Saturday stared out slow.  I had a lot of painting to get done, because I have been doing other things to avoid painting.

I got the garage done, replaced some moldings, the porch and windows the front overhang.  But Lawd I hate painting.  So when my neighbor Bob called me to go kayaking I said sure.

We were going to do the next section of the Milwaukee river that is right in our back yard.  Newburg to Waubedonia Park.  Which happens to go through Waubeka which is the birthplace of flag day which way also today!

The river is already getting quite shallow for this time of the year.  Any less water and it would be a drag, literally.  I only bumped a few rocks on the whole trip but Bob was scraping a bit more that I.  This was a more relaxing paddle than my first one.  We cruised, let the current (what there was) take us and talked as we went.  This section was much cleaner than the last one I did.  No real obstructions or strainers to get caught in.  This was about the closest you could get.

Not a lot of wildlife this time either.  Some ducks, geese, a turtle and redwing black birds.  But there are some nice houses.  One had a lit tennis court, bocce 'field' etc.  Also, lots of old shacks and abandoned buildings too.  Pretty neat perspective that you don't get from the roads.

As we neared Waubedonia we could here music and festivities.  Then 2 old airplanes started doing flyovers and swinging over the river every few minutes.  I could not get a picture of them, I was not ready or fast enough.   There is some interesting buildings you can see from the river too.  The old mill and also a button factory.  This is where they would make buttons from freshwater clam shells harvested from the river instead of plastic used today.  

As we got past the mill we came upon a rocky section of the river.  I watched one person go one way get hung up a bit on the rocks, so I decided to go another way, but changed my mind when  it was too late.  Bang, right between two rocks.  Stuck.  I had to lean to get out the boat filled it water and I got wet.  Pulled the boat out and took it to the side of the river where Bob said he'd help dump it.  (I have a sponge, but would be there for days trying to get the water out of with that.)  As he stepped out of his boat, he lost his footing and SPLASH in he went.  It was pretty funny.  Luckily the river was pretty warm and the weather was great, Getting wet was refreshing.  

Another mile or so and we finished up in the park.  About 10 miles in a little over 3 hours.  Whats next?  The next section would take us into Grafton if we wanted to.  Have to watch the water levels and maybe make a plan of it.