In 2004, we were recruited to Syracuse University. We bought a house in Manlius, New York and lived on a small lake called Snooks Pond. Since we lived on a lake and had our own dock, it was a wonderful opportunity to finally buy our first boat - a kayak!
Our first kayak was a green Perception Acadia II tandem (pictured above), and eventually added two solo kayaks to our fleet, a yellow Old Town Castine for me and a red Old Town Loon for Noemí. In addition to paddling on Snooks Pond, our kayaking adventures included paddling on Blue Mountain Lake at Minnowbrook, the Syracuse University great camp in the Adirondack Mountains, paddle camping through the linked lakes in the Adirondacks, and a circumnavigation of Wellesley Island, in the 1000 Islands on the St. Lawrence River.