this is my kayak that i paid for in blood:

ironically enough, it is one of the ones that was in our final cuts from this weekend’s shopping. i’m thinking of calling the store (same store we had seen it, skew is still on the kayak) to see whether they will do returns without a “gift receipt”. don’t get me wrong, i am thrilled to pieces with it. but on the unlikely chance that they will do a return, we can take the money and go get the super nice kayaks that we really want but they’re more expensive and we hated to spend so much since we’d need two of them. with what this kayak cost, it would cover most of the better one and we won’t feel so bad buying them. but, i’m also a realist and am very doubtful that the store will give us money for it. i figure, if they’ll do a return at all, they’ll want to give us store credit and there’s nothing else in that store we would buy. either way, i’ve got a kayak and i’m pleased as punch!