It was a bit on the cool side, but eleven of us met at Dawson & Stevens for brunch, and proceeded to the AuSable for the first club trip of the year. Tracie graciously provided the shuttle, and Marv & Marlene took her and her boat back later in the day. We had two cars of four people each: one with Harold (the birthday boy), Pam, Marcy & John and the other with Lois, John, Susan & Gerald, so it was easy to handle only 4 drivers. The folks at Penrod's Livery were gracious in allowing us to use their access as our put-in. They were even going to open up their bathrooms for us, but their pipes were still frozen! This has been a long winter, but it definitely felt like spring was in the air.
The highlight of the trip occurred when our fearless leaders took a wrong turn up a side slough, and led half the group upstream for a while. Lois attributed it to a severe case of DD: dog distraction. Several of the followers saw the sign that said "Main Stream this way", but they didn't say anything. We eventually caught up to the rest of the group.
No-one took any pictures during the trip; we just kept on moving. Finished in less than 3 hours, including a break at Canoe Camp. There were no unauthorized swim breaks. It was good to be out on the water, and nice to return to our heated car seats! A good beginning to the paddling season.
Submitted by Lois