Few things are more relaxing than fresh air, friends and nowhere to be for hours. That realization came as I was canoeing along Tuttle Creek Lake last Thursday evening with a small group of adventurers.
My host mom from last summer would take canoeing trips with her family, but before Thursday, I had never taken the time to go with a group. It always seemed to be a good way to de-stress though.
Kaitlyn Heier, junior in mass communications and Spanish, said that even though she’s been swimming, she’s interested in other aquatic activities like canoeing.
“My whole reason for doing these activities is to spend time with friends and family,” Heier said. “I would love to try other activities in the water, because I think they would be relaxing and a good way to take your mind off of things.”
Rotem Arieli, senior in family studies and psychology, said that navigating fast currents is her favorite part about canoeing.
“The water went really fast, so it was just exciting to keep up with it.” Arieli said.
So, honestly, when my friends first talked about canoeing, I was picturing fast pace, rushing water and struggling to stay in the boat.
Although canoeing on fast waters is a popular past time, I was relieved to find that it is equally relaxing to just canoe on still bodies of water as well.
Katie Harrison, senior in secondary education English, had a similarly enjoyable experience while kayaking on still water.
“My whole family went out and we all had a wonderful time,” Harrison said. “The water was so peaceful. We were out for about an hour and I never got bored; I could have been out for several more hours I think.”
Our amateur rowing team consisted of Jamie Teixeira, senior in English and Collegian Current editor, Brandon Bienhoff, senior in construction science and management, and George Walker, junior in computer science and Collegian photo editor.
Originally, we had planned to stay only for 30 minutes as only Bienhoff had much experience rowing. But while we were out there, we found that the time we spent paddling passed quickly. We had a fun time daring each other to stand up in the canoe, giving each other high-fives with our oars and navigating around buoys until the sun set.
See more photos from the canoeing adventure here.
Rachel Nyhart is a senior in anthropology.
