Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day!

Nancy and I had a great day. We spent a few hours kayaking in the Namekagon River. We've had a lot of rain lately so the river was high and fast moving. We packed a small cooler with a few snacks and water, grabbed the cameras and headed out. We put in at the Phillipi Bridge Landing and got out about 3 miles later at Cable Wayside Landing. This is the first time we've been on that section of the river. It was nice and had a few fun spots. We both have sit-on-top kayaks, so we're usually prepared to, and expect to, get a little wet. We did, but the sun was shining and the weather was so nice, neither of us cared. At least this section didn't have a Beaver dam across it.

There were a few sections of little rapids. Far from White Water kayaking. This is looking back up stream. I really need to try a camera like the GoPro Hero II, a waterproof video and still camera. It would be worth it just to hear me laugh and Nancy scream in the "rapids". hehehe
There were a lot of wild flowers along the way. Everything from wild Roses, Queen Anne's Lace, Devils Paint Brushes, Daisies, and this cluster of Forget-Me-Nots. It was hard to get a good close up in a moving kayak with the flowers blowing in the breeze. Sorry, this last one's out of focus, but the color is correct.

There were a number of different Dragonfly varieties along the river today too. I tried to get a picture of one with an emerald green body and black wings, but every time I'd reach for the camera they fly off.

When we crossed under the old railroad bridge we were getting close to the end.
At the Cable Wayside Landing, we had a little snack and were joined by this curious guy. Nancy tossed him a bit of bread, and he sat there and ate with us.

After we got home and unloaded, we checked the answering machine and noticed that my sister had called. She said that she was a the cabin with her husband and their son. Nancy and I got back in the car and drove down to Smith Lake to see them. We visited with my sister for a bit until her son and husband returned. They had been out in the canoe doing a little fishing. We ended up going for diner to the Norske Nook restaurant in Hayward. I was bad, I had Swedish meatballs, with mashed potatoes, wrapped in lefse and covered in gravy! After diner, they headed back to Minnesota and Nancy and I went home to Cable.

It was a very nice Father's Day!

4 comments:

  1. It sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day. We have a canoe, but I've never tried a kayak. Me thinks Brad would be laughing as I screamed hitting mini rapids too. Funny how that works.

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    1. I think the funniest part is that the water is probably only 1 to 2 feet deep in most of the river. I know that some of it is much shallower because I drag bottom, a lot. There are a few parts that might be over my head. Even if Nancy or I got tossed out of the kayak in the "rapids", we could just stand up. Or try to anyway. The water is moving pretty quickly. It's probably less than knee deep, but rocky.

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  2. Erik:

    you did have to mention the Swedish Meat balls with gravy and mashed potatoes. I am getting hungry just thinking about it.

    Looks like you had a very relaxing day enjoying nature

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast
    My Flickr // My YouTube

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    1. MMMMMMM, you can't beat their Swedish Meat Ball Wraps. I should have brought the camera for that!
      It was a great day!

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