Kayaking Freaks

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 4  Come On Dad, It'll Be Fun! It's nice to catch up on life in general with family or friends, and for us, there's no better place to do that than in a kayak.  It can also be a time of peace and quiet for adult family members (moms, dads, grand-parents, great-grand parents, and grown-up kids) to have time to bond. Sharing our kayak adventures with others is a passion for Don and myself. We love to take friends and family kayaking to expose them to the beauty of Florida's best nature spots for viewing, and/or capturing photographs of mesmerizing  scenes of nature and wildlife of a lifetime!   Kayaking with kids is also a great way to spend time together outdoors. Nature has so much offer, and it makes a super, educational homeschooling outing for your students interested in science or ecology.   We are excited that  From the Nose of Our Kayak  will come to pass not only as a blog book, but...

From the Nose of Our Kayak  Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 3 Monkeys...Really? Silver River's beauty never leaves you wanting, but this particular outing left us wanting...to go back time and time again! We began to realize, you never know what you're going to see on the shoreline, beneath the water, on the water, in the woods, high in the trees, or even higher in the sky. View of Silver River in mid October 2009 from the nose of our kayak The deer drag had worked like a charm and we had portaged to the launch area in no time. We excitedly launched the kayak at Silver River State Park for the second time. We knew we had 2-1/2 miles to paddle up river before we could coast back down on the river's gentle current to the launch area. At the time, 2-1/2 miles paddling up stream was quite the undertaking for us beginners.  We cleared the markers and were deep within nature in seconds. Ahhhhh...peace and serenity at last. Before we could even get to the first...

From the Nose of Our Kayak  Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 2  What's a Deer Drag? Woohoo! We discovered Silver River in Silver Springs, Florida. We had heard all about how gorgeous it was, and that the wildlife was astounding. We couldn't wait to give it a go. But as always, when you're blazing a new trail there are many added...shall we say, surprises?...that you weren't expecting, never thought of, or possibly ignored. Yup! We fell into this category.  We arrived at Silver River for the first time with our "fancy" plastic kayak (that had survived a trip from Florida to Michigan's U.P. - yes, all the way up to the Lake Superior region across from Canada), a mini tornado on I-75, and busted up - slippery - basically useless roof-top pads...hmmm, maybe there is something to those fancy kayak racks on top of fellow kayakers' vehicles?  Regardless, proudly we pulled into the Silver Springs State Park and were beyond eager to get started. The...

Welcome to the Kayaking Freaks blog,  "From the Nose of Our Kayak:"  authors/photographers Don & Janet Beasley.  Hi, I'm Janet Beasley. My husband Don and I love to kayak. Don and I most enjoy kayaking the crystal clear, spring-fed rivers of Florida  (weather permitting - it's Florida, we take lightning seriously) , as well as other areas on our days off. Exploring nature and the outdoors has become an extreme passion for us. When we're not on the water I am busy writing fiction, painting, creating  BeaslePunk Steampunk Art , and serving as a KidMin Music Leader and Entertainer; I am the creator (and face) behind the children's ministry character,  Lady Violet Adventures . Don on the other hand works in the entertainment industry as an audio visual specialist and planner at one of our local theme parks here in Orlando, Florida. When we're not on the water he's busy creating BeaslePunk Steampunk Art, serving as an audio visual minister at  F...

From the Nose of Our Kayak Don & Janet Beasley Chapter 20: A Beautiful Day...What Can We Say The reason you either live or travel to Michigan's U.P. is to experience days such as these. The sky was bluer than any we'd ever seen, the cloud formations were unique, and the wildlife was plenty.  We launched our kayak into the Tahquamenon River once again. We took our time flowing downriver, paddling only when we wanted to as we wanted the day to last forever.  Our first glance from the nose of our kayak on the river was awesome. The water had no ripples...it was actually a mirror. The brackish water was clear, and the sights beneath its crystal top were as beautiful as the sky. The vegetation laid in the direction of the water's flow. Lilly pads came into view and we stopped to gaze upon their serenity.  As we coasted a bit farther down river we began to see flocks of one of our favorite birds, cedar waxwings. Something about their striking appearance...