24-November-2001, Saturday: I woke up this morning at my room at the Ramada, Bayfront, in downtown Corpus. I got up at 6 a.m. and started my stuff, packing, stretching, exercises, and laundry, by 8 a.m. I was pretty much done, so I called Ken, the guy I met the other day over by the beach. He said he�d be right over. I said okay, but I was a little late in packing so I asked him to give me 20 minutes instead of 10, he said no problem. I finished packing and went downstairs to checkout. I took my stuff, and as I was checking out, I saw Ken walk into the library, he had khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, and his sunglasses I hadn�t seen him take them off yet, but they are prescription it turns out and voil�. So, he says hi and we take my stuff out to the car, I take my bike and backpack and he carries out my bags. He�s 68 and he carries them out like I would, that�s impressive as hell. He has a little station wagon and it has a kayak rack on top and a bike rack in the back. We load up and off we go. He seems really cool, but ya know when ya first meet someone that is friendly you are always sort of doubtful, so I was a little anxious, I mean here I am in Corpus Christi going to some dude�s house that I don�t even know� I mean, I�ve done similar things in the past, but it is usually with friends, with people my own age, or with a family. This is unique in that Ken is older, I mean he is technically a senior citizen, but shit, I would think he was twenty or thirty something. He�s in great shape, he�s so happy and active and just not old� I have never met someone like him. I hope I�m like that when I get to his age. So, we go to his place, he offers me breakfast, I have a bowl of cereal and then we pack up for some kayaking. It�s so cool, we go down to Corpus Christi Bay and launch the boats. We talk a lot in the car and all, it ends up he was married and has a sun that lives in California. He also has a roommate, Enrique a 30-something Mexican that is studying and working at a local community college (I met him later). Ken used to work in advertising and then one day 15 years ago he went to a sport store and saw a kayak, he bought it cause �it looked pretty�. Then he fell in love with kayaking (this is when he lived up in Chicago), and eventually decided to retire down here in Corpus Christi and kayak and relax. I don�t know what happened to his wife, I don�t feel right asking, maybe later. So he�s lived here for 10 years and I guess Enrique rents from him??? I don�t know. It�s not really important anyway. So, we kayak like 5 miles in the bay, over by this boat from the Navy called the U.S.S. Lexington I got a picture next to it that is so the bomb. Then we came back to his house and had lunch: porkchops, potatoes and carrots. It was delicious. I had my first home-cooked meal in a while. Then we went to another part of the bay and Ken taught me how to turn the kayak, or actually flip the kayak, you fall to one side and then are capsized and sucking in water then you flip yourself back rightside up, it was cool, and I learned it in 15 minutes, he said that was good, I got pictures of that too. He has a digital camera and we have gotten great pictures with it, I really should get one of those things. Then, I was cold, cause I was learning technique and not really paddling and I am used to pedaling for 8 hours a day, so I was cold from the ebbing of my blood. Then we headed home, heater on full in the car (it�s 75�F outside already) then we get home�. Oh yeah, we forgot to tie the kayaks to the roof of the car, but they luckily didn�t fall out, even though we had gone up some little hills and all. Lucky. Kayaks are about $2000 dollars, especially these composite fiberglass sea kayaks. Ken actually is a distributor of kayaks so he takes them from a kayak-maker in Mexico and sells them via kayak/sport stores, if I ever want one I�ll have to talk to him. So we get back and I get a warm shower, then we go out to the supermarket HEB (Hairy Butt, is what Ken says the owner named it after� could be�) We got some beautiful salmon filets...mmmmmmmmmm... Ken cooked them up with some scalloped potatoes, but not from a box or bag, but homemade, it was really good, I am afraid that I am going to get spoiled and then have a hard time eating my camp foods (a.k.a. hot-dogs, Ramen noodles and PB&J sandwiches) but I am loving it right now. I then did some reading and journal writing and went to bed on the sofa bed. Zzzz. Zzzz.