Our First Boat Ride for 2019

Our First Boat Ride for 2019

Todd Swank's Diary Entry for June 9, 2019

On Thursday night, it was time again our for monthly get together of the Prior Lake Empty Nester Club.  We thought going to see the ponies at Canterbury Downs would be exciting so that's what we did.

It was pretty much the usual crew that showed up for the event.  We had a good time watching the races and discussing the details for how to pick the winners.  I didn't hear of any big wins in the group, but a good time was had by all.

Avery started a new internship this week and his company happened to be having a party here as well, so he stopped by to visit with us for a few minutes.  Not much longer than that, though, because it's no longer cool to be seen in public with the parents.  So apparently we are going to start wearing paper bags over our heads when we go out with our sons.  That will be cool!

I bumped into my old buddy, Orlando Mazzolini, while we were there.  It's always good to see him.  

We thought Guy was going to miss spend the evening with us as he was traveling, but right before the last race started, he showed up with his suitcase in hand ready for a good time.  That is why Guy is my kind of Guy.

On Saturday, it was time to pull the boat out of storage and go for our first ride on Prior Lake.  It was actually quite late for us to do this in June.  Other summers we've been out as early as April, but maybe we're all just getting too old for those Spring boat rides.

We like to take Blue on the boat with us when we don't plan on going swimming.  He loves being in the water so much that we always get nervous he's going to jump over the side without warning.  If we were to go swimming, there's no way we could keep him on the boat.  

We saw lots of fun critters from the boat.  I don't think I've seen this guy before.  Searching online, I think I've identified him correctly as a Sandhill Crane.  Although when I asked him what kind of bird he was, he just kind of looked at me funny.

I don't know why I'm so fascinated with turtles, but I do still get excited every time I see one.  This guy seemed a little stuck up, though.

We went into Mud Bay to see our favorite tree where all the birds are always nesting.  There were a ton of egrets in there hanging out together.  They all seem so happy.

This great blue heron was either just ready to take off or was posing for us.  I can't remember which.

We only stayed on the lake for a couple of hours mainly because the boys get bored bird watching with their parents.  Maybe that's why they don't like hanging out with us any more?  We gotta find some new hobbies.