A Day on the River

Today we met Angie’s friends for a kayak down the Manistee River. At the beginning I didn’t think the day was going to happen. There hung a large storm front out in Lake Michigan. Right when we arrived at the launch we heard thunder and the sky got very dark to the west. I know I for one was not comfortable getting into a boat with a storm coming. I’ve had my crazy boat experience for my life time already while in Oregon a bunch of years ago, I didn’t want to repeat it. Only half of the group had arrived yet so we waited for the rest. Turned out they had the same feelings as me and were waiting for the storm to pass. It did but apparently not before flooding downtown Traverse City where we just left. 

The sky’s cleared for a beautiful day. Our group consisted of 11 single kayaks and one larger fishing kayak that was carrying a propane grill. Yup, a grill. Most of the other kayaks had small coolers of food and beverages. And of course 2 dogs. As we started to push off the dogs were running around and jumped straight into the water. Little did I know that these dogs were going to swim for most of our river trip. But the one dog jumped in before his owners got ready and got caught in the faster moving water towards the bridge and debris. I paddled quickly over to the dog and had to pull the dog into my boat. Didn’t think I would be doing doggie rescue today. After we got to better water he did swim pretty much the whole day.

We paddled and floated down the river very peacefully for about 5 hours. Just enjoying the day, the river and conversation with new friends. About half way we stopped on the river bank for lunch. These guys pack right, burgers, chips, dip and Oreos. 

There were a few larger groups in canoes and a couple other groups in kayaks. It was a funny how many different ways people were able to enjoy the day on the river. Some were just floating, others were fishing and others were drinking their way down the river blaring garbage music. All were happy.

Now we are at our next campsite in Mancelona listening to a live band. 

Pictures to follow. Hopefully