Epic Summer Adventure 2025

Set up and Prep:

How does one get started trying to document their epic summer adventure(s)? I guess all you can do is just sit… reflect… and start writing what you can recall. Plus… I really do like to try and recall not only what we did… but also what I felt. To me the sights, smells and emotions invoked… are as important to recall as the activity being performed. But they can be a bit more difficult to convey.

What really made my last couple weeks epic… was the fact we crammed two significant trips… into that two-week period. First was our annual fishing trip to the Silver Water Wheel Lodge (SWWL)… which is a couple hours north of Dryden, Ontario… on the Canadian reservoir called Lac Seul. This was four days of incredible fishing… while being spoiled by guides and lodge staff. Then I spent a couple days at my mom’s doing laundry and repacking for our river trip. This second trip was four days paddling a canoe and kayak down the Missouri River… between the Gavin Point Dam (near Yankton, South Dakota) and Sioux City, Iowa. This was four days of paddling our boats down a stretch of the Missouri River that still remains fairly natural… relying only on each other… what we thought to pack in our boats… and on the graces of God and His natural order. Having these two trips in such tight succession had me a little nervous… as once I left my house in Michigan… I had to pray I had everything I was going to need for both adventures.    

This was now my third trip to the SWWL. So, I was not quite as nervous about preparing for it. Although one does have to be careful not to let the warmer summer temps of Southern Michigan over influence packing. It is important to remember the ice-out on Lac Seul was typically only within the last few weeks. And that while the high/low temps in the forecasts there may not be too much different than here… a freaky cold stretch with snow and sleet is not out of the question. My brother-in-law and nephews have pictures from previous years to prove it! So, throw in the sandals, swimsuit and t-shirts… along with the mukluks, ski bibs, winter coat/gloves and rain gear. Oh yeah… and fishing gear!

I was pulling stuff out… checking it over… and packing up for fishing for a couple weeks. Stacking all the fishing trip stuff alongside the stuff I had been accruing and making for the canoe trip for months. There were some things like rain gear and other wearables that would be used on both adventures… while most things were only needed on one or the other. The pile of gear kept getting bigger and bigger. I found myself doing a lot of second guessing on what I would really need… versus what was really not necessary. The whole time thinking… will all this fit in my truck?... What about the canoe?

After weeks… even months of planning and preparation… finally loading it all into the truck is both stressful… and soothing. I’ve either got what I need… or I don’t. I will soon find out!

I drove down to my brother Howard’s house. We were taking his truck up to Canada… so he had it parked in the drive to be loaded. I pulled in and drug out the bags packed for fishing… tossed them into his truck… then pulled my truck in his garage with all my river trip gear for safe keeping.

We met Howard and Beth’s nephew Chris Friling who had driven up from near Kansas City. He tossed his gear in Howard’s truck. We each packed a day bag to spend that night at Howard and Beth’s… and to get us through the next night at a hotel in Dryden… before the drive out to the SWWL to fish.

I had packed snacks for both trips… but forgot to pull out the portion I intended to take fishing. This was not an issue however, since my sister in-law Beth packed us up a very comprehensive snack box for Howard’s truck. And my sister Melody did the same for her husband Dewey Fahnstrom and son Brett to take in their vehicle. If snacks were all I forgot… no problem!   

I cannot remember what Beth had prepared for dinner that night. Not because it was not good enough to remember… but because the strawberry pie she served for desert… obliterated all other food memories for a while.

Fishing… Epic Journey One:

Highlights:

For more on the fishing trip click…

I forgot the videos don’t work from the pdf… so if you want to relax… listen!

A few days rest:

It is always great to see mom. She is doing really well. Hard to believe she is about to turn 90. She was anxious to hear about our trip… but realized I was beat after the long drive. We didn’t talk long that night. We both turned in to get caught up on sleep instead.

I set up the bed in her basement since my cousin Dale would be staying with us soon. It always take me a little bit to slow down and relax enough to sleep… but it did not take long that night. The nice thing about the basement is that it is cool, dark and quiet. The next morning when I woke up… it took a bit to figure out where I was. I heard voices which shortly registered as mom and here neighbor Kathy having coffee. And since coffee sounded pretty good… I headed up to get a cup. Normally the smell of the coffee might have rousted me out… but I could not smell it from downstairs.

I got the usual… “good morning stranger!”… as they laughed at my groggy, disheveled stagger toward the coffee pot. I think I was able to grunt “mornin” on my way through. Once I got into a cup… I was able to interact a bit more coherently. Mom has been blessed with good neighbors since moving into her duplex… about 20 year ago. Mom moved there not too long after dad passed. The old house just had too many stairs. This ranch unit has been perfect for her. Kathy and her husband Ray lived in the unit next door when mom moved in. Ray passed just a couple years ago now. Mom and Kathy have solved all the worlds problems… or at least drank enough coffee to put up with them… nearly every morning.

I told them a few of the stories from fishing. Kathy always asks about Michigan since she grew up there. It is nice to spend a little relaxing time sipping coffee and talking in the morning. And since I knew once Kathy left I would have no excuse not to start going through my gear to start the change over for the canoe trip. I sat and visited as long as the coffee held out. Even made a little more when it started running low.

Once we had told all the stories we’d heard a hundred times before… just one more time… Kathy decided she had better get on with her day. There went my excuse! So I started dragging in bags out of my truck. The pile was quite large.

Job one was to get dirty clothes pulled out and get them in the wash. Once that was started… I went through the gear I took fishing… pulling out what I would want on the river. According to the weather… it was going to be hot and dry. So it was tempting to just go with t-shirts and swimming suits… but I knew better. Most of what I needed was in the wash. Except for my rain gear… personal hygiene stuff. So, I grabbed my restocking (supply) bag… and made sure I had enough pills and other stuff for the river. I shuffled a few things around still debating what to take or leave. I started pilling what I thought I would leave… behind mom’s love seat. Then continued my focus on what I intended to take.

Once the laundry was done… I packed my day bag for the first night in the Nebraska Tailwaters Campground below the Gavin Point Dam where we would launch from. Then started running through the days after that. I figured each morning I would restock my day bag with lunch, dinner, and breakfast for the next day. So I went through my supply bag making sure I had enough food and snacks for each day… plus an extra day or so… just in case. I went through the clothes again making sure I had wind pants and swim suites… short and long sleeve t-shirts… plus a sweatshirt (for a cool morning) and a long sleeve light cotton shirt (incase the sun was just too much). My camp bag was set with tent, sleeping pad and bag, stove and cooking gear. I could not fit all my water filtration stuff in the camp bag as intended. So, I had it in a separate bag. Plus there was a bag for the portage cart I picked up.

The pile was a little bigger than I liked. I kept wondering if my pile… along with Howard’s pile… would all fit in the canoe. My pile would not have fit in my kayak. But on my own… I would not have needed some of this stuff.

Since we knew the Missouri River could be rather silty… my filtration kit included two 5 gallon collapsible buckets. One to fill each night to let the silt settle out over night. Then some pre-filters we could pump water through (using our hand bilge pumps) from the settling bucket… into a separate pre-filtered bucket. The idea was this would significantly reduce the amount of sediment in the water… that might clog the final micro filters used to make the water drinkable. For that I had a four liter Platypus filter you could hang and let water run through (along with a couple of spare microfilter elements). I also knew Howard and Dale were also bringing micro filters… so I figured we could filter about 5 gallons each morning to have enough for all of us that day. I also had a couple five gallon collapsible jugs the filtered water could be stored in. Plus we all had personal containers to have with us for drinking on the river.

I had a primary 2-litre hydration pack… plus a couple of extra hydration bladders in case I found I needed more than 2 liters. Howard had plastic water bottles he filled… adding electrolyte pouches to some for extra help with hydration.

I am not sure how many times I ran through the planned days ahead. Trying to make sure I had everything I would need… plus a few things I just wanted (like a good camp chair). I had a tiny camp stool I used backpacking… but it did not have the kind of back support I figured I might want after paddling all day. So I had tossed in a full size folding chair for a little extra comfort. I bet I ran through it all in my head a hundred times over the next couple days. Checking… double checking. Emergency kits… first aid… fire starting… extra life straw… etc. Extra lines for clothesline… tent repair… tying off boats.

It was nice having a day or two to visit with mom before we had to head out. We always talk about nothing and everything all at the same time. She is a treasure… and a wealth of insight and knowledge on life. None of us have all the answers… but she has always had such a strong faith. A trust in the Lord that provides a peace that transcends the challenges of this world… or at least helps her get through them with her peace of mind intact. I have always admired that! And once I got through my “know it all” years… I have tried to emulate her approach.

Dale arrived with his truck and a trailer he rigged up for hauling the boats. He planned to spend the night at mom’s so we could get going first thing in the morning. Howard brought down his canoe and gear. We loaded all the stuff up so we could just eat and go the next day. Then we headed out for dinner that night for what Beth called our “last supper”.

After dinner we talked over a few details… again making sure we had what we would need… and a few things we just really wanted. Beth was placing odds on whether we could fit it all in and still float. I was pretty sure we could… but had some doubts myself. But our plans for an early start… meant we had to cut the talk short and get to bed. So we did.      

River Trip – Epic Journey Two:

Highlights…

For more on the canoe trip click…

Again… adding here since it is not working from pdf!

Homeward Bound:

After the canoe trip there was not too much to do until I got home. We drove to Howard’s to unload his gear. Beth had Mom there… she also had a pizza she had made ready for us. After dinner we said our goodbyes as I had to head back to Michigan the next morning. Mom and I drove to her place and sat down to talk. I had sent a couple pictures to some friends saying we had survived our Missouri River run. One responded with a picture and said they were at my buddy Jeff Sapp’s house… maybe half a mile from Mom’s. I asked if I could come get in the picture… they said “Come On”!

 Mom understood I don’t get to see these guys very often. I promised I would not be too late… and we could talk some more over coffee the next morning. When I got to Jeff’s it was apparent I had some catching up to do. None of us even try to party like we once did. But it is fun to have a few… and try to recall when that was what we lived for!

It had not been too terribly long since I saw Jeff Sapp (back left), Lance Riviere (back right) and John Innis (front right). But I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw Steve Halsted (front left) I would guess it may have been before I moved to Michigan in 1985? I had to study the picture for a bit to recall who he was. I saw him doing the same as I walked in. Looking at me like… I remember the name… but I am not sure I remember you. But once we got to talking… we could see through the patina (grey hair, wrinkles, a few pounds)!

We all had so many good times together back in “the day”. Since Lance, Jeff and Steve are living in Pekin… they still see members of the “old gang” fairly often. John and I get back visiting family a few times a year… but it is tough to “hook up” with the buds when you’re only in town for a day or two. But every once in a while the stars align!

A couple hours later we all realized it was time to go. Still laughing and enjoying the impromptu gathering. It was not too late. Mom was in bed… but awake. We said goodnight and I headed off for bed.

The next morning we drank coffee and talked for a while. I packed up my share of the fish in a cooler with ice and stuck it in the truck with my day bag. I hung around until Avanti’s opened so I could get some Gondolas to take home. Gave mom a hug and promised I’d let her know when I got home.

As I was headed into Michigan I was getting tired and texted to see if Amie would be home. Her and James place makes a nice place to get out… move around… say hi…get a hug. Then get back on the road for the last couple of hours.

When I got home the grass was long… and there were other things needing attention… but they would not get it today. It took most of the evening to get all the gear out of the truck. I could not believe it was all over. Time to plan the next adventure!