Dinah and Mark lifted the canoe off the truck and carried it down the path leading from the parking lot, through the trees and down to the lake. Lake Tahoe was nearly perfectly flat and the sun beat down on the windless beach. Sunbathers lay scattered on the sand while children played in the shallow, cold, clear water. Picturesque mountains showing thick forest, bare granite and occasional patches of snow surrounded the startling blue water of the lake. "Gonna be a warm one," Mark said.
"Better than the howling hurricane we paddled through last time," Dinah answered.
They headed back up the path to get the paddles, water bottles, pfd's, and picnic lunch they had packed in the back of the truck. It was late morning and the parking lot was rapidly filling. A compact car carrying what appeared to be a brand new red kayak had parked next them and a woman was trying to wrestle the boat off of the rack. She was fairly short, but looked fit and appeared to be in her thirties. She had long brown hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, and was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and sun hat.
Mark, fearing for his vehicle, offered to help her. She acquiesced and he easily lifted the small craft off the car and carried it over to the side of the parking lot. By the time he returned Dinah and the kayaker were deep in conversation as they unloaded their respective vehicles. The woman had extracted her paddle, pfd, and water bottle, thanked Mark for the help, bade them a good day, and started off down the path.
"She just got the kayak," Dinah told him, "and has never been in one before."
Mark raised his eyebrows, "Hmmm" in a not so interest manner.
They took a few minutes packing their gear before closing and locking the truck. As they got to the edge of the parking lot the woman reappeared, panting slightly, apparently having jogged up the path. "I set my stuff in your canoe for a few minutes, I didn't want any of the kids to play with it. I hope you don't mind."
"No problem," Dinah said, watching as the woman resumed her wrestling match with the kayak. "You want some help with that?"
"No, I can get it," the woman insisted as she fell onto her butt.
Mark bent down and picked up the end of the kayak by the carrying strap, shifting the paddle he was carrying to the other hand. "Just grab the other end and we'll get you down to the water."
"Thanks, again," she said, "My name's Jane, by the way."
"I'm Dinah, and this is Mark," Dinah offered. "So, what made you decide to try kayaking?"
"Just something that looks like fun," Jane said. "It doesn't look like it should be too hard. I saw some people doing it when I went rafting."
"Doing what?" Mark asked, suggestively.
Dinah kicked him then asked, "Where did you go rafting?"
"On the American River, near Sacramento," Jane said.
They reached the beach and Mark set the kayak down then began loading his gear into the canoe.
"How do you do this?" Dinah asked as Jane opened the kayak's hatch and withdrew a cockpit skirt.
"This goes on around your waist to keep water out, then I guess I get in and paddle."
Mark offered, "If you haven't kayaked before I'd recommend leaving the skirt off, just in case you roll over, it'll be easier to get out. Can you swim?"
Jane pondered this for a bit then shoved the skirt back into the hatch. "Yeah, I can swim." She then dragged the boat out into about waist deep water and put one leg into the boat. When she followed with the other leg the boat rolled over and Jane popped up sputtering. "Geez this water is cold. How am I supposed to get into this thing?"
Mark had her bring it back to the beach. With just the bow in the water he indicated Jane to get in. Once she was ensconced within the craft he handed her the paddle. "Balance the paddle across the cockpit then push yourself out into the water with your hands."
Jane tried it and a few seconds she was floating in a few inches of water. "Try paddling around in shallow water before you go any deeper," Mark said. He and Dinah watched as she paddled down the beach then carefully turn and paddle back.
"I knew it wouldn't be hard," she said proudly as she slid the boat back onto the beach.
Mark and Dinah put the canoe into the water, "We're just going to paddle down along the shore a ways," Dinah said, "You can come with us if you want, it may be a good idea to have some help nearby if you flip again."
Jane agreed it was a good idea and they set off on course parallel to the beach. The paddled for a while with Jane experimenting with her paddle, turning this way and that before returning to the side of the canoe. "This is fun," she said brightly.
After an hour they came across a small beach surrounded by a cliffs and thus not easily accessible from the land. "Wanna park and eat?" Mark asked.
"Sure," Dinah said, then turning to Jane, "Would you like to join us for a bite?
"That sounds good, if you're sure you have enough." Jane said.
The two boats slid up onto the beach and the three got out. Spreading a blanket on the ground they pulled out their food and began eating.
"I should have brought some food," Jane said, "I'll need to remember that for next time."
Dinah and Jane began a conversation in which Jane explained she had been married but had now been divorced for almost six months. She complained how difficult it was to have a social life, all her friends had kids, she hadn't been able to meet any men, and so on. Mark was amazed at the amount of information the two woman passed between them is so short a time.
"Where are you staying tonight?" Dinah asked.
"I figured I'd just get a room at one of the cheap hotels, I don't want to spend a bunch."
