Amy (right) with one of her business partners, Andrea (left).

This car belongs to a woman I work with. Her name is Amy. The pink kayak is always loaded on the top of her jeep and seems so out of place in our company parking lot. But it always makes me smile. It’s such a cheerful sight in the midst of corporate dreariness and I always joke with Amy that I feel like she’s ready to drop everything and put her boat in the water at a moment’s notice. She usually laughs and says, “I am.”

And she has.

Amy and her friends started a new excursion business based out of Cincinnati called Take It Outside Excursions (TIOEX). I knew they’d been working on it for months and scouting locales, but it wasn’t until they made their website live and promoted their first two trips that I ever thought of joining. I’m not the most outdoorsy type. But I read the description of their Paddleboard & Yoga Trip to Northen Michigan and thought, “I want to do this!” It sounded fantastic:

Join us for a fun-filled weekend in Bellaire, MI, and experience the renowned draw of some of Michigan’s most gorgeous lakes. Activities include waking up with the sun for sunrise yoga on the deck (or sleep in, it’s your call), an afternoon kayaking on Clam Lake and Torch Lake, stopping at The Dockside for lunch on the beach. We’ll also spend an afternoon touring a handful of Old Mission Peninsula’s beautiful wineries, surrounded by the scenic East and West Traverse Bays. Experience kayaking, yoga, trails, sightseeing, local brewery flights, and vino on the 45th Parallel.

If nothing else, I knew I’d enjoy the wineries.

I think I was the first person to sign up and the minute I hit “submit” I was ready to go. I’d only ever done yoga in my own living room and have never been kayaking before. But that pink kayak on Amy’s car kept calling me. And I listened.

I’ll tell you all about it in the next few posts.

What type of outdoor excursion would appeal to you?