Another Sunday With Pat

We decided to try our hand at canoeing this time...
I hadn't had my canoe on my Rav4 yet, so the first task was to get it on the roof and tied down.
My canoe is a 17 1/2 foot Wenonah Spirit II. It is made of "Tuf-Weave" (fiberglass), is dark green, and has very nice mahogany trim and woven cane seats. It is a little heavy (~70 lbs) due to the construction and the wood trim, but I really like the way it looks.

My 2001 Toyota Rav4 doesn't have a factory roof rack (I have been trying to find a salvage one) so we used the old foam block technique. It actually went on pretty well considering how short the Rav4 is and I managed to thread a tie-down strap through the front bumper. On the back we were able to use 2 straps through the tow hooks. I didn't want to use 2 in the front because I was afraid it would make it difficult to see while driving. That turned out to be a bit of a mistake.

When we decided to go for it (around 7:30 AM) there was only a slight breeze, but by the time we got going the wind was really picking up. When we got out on the dike road heading to the landing the canoe was getting blown all over and nearly slid off the roof. We had to stop several times to cinch up the straps but with only one strap in front we could not get it to sit still.

Finally made it to Verchota Landing North of the spillway on Prairie Island. This leads into a beautiful stretch of backwaters in the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge. We are SO blessed to live in this area!

Got the canoe off and into the water, donned our life jackets and started paddling. As soon as we got away from the shelter of the landing area the wind immediately started pushing us around. When trying to go crosswind it was nearly impossible to keep our heading. Finally got going up river into the wind. As long as we kept the wind in our face it was not too bad but we were really working.
Paddled for about an hour up river and in spite of the wind it was very nice. Fantastic scenery and wildlife - eagles, gulls, hawks, egrets, etc. but we could never really stop long enough to fully enjoy it

Finally found a spot where we could get out of the wind so we took a short break and then headed back. With the wind behind us we got downriver in no time, but it was still tricky whenever we had to turn crosswind. Nevertheless, we stayed dry.
When we got back to the landing there were fishermen with power boats leaving because of the wind. That made us feel quite a bit better about the whole thing.

Strapped the canoe back on and after a few stops to tighten things up we made it back home safely. We vowed to do it again when it was not so breezy.
Quite an adventure!

Sundays With Pat

A few months ago an old friend of mine called me up and said he thought we should start getting together every few weeks on Sunday mornings.
It was shortly after the "financial meltdown" had begin in earnest and we were both feeling the stress. We have similar situations in that we were both looking at paying for college in the near future for one of our kids, so we decided that if we put our heads together maybe we could help each other out or at least blow off some steam.

The first Sunday we got together was in early March. We met at a local cafe called The Blue Heron and sat around for a couple hours drinking (tea - Earl Grey, hot - for me, coffee for Pat) eating wonderful scones, and talking about everything going on in the world. At the end we went for a short walk through Levee Park. It was cold and Pat almost froze his ears off.
I don't remember any specific suggestions for dealing with our finances that came up in that conversation but it did motivate me to finally contact a financial advisor and start the process of doing something about my situation. That is still a work in progress and it remains to be seen whether or not it will do any good, but finally taking some action made me feel a lot better.

Since we had such a good time, we decided we should continue the new tradition. A few weeks later near the end of April we met at The Heron again (a little earlier this time - we were getting serious) had a quick snack and then drove across the Interstate Bridge over the Mississippi. We drove a few miles downstream to a place where we could walk into the Wildlife Refuge. It was a cool, foggy, slightly rainy day but it was an easy ~2 mile walk out into the Refuge where we saw small flocks of pelicans taking off and landing. Another great day.

Yesterday - May 17th - we met for the third time, fortified ourselves with hot drinks (and muffins this time - yum!) and drove down Hwy 61 to a State Park located up on top of the bluffs on the Minnesota side of the river. The park used to be called O.L. Kipp State Park. I'm not sure what the new more "generic" name is now. The weather was absolutely perfect - clear skies, 55 degrees, and no wind at all. We hiked around to several lookouts overlooking the Mississippi on top of King's Bluff and Queen's Bluff near Dresbach, MN and continued our conversation like there had not been a 3 week interruption. Lots of laughs, stories and reminiscences and a few silences to take in what was happening around us. Saw some beautiful large hawks circling just a few feet above our heads (but 600 feet above the river).

Since this has been so enjoyable I decided I should start this journal to keep track of all the places we've hiked and maybe some of the brilliant ideas we come up with while doing it.

Next time we plan to canoe or bike. More to come...