On the morning of September 4th, 2009, Megan and I woke up and John and Lois took us to Grayling. We started our canoeing trip at Chase Bridge. I was in a canoe with Lois and her friend Jocelyn. It was FREEZING! The water was really cold and shallow. I was riding in the middle and it was like I was the QUEEN! We paddled for a while and stopped at The Castle for lunch. The Castle was a mansion that burned down a few days after it was built. Then we paddled down to the chapel. On the way we saw some bright red flowers called cardinal flowers. The chapel was like a really mini church outside. We took lots of pictures. Then we paddled to Smith Bridge to finish. On the way there, I switched boats and paddled with John, and Megan was the queen! When we got to Smith Bridge we had to wait while some people went to get the cars. While they were gone, Megan and I tried out the kayaks. They were really hard to control but they were fun. Then I looked for Petoskey Stones and I found five. Then the cars arrived and we headed to Dawson and Steven’s ice cream place. I had an oreo cookie ice cream cone, but it was so big I had to put it in a bowl. What a great day!
By Abby Puckett, age 9
On a bright and chilly Friday morning I set off with my sister and my neighbors John and Lois to go paddling on the South Branch of the Au Sable River. When we arrived we loaded up and started paddling. There were eleven of us on the trip – Henry, Jim, John, Lois, Karen, Abby, Me (Megan), Marvin, Marlene, Steve, and Jocelyn. The river was shallow and very cold. We stopped for lunch at The Palace, the home of George Mason which burned down close to the time it was finished. After more paddling it started to warm up and we stopped at The Chapel, a small building built in memory of George Mason. We finished up the paddling and started home. We took a little detour and all eleven of us met up to get ice cream at Dawson and Steven’s Classic Diner in Grayling. It was a fun day on the river.
By Megan Puckett, age 11
