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Monterey Bay (and a kayak trip from hell, but I'd do it again!)
Here's a little bit about our vacation:
My husband and I went to the Monterey Bay area in California from last Wednesday until Friday night. We're both birdwatchers and nature fans which is why we chose this area. He also has problems with his bladder.
We got rooms at the Hilton on Priceline and got down there Wed afternoon. We went birdwatching at the Elkhorn Slough Preserve for about an hour and saw several new birds (A Green Heron!!)
We're vegan and hadn't really researched the food availability but there was a Whole Foods so we had pea soup and fresh bread with a little olive paste. My bladder was OK so far.
Thursday we went kayaking (my first time in one since summer camp). We got to the place around 10:00, having first to buy water shoes for my husband and bathing suits for both of us to wear under our....wetsuits! So here was the first IC obstacle (aside from being in an extremely tippy boat in the middle of COLD water.) Well, we got going and were having a great time. We'd brought drinks and binoculars and a camera. The weather was perfect - rather overcast but not cold. We saw all sorts of water birds like loons and grebes, River Otters, mother seals giving babies rides on their backs! (so cute!). After 2 1/2 hours I REALLY had to pee. My husband had already pulled over at a marsh area and went in the shallows. We got to a landing place and I used the portapotties.
We're not sports people so this was very strenuous for us and so I decided to drink quite a bit of water on the way back. Well, the guy at the kayak place got the tides mixed up, so it was coming in (against us) when we had to head back. It took us a long time paddling against the tide and wind and finally, I was really tired so my husband said (get ready wives!) "Let's take this shortcut! It will be much easier to paddle!)" Well, since the tide was actually just starting to come in the water in the creek was really low and after paddling at least an hour in water getting progressively shallower, I'm talking inches here, we were poling ourselves in the mud and we came to a place where the water ended. He climbed up on the grass and saw that we were really near the slough but had no way to get there. You can't walk in the marsh mud as you sink about 4 feet in it and can't get out.
So BACK we poled/paddled. At least the tide was in our favor this way. BACK to where we were 2 hours before! At this point I really had to pee but I refused to jump in the water because I didn't want to be cold. I had taken a Pyridium in advance and I didn't want to pee out of the water because I was afraid it would stain my new bathing suit. But after a bit I said to h*ll with it and just peed in my wetsuit. Boy, was that fun, because the wetsuit holds everything in close to your body. At least it was warm!
We had to keep paddling for THREE MORE HOURS!!!!! to get back to the beach/entrance to the slough. We both thought we couldn't do it. But somehow my husband seemed much more tired than I was and it inspired me to have more strength and although we eventually tied our kayaks together so he was in front, I was able to paddle almost continuously back. He was so proud of me because I told hm that I was at the end of my rope about 3 hours before we were able to stop. I had to keep going because with the tide and wind, if I stopped for more than a second, I'd get swept back about a foot per second. We made it to this beach to rest along the way and I had to pee again, but this time I just went right away in my wetsuit, I didn't care any more. By the time we got back, we could barely move.
And, to top it off, we didn't have sunblock or hats and we got 2nd degree sunburns! (We didn't expect to be paddling for 8 hours.)
Luckily mine wasn't a bad as his because my skin is much darker. His face is dark red and swollen so that he looked like Quark from Deep Space 9. Poor Guy! He feels really bad about it. I've had to drink a lot of aloe vera juice with vitamin water so my frequency has been very high. I've been slathering on aloe vera gel every hour or so which I believe has really helped my face heal quickly.
Would we do it again? Yes, we will, but we'll certainly plan it out better next time. I believe I made it because I thought "What if I HAD to do this to save someone's life, etc.? Could I do it?" and so I tried to show myself that I could. It feels good to know what physical extremes I can push myself to without the added adrenaline that comes with being in an emergency situation.
We then had an extra day in which we were too hurt to do any more walking or birdwatching. So we went to the Monterey Aquarium (and ended up seeing some more new birds off their observation decks.) What a nice aquarium! The jellyfish exhibit is really cool. I was able to use the bathroom as much as I wanted to there.
We also found a restaurant serving great Mexican vegan food called Tillie Gorts (in case anyone else goes there) and were able to eat well, although I couldn't completely follow the IC diet.
So it was half horrible and half wonderful. My main piece of advice for anyone considering kayaking is to keep in mind that you'll probably be wearing a wetsuit and that you should bring some sort of padded pillow for the seat. My seat was really pressing into my tailbone and the bladder nerves. FOr this reason, I believe, the Pyridium didn't work at all and I felt like I had to go almost the entire time.
Emily
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It gives me hope and inspiration now though. My brother has been wanting to go white water rafting and I've been hesitant....but after your fun with kayaking, I've got to try some new water sport!
