Kayak

Hey all,

When we bought our used Tacoma a few months ago, one of the things I pictured doing with it was using it to haul a Kayak. Our family has rented kayaks on many outings, vacations, etc, but we've never had one of our own.

Of course kayaks, like all outdoor equipment, are in pretty short supply right now. I was looking for a tandem one for my wife and I, and came up empty for a month or more. Finally I found one online and pulled the trigger, even with a $200 shipping charge add on, because it was sort-of..."buy it or forget about it for another year".

I got home from work on Tuesday and it was sitting in the grass next to my driveway. A couple of dings from shipping, but no holes in it...so that's about the best I could hope for. I figured I'd wait until the weekend to put it in the back of the Taco and take it to a local state park to try out, but my kid's summer gig brought him back home for a couple of days. He saw the kayak and was like "Let's go kayaking tonight"...so "why not?".

We loaded the 13 1/2 foot kayak in the back of my 2012 tacoma regular cab using a home built bed extender. Man, that's a lot of kayak hanging off the back....but it works. Took it to a state park 10 minutes from my house. I had to pony up for a 2021 annual kayak/canoe permit. $5.00. Not sure why they even bother. I mean, the sticker probably costs them 2 bucks, right?

We made it to the boat ramp and the only issue was I got stuck in "Taco-Talk" with one of the guys fishing off the dock there. 5 minutes into hearing about "Tacomas he had owned, loved, and sold off", I made my apologies and unstrapped the kayak.

The lake is pretty small at this park. We pretty much lapped the whole thing. Lots of snapping turtles, catfish swimming under us, Canadian geese...but mostly just me and my son falling into a steady paddling rhythm. Perfect evening.

 

Happy you and your son had a good evening! A day in nature will be an awesome memory and character builder. Good parenting, right there keep us posted on future adventures!