My roommate and I laughing at each other
On Saturday, September 23rd, I decided to embark on a canoeing and kayaking trip hosted by Stockton’s Get Centered office of student programming. I had seen the advertising poster on the wall outside of my dorm about a week prior to the event, but I was hesitant to go until my roommate pointed to the poster and expressed her interest in the trip. Relieved that I would have someone familiar to hang out with, I decided to hand in my $5.00 to the campus center information desk and reserve my spot. By this point, I was excited because I had always wanted to go canoeing and I had also been looking for other ways to get involved around campus.
The good thing about the trip was that the buses didn’t leave until 1:00 in the afternoon, which ensured that I’d be able to catch up on my Saturday beauty sleep (this girl does not like to get up early on the weekends). Despite having ample time to get ready, my roommate and I still found ourselves sprinting towards the campus center at 12:55, hoping desperately that the bus hadn’t left without us. It hadn’t. We climbed aboard just in time and the buses pulled out of the parking lot.
The poster had said that the canoeing trip would last from 1:00 to 5:00, so silly me, assuming we would not be canoeing for almost five hours, had brought along earbuds and a snack for the expected long bus ride. But to my surprise, around only 20 minutes into the trip, the bus pulled into the parking lot of Palace Restaurant and Outfitters, a canoeing center in my hometown of Mays Landing. Stunned at the fact that I had never been to nor heard of this place, I google mapped my location and realized that we were only eight minutes away from my house! This news excited yet also annoyed me, as I had always wanted to go canoeing but never knew that the means to do so were easily accessible.
After getting off of the bus, our group made its way to the big vans parked in front of the restaurant. The employees explained that they would drive us to the beginning of Weymouth Furnace, where we would start our journey. Hesitantly, my roommate and I boarded our two-person kayak and started paddling down the furnace. I was in charge of paddling, while she handled the steering part. We were doing a pretty good job for the most part, only running into problems when we accidentally hit low-hanging branches or veered off course. And even during those times, we laughed at our amatuer kayaking skills and at how ridiculous we looked. We got a lot of great pictures as well. I especially enjoyed listening to calming music as we paddled and viewing the river-side properties as we sped by. By the time we reached the end of the furnace, our arms were tired but our hearts were full.
I now have so many great memories of that day that I wouldn’t trade for the world. I look forward to participating in more weekend events sponsored by Get Centered in the future.