The 100th Post

We have a couple exciting milestones this month:

• This is the 100th blog post! Nearly every post represents a single cycle of coordinating schedules, boat/gear loading and unloading, miles paddled, even more miles driven, and a few hours spent on a blog post. Phew... 
• The Naked Kayaker (blog) is 4 years old!

I reviewed my first blog post, in which I set some tangible paddling goals. I met the first two by the end of 2010 (paddle 100 miles and paddle on each of the Finger Lakes). The 3rd goal was postponed indefinitely (paddling the 40-mile length of Cayuga Lake in a day). The 4th goal (kayak in lots of places) is ongoing and a bit undefined, so let's call that a success: check!

In commemoration, here are some updated goals for the rest of 2014:

1. A couple months ago Alice and I set a goal to paddle together 15 more times before I left for Europe. It's pretty ambitious since Alice is leaving for a month on Friday. So far we've done 7 in 2014 (Berkeley, Red Rock, Estero Americano, Out-the-Gate, Whiskeytown Lake, Lewiston Lake, Sea Glass Beach). We have some upcoming paddles but we'll definitely be cutting it close!

2. Paddle 100 miles before leaving on my roadtrip (described below). This will be easy since I'm already at 85...

3. Paddle in 10 new places in 2014, including at least once in the Netherlands.

4. Get involved in sea kayaking in the Netherlands.

Starting July 19th, I'm embarking on a 23-day road trip up the west coast to the San Juan Islands and then east through the Great Lakes to Boston. I won't put too many details here, but stay tuned for much more blogging later this summer! Here's a list of the places I'm hoping to paddle:

• Mendocino Coast: sea caves, waves, and crystal clear water
• Humboldt lagoons
• Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
• Whitewater somewhere near Portland
• Somewhere in Seattle
• San Juan Islands - San Juan Island and Orcas Island
• Fish Trap Lake near Spokane, WA
• Apostle Islands, Lake Superior, WI
• Pictured Rocks, Lake Superior, MI
• Sleeping Bear Dunes, Lake Michigan, MI
• Irondequoit Bay in Rochester, of course :)
• Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, of course