit-on-top kayak he had just purchased. It was an older model that he had purchased because he thought it would be a fast boat. He was worried about its stability and had prepared for any problems by wearing a wet suit as the water was cold.  After getting him to the banks of one of the islands, he decided to turn back to the put-in and let us know he was okay, due to wearing a wet suit under his paddling clothes. So the three of us told him we would be only another hour. 

 

Here we paddled to where the gas/oil pipes cross the upper bayou and another bridge was there. We saw up on this shore there was another park with a floating pier, parking and picnic facilities. This was all new to us paddlers, who have padded this area so many times. After seeing this we decided to paddle back to the boat ramp, where the three of us were greeted by Kent.

 

The guys started loading the boats and I started the charcoal for our weiner roast, chips and drinks at noon.  We ate and exchanged wonderful stories of paddles we've done in the past.  All of us started off at 1:00 p.m., heading off for the house to get ready for the Houston Canoe Club Christmas Party that evening. 

 

I now travel in a Dodge Hemi pulling a 28-foot RV.  My home away from home, or as Paul calls it "My expensive dog house for my fox/rat terrier- 'Mitzi'".  Here in Katy,Texas, I stayed at a very nice RV resort park called West Lake. The winds started getting very strong, temperature was dropping into the low 40's, and we were very glad to be off the water when we did. The trailer really started to shake, yet was very secure.

 

Overall, all of us had a good paddle to start the day and ending it back at the Upper Kirby Building that evening with good paddling friends at the party.