Paddleboarding and Tree Planting

Christopher Columbus was responsible for my most recent three day weekend.  What did I do with the extra day?  Well, Columbus sailed the Atlantic Ocean to discover our great land.  Me?

I went on my longest stand-up paddle board excursion to date.

My wife and I shipped off from the American Legion east of Aroma Park along the Kankakee River and landed 6.7 miles later at Beckman Park in Kankakee, IL.

For the record, a yellow and green trail means that we're moving at a pretty good speed for paddle boarding and the orange and red are fairly slow.

You can see from the picture retrieved from phone app that at mile marker 4 our pace slowed considerably.  There was a wind out of the northwest and the tree line was blocking it until we made the bend at Aroma Park.  Those last 2+ miles too a long time.  There's even a spot in there where I stopped paddling to see what would happen.  Yep, the wind was pushing me backwards.  Crazy.

Monday I planted a tree for my sister.  She had to take down her tree in the front yard because it was interfering with the power lines.  I bought her a new one for her birthday: a nice ornamental pear tree that would not encroach upon the power lines.  

I picked my grandfather up and he supervised as I dug the hole, removed old roots, and eventually planted the new tree. Notice Grandpa there making sure I'm using good form!

Check out the "W" flag in the window.  The Cubs lost their last three games of the season and finished with a record of 66-96.  Yet, the Win flag still flies!

It was a fun weekend for sure!