Last weekend, one of my lifelong friends, Grace, came up to visit me at Clemson. She had been obsessing over kayaking at Lake Jocassee for a while and desperately wanted to take a trip to said lake. Since it's 45 minutes from TigerTown, we decided to pack our bags and go! However, that was as far as our plans went. So, here's what happens when you just "wing it" on a day trip to a lake you've never been to.
9:00am: Chick-Fil-A breakfast comes first. Obviously.
Recommended for you
10:00am: Post Chick-Fil-A poop. Obviously.
11:00am: Actually look up directions to Lake Jocassee while simultaneously packing too many unnecessary items.
11:30am: Pick up sandwiches from Publix. Food is clearly the most important thing to us.
12:00pm: Get on the road! Lake Jocassee here we come!
12:45pm: Arrive at Kayak rental shop. Out of kayaks. ):
12:50pm: Call another Kayak rental shop. Also out of kayaks. ):
12:55pm: Realize you're almost out of gas and have to pee. Stop at a hokey-doke gas station to fill up the car and empty yourself.
1:00pm: Call third, slightly sketchy, Kayak rental shop. Lady takes credit card information and phone number. Proceeds to text us directions.
1:10pm: Arrive at completely sketchy Kayak rental place. Plot twist- it's actually a farm/boat storage. TURKEYS BEGIN SURROUNDING OUR CAR. WHAT DO WE DO. HELP.
1:11pm: Man informs us that lady we spoke to will be right back. She had to run to the store. Slightly weirded out because we are left with a man and his turkeys and OH MY GOSH A PUPPY.
1:12pm: Play with puppy for twenty minutes while we wait on lady.
1:30pm: Lady arrives and loads kayaks onto trailer attached to the back of a truck driven by a shirtless old man. We ride in the back of the truck along with various household items that have magically reincarnated from the 90s.
1:45pm: Arrive at lake. Shirtless man provides a waterproof map and tells us directions to an awesome waterfall.
2:00pm: Paddle 20 yards and stop for lunch.
2:30pm: Back in the water. Realize Catherine is extremely bad at kayaking, but we keep trucking towards waterfall.
3:00pm: Have major doubts that we're going the wrong direction and decide to turn around and follow fellow kayakers down a bend in the lake that hopefully leads toward said waterfall.
3:30pm: Stalk other kayakers for a while. However, after catching up and talking to them, the group realizes this bend is a dead end.
3:45pm: Sit in the kayaks and contemplate our existence and the idea of eternity.
4:00pm: Flag down small boat with a CLEMSON couple! Realize they are incredibly nice people and instead of simply giving us directions, tow us to a cute, smaller waterfall close by!
4:10pm: Cute Clemson couple takes pictures of us standing by tiny waterfall.
4:15pm: Cute Clemson couple offers to take us to the giant waterfall we originally wanted to visit since we literally paddled in the COMPLETE OPPOSITE DIRECTION all day lol.
4:30pm: Arrive at awesome waterfall! Thank you, Bryan and Toni!!
4:35pm: Say our goodbyes and thank yous to cute Clemson couple and play around and explore the waterfall for a while.
5:15pm: Start to paddle back to our drop off spot.
5:30pm: Take a break in the middle of the lake for snacks. (Very important).
6:00pm: Arrive back at drop off spot. While waiting for ride back, sit on rock and enjoy the scenery.
6:15pm: Back in the back of the truck, but this time WITH THE PUPPY!! Also, the kayaks are loaded in the boat we are also towing and they nearly slide out of the boat's door and kill us, but we're totally fine(:
6:30pm: Say goodbye to nice, farm people and dash from truck to car to avoid turkeys.
6:35pm: Jam out on the drive home and laugh at what a crazy day it was.
End Result: Winging it is so much more fun and would 10/10 do again.
