I got out of bed at 0630 and read for a little while. After realizing that Mass at nearby St. Mary's started at 0730, I quickly got ready and drove there. Afterwards, I made my way to a nearby Irving (in Pembroke) and got a gas fillup (0825). Driving back to Katie's, I saw turkeys grazing in town... I spent the rest of the morning getting breakfast (light snacks), reading (several books and magazines), working on my Portuguese (on Duolingo) and watching the progress of Eileen's Arctic Expedition (team planning to paddle last 16 miles to the finish). When John returned from church, he and I had some snacks and made plans. During almost every visit when I’ve had enough time to hike, we’ve headed over to the BH Reservation. There are great trails and scenic views there and we’ve never gotten bored. But, with amazing weather (blue skies and temps in the 60s) today, we decided to paddle instead! Using my car, we packed his kayak (next to mine) on top of "Nessie". We then drove (via MA-139 and some back roads) to the Blue Hills Reservation. Along the way (1255), we stopped at Dunkin Donuts (for John) and then continued west. Eventually, we found the car top boat launch on Ponkapoag Pond (near the AMC Family Camp). Launching our kayaks from the car-top boat launch on the south end of Ponkapoag Pond (1330), we made our way in a clockwise direction. We passed pretty groves of colorful fall foliage dotted the shores and I saw one really great image of “Big Blue” on the northern horizon. Along the way, we saw a gray heron, an angry osprey and a bald eagle who was harassing it. There was a lot of wind but we were able to stay close to the shoreline for about 2/3 of our paddle, avoiding the effects. After that, though, we had to ride the surf that was driving water to the northeast corner of the pond. Woohoo! Eventually we made it back to shelter but it took a lot of hard work. After an hour, we wrapped up our fall weekend adventure. Five stars! We next made our way back to Katie's house in Hanover (arrived at 1530). Katie got home shortly afterwards and she wanted to watch the pre-recorded Patriots-Saints game. Even though John and I already knew the outcome, we had to pretend that we didn't... Along the way, we ate wings, shrimp, fried cheese sticks and chips/guacamole. I also tried a couple more cans of local beer. At 1830, I decided to go out for a walk at the Hanover High School Track - I ended up spending close to two hours away from the house. When I returned, found that Katie and John had already gone to bed. I spent the rest of the evening watching a movie, reading and doing Duolingo. I actually went to bed early (for once) at 2215. Nice day!
