Postcards From the Lake: Rick -- 70 Years and Counting

Rick has not been looking forward to turning 70. I can relate -- I remember feeling somewhat the same. What is it about those zero (and to a lesser degree, the "five") year birthdays that can get us in a funk? At any rate, I was determined it would be a good time.

That said, how do you have a good time at the lake when all your friends and most of your family is elsewhere at the moment? Well, you extend the merriment!

  

Rick's natal day started with a visit from son Greg and his friend Aiden, who was getting a ride to the airport. Aiden was a great guy and we were glad he joined in the celebration. Even better, Greg came with brunch! He had made the most delicious fritatta and it couldn't have been better!

 

 It was such a fun brunch! I added some Michigan sweet cherries to the mix. 

 

Of course, Rick had to have a candle in his piece and yes, we sang the birthday song.

 

And yes, there were presents . . . 

 

. . . and photos! Thanks to Aiden, we didn't have yet another crummy selfie!

 

After the guys left, we took off for our excursion -- we headed about 25 minutes south to Grayling, Michigan, to go canoeing down the Au Sable River.

 

Now, I'm no skilled canoer (is that even a word? Canoeist?) In any event, we stayed upright for the two-hour paddle, with Rick doing most of  the paddling and me trying to remember left from right when I had to react quickly.

 

It was all quite perfect with one big exception. Since I fully anticipated tipping the canoe, I'd given Rick my camera for his bag (carefully ziplocked too). Well, that was smart -- except I couldn't photograph how stunningly beautiful it was. We saw three herons, one in flight, low before us; two others maybe ten feet away on the edge of the river. There were countless dragonflies and a variety of colors and stripes; a number of birds and wonderful shoreline wildflower patches. The photo above was taken from the dock. Believe me, I have lots of photographs of the heart.

 

The water was crystal clear -- the photo above was where we took off (it's cut off at the top because of that bridge over the river!). But as you can see below, the water was pristine -- and like this all the way, seeing the bottom except in slightly deeper parts.

 

When we got back to the canoe livery, we enjoyed some time watching boats prepping to compete in the annual Au Sable River Marathon on the upcoming weekend. This is a 24-hour race that begins in the evening and goes from Grayling across the state, almost to Lake Huron. (If you want to see how it starts -- and it's worth checking out the first couple of minutes of this video -- check out this youtube link. It's insane!)

As we watched, we saw these racers really working out in their specially designed racing canoes.

 

 And the canoe livery was decked out for the occasion too, with racing flags and bunting.

 

What would be better than barbecue after a long paddle? We headed to Ray's BBQ, Blues and Brews where we sat by the river, watching more racers practice. And yes, we enjoyed it all!

 

Dinner was terrific -- well priced and even better prepared. We both had the pulled pork which comes with cornbread and two sides. We both had the blue cheese coleslaw; Rick had mashed sweet potatoes and I ordered the "Almost Famous" fries, which we shared. 

 

We didn't leave hungry! Then it was home for presents and to enjoy a lovely evening. And best of all, we get to continue the celebration with Kevin, Molly, Greg and the grands in another few days! 

 

Maybe he'll think 70 isn't so bad after all!