Getting dunked in the Kickapoo River

 So our friends from Missouri had traveled to northern WI to watch the predicted Northern Lights. They went to Eagle River Wisconsin and rented a Yurt at a campground with plans on kayaking, swimming, and enjoying the beautiful campground they'd booked into.

The Yurt was dirty, the bugs nasty, the lake had Swimmer's Itch, and the showers smelled like rotten eggs. The lake was filled with speed boats and water jetskis running all over...😕

They spent one night there and left in the morning as the clouds moved in and the prediction of the Aurora Borealis fell apart. 

When they arrived I was unprepared, but they were prepared with meals and great company. I invited them to stay with us and had to do some creative straightening up so they all had places to sleep. Their oldest son who is 11, really wanted to kayak. Did I know of somewhere they could go?

YES! I've wanted to try kayaking myself, but didn't want to try it solo for my first time. We went to Titanic Canoe/Kayak rental in Ontario Saturday early afternoon. Every rental place was crowded with people. I've never been there on the weekends and it has been 6 years since I canoed with the grand kids.

We got set up with older kayaks and a canoe and set off. Jesse and his little boy had trouble with the canoe right off and tipped it while bumping into the shoreline. Eventually we worked things out and they used a shoelace from Jesse's shoes to tie an empty kayak to the back of their son's kayak.

Mom and Dad put the youngest boy in between them on the canoe and things went fairly well.

On the weekends, the river is super crowded from bridge 1 through 4 with tubers and floating coolers. Party people. There was a lot of dodging and passing. It wasn't as enjoyable as going in the middle of the week was when I took the kids.

Once we passed bridge 4, it got quiet and peaceful. We still had 3 miles to go to get to out pull out point. We all relaxed and enjoyed the views.

These are shots of me that Kristi took.

Here is our friends' family.

After we stopped on a 'beach' to chill out and have snacks, the youngest boy was towed by the 11 year old.

I have to admit that the first time I tried getting out of the kayak, I lost my footing and ended up sitting down on the river bottom. It wasn't a bad dunking and I laughed! After all, this is a new skill and I needed to figure it out.

I climbed the bluff to take a shot of our 'rest' area. I wanted to see if my waterproof pocket camera would still work.

We paddled and drifted on to the the site where we were to pull out.

The shores near the bridges and pull out/launch areas are filled with riprap rocks so the footing get tricky as well as the current. I pulled myself to the shoreline and carefully walked feeling each step of the way and got out without incident.

A complete stranger assisted me in pulling the kayak up the ramp. I returned and helped others and saw both of my friends take a splash in the Kickapoo River. Jesse tripped up and went totally under. Kristi had done the same but only went up to her chest.

Somehow their cell phones survived and we all got out safely but we laughed and laughed. We were also nice and cool in the hot and humid air.

In conclusion. The river was a bit crowded at first. However it is one of the most popular places to rent a canoe, kayak, or tube and go down the river. It is scenic. The river is usually very gentle and easy. Buses pick people up and shuttle them back to their cars. 

Yes there were folks being loud and having fun, yes parts were crowded, but it was fun and everyone was friendly. When my friends tipped their canoe, strangers helped them. When their canoe got grounded on rocks a guy walked out and pulled them back into the flow.

Will I go again? OH yeah. In fact I'm trying to figure out how to kayak the less popular stretches. I'm even running images of getting a crappy kayak if I can figure out how to transport it and a bike at the same time.

A new world of exploration has opened up. Charlie needs a doggy life vest....then he could go with!

And I'm sure I'll have more Dunkings in The Kickapoo.

Have you done the Kickapoo? If you haven't, you are missing out!

Unexpected Wonders!

Saturday morning and the sky promised to put on a show...

However...

When I got outside and walked towards the shed to grab my bicycle, I saw a white truck parked in front of my Subaru.

I was all set to have a fit until I read the plates.

Missouri.

No.

Really?

Could it be?

How wonderful! Kristi and her husband Jesse showed up to surprise us with a visit! 

Jesse said that they decided to take off and surprise us. If we weren't home they were prepared to visit our portion of the state anyway.
We rarely travel out of the area for anything ... except doctor's visits now so it was a pretty sure bet we'd be home on the weekend.

And where else but the creek would we hike to?

It was very surprising too as to how chilly it was Saturday. The temperatures never really got up to 70 degrees.

Our evening was filled with laughter as we all sat around the round table and played UNO.  The rules changed with each hand and since we didn't keep a number score it was even more fun.
Rich really enjoyed himself.

Too soon the time came for them to leave. They said next time they would plan better and spend a few days. After all, it is an 8 hour drive one way for a visit.

The boys left me some toys to take hiking with me for 'stories' of adventure in the woods.

And you know I can't resist a good toy adventure!

We promised each other that it wouldn't be three years between visits next time. And the boys cried, they didn't want to leave. And they really like Charlie and would miss him.

Charlie was a superstar. He fetched for the boys and tried to figure out what they wanted to do and sat patiently while they played with his ears and nose and...gave him endless hugs.
.
I said it was a long drive but perhaps I could convince Rich to go. I quipped, 'Oh I suppose I'd need someone to watch Charlie'.
And Jesse said, 'Oh you can't come unless you bring him!'

See?
What an unexpected wonderful surprise.

Today will be more rest and relaxation for Rich while I take out the newly sharpened scythe and make a test run.

This afternoon? Anything goes.

We love company!

Saturday morning was very busy, we had the Tesar farriers at our place doing 5 trims.  I am happy to report that Siera's frog issues are almost resolved and she is nearly back to 100%. 

Of course Dan's recommendation is that she get more exercise.  I am very happy with that!  I even planned on riding her in a One Mule Parade on Memorial Day but that didn't happen.

I nabbed this shot of Danny trimming Sundance.  She gave him a bit of grief but I think some of her irritation was due to the fact that she was in heat.

Girls!

I'll be making an 8X10 for Danny out of this shot.  He liked it and so did his father, Dan.

After the trimming was done, I showered and decided to sit on the new 'porch'  and relax by sanding some blocks I'd picked up from the construction crew.

I had finished gluing the scrap table and it was drying.
I had a small box of blocks already hand sanded and thought I'd just sit and watch the animals and listen to the birds and do some more.

A van pulled down into our hollow and stopped far back where we had parked our vehicles to stay out of the mud and construction mess.

I stood up and tried to see if it was just a wrong turn or someone lost. That does occasionally happen around here. 
I thought I recognized the woman getting out of the van, but still...

Then Morris saw people and off he went at a dead run.  It dawned on me who was in the van and I couldn't believe it.
For them to come visit, they would have had to drive at least 8 hrs from the northwest corner of Missouri.

I kicked off my flip flops and began to run like Morris to greet our long time non-biological 'daughter' and son in law. [We sort of like to think we adopted each other over the past 20 years.]

Jesse said he heard me let out a soft curse and then saw me run like the dickens.  I ran up to Kristi and Jesse and threw my arms around them.

Kristi held Gunner and said, "Good, I hoped you guys were home, we wanted to surprise you!"
Oh they did!

When we got to the house, I took Gannon's hand and asked if he'd like to go wake up Rich.  He did.
Rich had laid down for his afternoon nap and talk about not believing his eyes when he opened them and found Gannon in the bedroom.

When we sat down in the living room after a construction tour, I brought out the newly sanded blocks and gave them to the boys.

Wooden blocks and tiny cars = happy little boys.  I sat back rather proudly and proclaimed, "Hey, my blocks work!"

Everyone got a pretty good laugh out of that.
We eventually moved outside and let the kids play.

I think Rich's face shows how much he enjoyed the visit.

Jesse and Kristi had rented a motel room so they wouldn't impose on our house that was in upheaval. They promised to come back Sunday.

When I got home from work on Sunday they were there, the kids were playing under the Hickory tree and the adults were visiting and supervising.

I think the 4 wheeler parked in the yard was the main attraction.

We visited and did the evening chores, Gannon helped Rich throw flakes of hay to the mules and we decided to go out to eat.

We ended up eating at Culver's in Viroqua. We had hugs and hugs all around in the parking lot before they went back to their motel.

They stopped by in the morning to say goodbye.

I sure do enjoy it when company comes and so does Rich.  It didn't matter that our house was torn apart or that our yard was in need of a mowing. 
We stopped what we were doing [well, I still had to go to work] and enjoyed the visit.

Jesse and Kristi also had the forethought to get a room in town. Last year they stayed with us for a few days and that was pre-construction and Gunner was only a week old.

What a difference a year makes!

What can I say? Rich loves company, he loves it when we get visitors.
Of course I do too.