Note to self: Never do water sports while wearing blue jeans.
Yesterday Aya, H, J, and I went up north to D's house. We saw three large dogs (one part great dane), 2 horses, chickens, cows, and smelled the lovely aroma of pigs. Played BINGO, at which I won a neat little coloring book, crayons and sidewalk chalk. We then went to Upper Red Lake... VERY large lake. I built my first ever sand castle with a moat and all. I took pictures to remember it and will post on photoblog when I find the right cord for my camera (stupid moving).
Aya and D rode a Sea Doo over from further down the lake. I had sworn against them for safety reasons and because I didn't want my back to be any worse than it already is, but when Aya gave me the; "Come on Aspen, give it a try! It's so much fun..." speech... well apparently all memory of our previous skiing expidition had been washed from my mind by the rusty water and though I was totally unprepared for such an adventure (wearing blue jeans and a t-shrit) I thought, "Sure, why not!"
And so, I went for my first ride on a Sea Doo. It was a windy and wavy day so we didn't go that fast and it was actually quite enjoyable. Then I got the brilliant idea that I could drive it. I was driving, with J behind me and managed to tip the thing over. J was saying not to let off the gas as a wave came and pushed us sideways and then I felt the thing tip beneath me, heard a splash as he hit the water and as the sea doo continued to tip with me still on it I launched myself off of it, not wanting to be trapped beneath. Somehow it hit me, just above my upper lip, and the stinging sensation lasted for a few minutes. I saw my life pass before my eyes, along with the murky red lake water, thought of my parents and friends as I kicked and flailed to reach the surface. And then I was back above the water again gasping for air. We were well out on the lake and had to turn it back over. It felt like it took forever, but I'm pretty sure it was only 5 minutes or so - treading water, remembering my life flashing before my eyes as the water surrounded me and I sunk down, unable to feel the ground and wondering what on earth I was doing out here in the first place. After we got it tipped back over J climbed on and then I tried to get up but my legs were shaking too bad so I hung on to the sides, treading water. The waves had pushed us much closer to the shore by this time and just as I saw D coming out to help us I had the wonderful sensation of sand brushing between my toes. I was able to walk the rest of the way in, which took a good while as it's very shallow for quite a ways out. Unfortunately, the motor got water in it and it had to sit out and dry while we had dinner... they blew water off the spark plugs and such... but got it started and all was well.
Dinner was yummy; grilled hamburgers, salad, watermelon, a brownie for dessert. His family really provided for us!
What an adventure.
I did like the riding part and though the driving part was very scary and short-lived, I might do the riding part again.
And yes... I managed to tip a jet ski and J will never, ever, EVER let me forget it.