Canoeing, Camping and the Michigan Militia

It's not really as interesting as you think: as part of our two-tracking adventure after an afternoon of canoeing and some great campfire food, Mitch, Grant, Robin and I think we found a huge Michigan Militia training area. That's all. I just found it entertaining.

Canoeing was probably the most fun its ever been. Generally, it's a bit slow for Mitch and me, and it's also frustrating because we both want to be in control. This time, though, the river was moving quicker (with some Class I rapids, even!) and Mitch and I were working well together. He was a lot better at steering, which meant I was more willing to let him control our direction because there were not as many times we got hung up on rocks, ended up in trees, etc. Grant and Robin had fun, too, I think, even though they said the drunks on the river kind of ruined the first afternoon for them. They just got back from a 10 day hiking trip where they were pretty much the only human presence for miles, so I can understand how they would have a hard time with rowdy groups. Actually, it didn't bother me too much, because they were all mostly just hanging out on the banks and not in my canoe's path.

We were on the river probably a total of five hours between Saturday and Sunday, which is a pretty short trip but much more enjoyable for me than, say, the all-day excursion down the Muskegon River with my fellow OCs, or last year's Fourth of July weekend nine hour paddle. If I'm going to be on a river all day, it better be full of rapids and I better be in a raft with a Southern-accented river guide who tells funny jokes. On Saturday night, we stayed at the Peterson Bridge Campground, just a little rustic hang out, and had scrumptious hobo pies for dinner. We did the two-tracking, militia-discovering adventure and also broke out the guitar for some off-key singing. On Sunday, we made pancakes, eggs, bacon, and vegetarian sausage (not too bad, and much better than not-dogs), packed up camp, and hit the river around 11:30 am or so. We had a minor tussle with a park authority who was unhappy that we did not have special permits to be on the Pine River, but we were not aware that we needed them and he let us go anyway. He did initially try to tell us we needed to drive half an hour to Baldwin and get them from the ranger station, but he changed his mind thanks to our honest looks and my assertive powers of persuasion. Ha!

And the excitement continues - Grant and Robin will be staying with us tonight, after they have dinner with Gabe and Andrea, and then Tim and Anna are coming up tomorrow to hang out and stay at our place as well. Party! I'm currently trying to get the day off tomorrow, or at least part of the day, so we can do some climbing or whatever. Come on boss-lady, tell me yes!