Bay of Lillies

Today is a vactaion day so the weather being beautiful, I threw the kayak on top of the car and headed for Quantico Bay. Actually that wasn't much of an exaggeration about the throwing as with all the exercise I've been getting lately, my arms are now a lot stronger than they were a couple of months ago when I would struggle and huff and puff trying to get the boat above my shoulders!
Quantico is a marine base where you're IDed on entry and have to know where on the base you're going. The soldier had asked my intention upon entry and I hoped I could remember the higgledy piggledy way to the bay without having to ask directions. I got to the ramp without a hitch and was glad to put into the cool water. Already, at 10:00am, the heat was intense.



I paddled the perimeter of the bay and have to admit to being a little disappointed with the views compared to other places I have kayaked. But the blue herons and ospreys were in abundance and I could've sworn I spotted a couple of bald eagles. I noticed ahead that there seemed to be a lot of whitish coloring amongst the weeds and assumed it was the undersides of the leaves catching the sunlight as there was a brisk breeze on the water. As I got closer, my indifference turned to delight as I realized I was heading towards thousands of lillies. It seemed like miles of them, as far as the eye could see, and they weren't white, but a pale yellow.


I slowly worked my way amongst them, pulled the paddle out of the water and settled down to have lunch between the pads and blooms. Dragonflies were whisking and skimming over the 2ft leaves and I spent a lot of time investigating these large pads. They were very leathery to the touch and could surprisingly take a lot of pressure when I pushed down on them. I had always doubted that a large frog could actually sit on one of these and now I know that it definitely could. They also resisted the water so if I flicked handfuls of water on them, it stayed in droplets and flashed across the pads like sparkling globules of mercury. I could've sat there for hours playing!


I carried on slowly through the lillies, stopping often to just sit and look. It was amazing seeing so many of these and being able to be surrounded by them rather than looking at them from the bank was a bonus. After I'd had my fill, I headed around the rest of the bay and made my way back to the ramp. Not a boring paddle after all!


Incidentally, these photos were taken on my iphone because guess what, I had no camera card again. I don't need to say where it was, do I?