When: June 22nd
Where: Stony Creek Metropark
Why: In my constant quest for fun activities, the recent craze of paddle-boarding really captured my attention. I've always known surfing would not be for me, but this seemed like a version of standing on the water's surface to get a similar thrill in a much smaller dose. And I'll be honest, I wish I could say I learned about it in a very trendy fitness magazine or cool blog or other less embarrassing manner, but truthfully, I learned about it from this show (skip ahead to 8 minutes; and yes, I might one day put a few more of those activities on my list!). So, there isn't any ocean access around here, but we do have Great Lakes and smaller lakes, so it seemed that this was something I could accomplish this summer. With a few friends who have done this before, I embarked on a day out on the lake to give it my best shot. I was tempting fate by wearing neither a swimsuit nor a life jacket, but the board is much larger than I thought, and much more buoyant. I was able to get from my knees to my feet pretty quickly, and with only a few close calls, I actually stayed up the whole time! The wind was not in our favor for most of the day, and even a 2-inch wave seemed a little terrifying from atop my board, but we managed to find a nice spot to eventually relax in the middle of the lake to soak up our morning of paddle-boarding.
