We're still loving the canoe. We've been out more weekends than we've missed, and even a few weeknights. We opted for a "sunset cruise" one night last month, only to find our plans largely thwarted by nature. I suppose that a bit of forethought might have helped, but there's just no getting around the fact that our local river runs from east to west, so if we put in at our normal spot and paddle upriver (so the trip back is easier than the trip there), well, that means we're facing east, and not in much of a position to watch the sunset. And then when we do turn around to come home, well, not a very good view of the moonrise over the Sierras. But we still had a great time. Pictures didn't really come out well, but that's ok... Next time.

We have managed to get to Shaver Lake:



Where we enjoyed mountain scenery and cooler summertime temps.

My parents stumbled upon us along our local river one day, so we now have some shots of us underway:





Lately we've been expolring a portion of the Kings River, near Lemoore. Noteably different than the mountain portions of the river, here the river is lazy and wide. Thanks to a wet year, it's still very full and there are several channels flowing, and islands and marshes all around.



There are plenty of good areas to explore, both on the water and on land, but in the trees... Well... There are spiders:



And lots of them. We didn't get any real good pictures of them, but some of the areas were so think with them that in a say, 5'x5' gap in the tree branhes, there would be 15-20 spiders. I'm not really afraid of spiders, but that's a little too much for me. The females would have bodies about as big around as a nickel, or maybe a quarter. The males were smaller bodied, but with a similar legspan. We opted not to disturb them.

We still have plans for more trips, if all goes well we'll be watching the Perseids from a mountain lake soon. Enjoy the pics, and be sure to click them, as (if I did everything right) some of them should be links.

MV