Paddling In A Drizzle

Lunch In  Erie, PA

6:37

6:47

It's 7:00 and the sun has popped up over the horizon although most of the sky is filled with clouds and it supposedly will rain in a half hour. I don't count on it. Well, just as I started to paddle at 7:20, it started to drizzle but not for long as I was out for at least 50 minutes, arriving home hardly damp but happy with having photographed both a heron and osprey. 

Kayak Morning

Clouding Up

Great Blue Heron Among The Mallards

Osprey Eyes

Yesterday was an unusual day for us although it started out to be a typical Monday, with an hour paddle, a few bird photos, breakfast, and the blog. We were able to relax for an hour and because of the forecast for rain at 6:00.  I put the cover on the boat. We both then showered and by 11:00, we were on our way to lunch in Erie with friends, Penny and Cle. Cle graduated from Reserve in the mid-1960s and I was fortunate enough to teach both their sons so we go way back. They suggested Oliver's, a restaurant on the eighth floor of the new Hampton Inn which overlooks Erie Harbor. It has great views of not only the harbor but the bay and we look across it to Presque Isle where I often bike. We enjoyed not only the view but the food and it's always fun talking with both Cle and Penny. 

They have lived in Erie most of their life so they know the town well. Cle and I had walleye sandwiches, and Penny and Evie both had great salads so we were happy with our choices. We stayed till 2:00, vowing to meet again in the fall, as the sky threatened rain. By the time we got to our car, it started to drizzle and once we were on #86, we drove through torrential rains, just as bad as our trip through Cleveland a couple of weeks ago. We even pulled over for ten minutes it was raining so hard, making it difficult to see. When we returned home, we were surprised to see only an inch of rain had fallen but it must have been much greater in some areas. We received messages that our power had gone out as well as the cable and wifi, that trees in the area were down.  It was an adventurous afternoon.

We did not do much the rest of the afternoon but by 5:30, we were on our front porch as the sky had cleared and we enjoyed a libation or two and hummus and pretzels. It was a beautiful early evening so we didn't have dinner until 7:15, the leftover pizza, and a salad because we were still full from our great lunch. We watched a few HGTV shows, some of the always depressing news, ending the night with another episode of the Extraordinary Attorney Woo.