Paddleboarding at Russian River

I'm getting behind on my writing! This is my 30th journal entry for 2024, and it is week #32! So in order to catch up, I'll need to write 2 more this week, or 1 more this week and 2 next week, or 3 next week. So, buckle up for some more stories coming up soon! My New Year's resolution didn't specify how long each story needed to be, so this will be a short one, probably. Yesterday, my family and I went to Russian River and I got to try paddleboarding for the first time.

My parents and sister came to pick me up on Sunday around noon, and we had lunch at my apartment. From there, it's about an hour to get to Johnson's Beach in Guerneville. The drive was pretty and went by quickly. We saw some Peanuts figures on the way there. It was probably because we drove close by the Charles Schulz museum.

Luckily there was still some parking when we arrived in Johnson's Beach around 2. The parking attendant said that the beach closes at 6, so we had a good 4 hours to stay there. It was pretty crowded but we got a decent spot on the beach. The beach was all rocks and pebbles and hurt my feet when I took my shoes off. It was warm out, but not too hot.

I'm always a little reluctant to go to Russian River, because the water is always so cold, and kind of dirty. This time, not surprisingly, it was very cold. But I don't think it's the coldest it's ever been. Emily and I hopped in the water and swam around for a bit. Out of nowhere, my parents pulled out an 11-foot paddleboard. It felt really solid, but turns out it was inflated! I had no idea they bought one.

I tried it out for a bit standing up, and even in the calm water, it was very difficult to stay balanced. I ended up sitting down and paddling that way, and the board moved very quickly through the water. It was effortless and awesome! Emily and I were able to both sit comfortably on the paddleboard, so we took turns paddling up the river. There were some really cool houses along the water, with small docks for kayaks and small boats. Unfortunately, I couldn't take any pictures because I didn't have my phone with me.

I definitely liked paddleboarding because it kept me out of the cold water, and it was pretty fun. I might look into getting one for myself one day. However, I think a double-sided paddle would have helped a lot more than the one-sided paddle I used.