Everything Works Out For The Best

Today was an off day for paddling.  Well, there is this big swap meet on Saturdays which takes precedence over paddling. The only trouble with the swap meet is that it happens inland and away from the cooling effects of the trade winds. I suffer to save money. Today there wasn't a lot that piqued my interest, mainly Hawaiian themed touristy stuff and the real cool stuff was either too large to transport or I figure "I could do that.". The only thing I came away with was a sweat soaked t-shirt.

We left the swap meet and went for breakfast in Paia. Louise says there is an apostrophe in between some of those vowels, but no one really cares. Paia is one of those towns that cater to tourists and if you were to move the town to Banff and replaced the surf related products with mountain products, you wouldn't know the difference. we walked around the town looking for an interesting store while I worried about whether the bums that were hanging around the parking lot were going through my stuff. Turns out that the bums had less motivation than I gave them credit for.

Since there was zero chance that we could make a left turn through the traffic, we decided to go up the coast and check out the beach with surfers and turtles. The beach parking lot was very crowded but that was to be expected it being the Easter long weekend. I am amazed at the size of the turtles and how awkward they are on land. They have a grace in the water and those large inefficient flippers (on land) allow them to play and find food in the ocean. I'm just thankful they don't eat people. The surfers were equally fascinating to watch. I asked a guy if it wasn't dangerous and he said "oh yeah." I asked if it was dangerous for him and he said, No, not at all." Basically, he was saying keep out of the water fat boy.

I could have taken offence, but I took it as wise advice. If I had begun surfing when my body was more surfboard like then I might be tempted, but it has been a long time since I looked like a surfboard. I will have to content myself with the Surf and Turf at my local steakhouse. Okay, I am sticking with the Turf.

Surprisingly, I was exhausted by the time we got back to the condo. I say surprisingly because I did nothing strenuous at all. My plan was to go for a walk down the beach and then go for a swim to strengthen those muscles which have atrophied over the winter. I opted to take a short power nap so that I would have the energy for that walk down the beach. I woke from my nap still a little tired and instead of walking down the beach I figured I could take care of those atrophied muscles by having a cool drink on the lanai. 

See, everything works out for the best.