By Joey Priola

Northern Michigan is a pleasant place to live.

Ok, so on Friday the kids, wife, and I met up with the bestie to go floating/kayaking down the Ausable river. It was a blast! My first time in a kayak and I did pretty well, even though I was a solid 50 pounds over the kayaks weight limit and was slowly sinking.... so we swapped me and my oldest girl kayak for tube. Not only did she love kayaking, she fucking rocked it! She wanted to tow her little sister so we let her try. It proved to be just over her abilities and the pair were snagged on a tree in some aggressive current. @negan--is--god tried to paddle against the current, but when the kids saw she wasn't getting any closer they began to panic. So, I bailed from my tube, which @negan--is--god was towing, and swam against the current to shallow water and walked as far as I could to where the girls were snagged. By that time a passerby stopped to give a hand and then the youngest really went into stranger danger meltdown mode. The wife finally got to shore after I bailed from the tube, and I was working on clearing the rope from the tree. The wife, in kayak pulling tube, paddles around and calms the youngest as the tube is freed. Then, my wife gets partially snagged so I had to clear her rope and my tube. Afterwards I was so damn tired I didn't bother getting right back in the tube. I just hung on to a handle and kept my head above water till it was shallow enough to walk. Met back up with the kids and bestie, ate lunch, and reorganized the kids and got back on the river. The rest of the trip was just as much of a blast. And aside from some bruises, sunburns, and complete exhaustion we all had a great time! We're all looking forward to our next trip!

A pair of bald eagles along the Mason Tract of the Ausable River, Crawford County, Michigan.

Fish Camp

Walter was happy to walk down to the river today. He walks and walks and walks, suggesting to me that it is the only way to really travel freely.

Project 365: 285/365: A River Runs Through It

Today’s adventure resulted in the discovery of a bench along the gentle Ausable River. The accompanying pictures offer the view from that bench, and I could tell that The Man was sorry not to have some coffee and a piece of pie. He would have set a spell and delayed my walk.