Lucky

I am lucky.  Lucky to have the kind of friend who I can e-mail Friday afternoon and make plans to kayak on Saturday morning.  Lucky to have the kind of friend who doesn't mind kayaking in the rain. We took off this morning from a regional park off of Highway 35W and County Road I in Moundsview.  We paddled Rice Creek.  What an awesome trip.  The creek twists and turns.  Our job is not really to paddle but more to steer clear of sand bars, downed trees and bridge abutments.  We paddled under Highway 35 W and under Highway 10.  Under the bridge, we're in a long, dark, concrete tube that reminds me of "Ye Old Mill" at the state fair.  After each bridge, we ran into some white water where the concrete apron ended and the creek bottom began.  We were so busy handling obstacles and steering that we could hardly keep a conversation going.  A great blue heron flew off in front of us for at least a mile before it landed at the top of a dead tree and pretended to be a statue while we went by.  We saw kingfishers, tree swallows, 5 muskrats, and a family of blue winged teal.  At one point a barred owl flew over the creek in front of us.  The grassy bank was too tall for us to see where it went.  We came around one bend and saw a speckled fawn drinking water.  It froze and looked at us until we came closer when it jumped up the bank and into the high grass to join it's twin.  The rain came down a little harder as we entered Long Lake in New Brighton but we didn't mind.  We paddled the length of the lake to the boat landing near Highway 694.    The entire ride took about two hours.  What a great way to spend a rainy Saturday morning - much better than sleeping in.