Our River Cabin Adventures

This is not our main home, so for our decor I wanted it to feel different.  We put in a dark brown leather couch and recliner that we already had at our other home,  our American flag coffee table came with the cabin so of course we are keeping that and added a moose rug under it, some older lamps that we had up in the attic added a nice touch, and I found a set of bear lamps as well on the cheap that just fit perfectly.  And of course, my throw pillows that I add and switch out as the seasons change which is such a inexpensive way to change up your decor.  While we are rustic looking, we are not living rustic up here on this beautiful river.  We have 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, washer/dryer, and central air conditioning in our small 800 sq ft home.   It's absolutely perfect! 

Summer is a fun and busy time on the river!   We happen to be on a part of the river that tubers and kayaks come down and pass us, so there is definitely summer entertainment to be had!  We are usually enjoying ourselves sitting in river, kayaking/tubing down the river or in the yard cooking on the blackstone, enjoying a fire, or watching other tubers that are enjoying the sun pass by.  My husband on 4th of July will give out around 200 hotdogs free to the people tubing going by, and it is a good time for all!  Summer is all about actually being on the river floating.  We are usually on the river for about 3-4 hours for our kayak trips. 

Spring, Fall, and Winter on the River

Summer is all about kayaking, fishing, being outdoors, swimming, and sitting in the River.  But spring, fall and winter here in Michigan can be so fun too! This is a little bit of what we are up to during those times. 

Spring around May is a great time to start looking for wild asparagus.  We love driving around and checking our favorite side of the road spots to pick some asparagus for dinner.  Let me just say these things are so much bigger then in the store, and are so good! 

Winter is a time for relaxing inside the cabin mostly.  But outside fun can be had with a snowmobile, or ice fishing.  Otherwise, I am more into being inside nice and cozy with a good book or movie on.   We do not close down our cabin and enjoy it all year round.  

One of my favorite things to do on the River is ... FISHING!  I have caught suckers, redhorse suckers, walleye, bass,  trout and more on the Rifle River.  My first Brown Trout (hubby holding it below in pic) Why not let my hubby pose with my first brown trout, after all I was thinking i had hit the river of plenty.   My first kayak trip down the river even tricked me as I could literally see all the rocks under me as dozens of fishies swam past me as I leaned over in my kayak ooooh and awwwwing about how cool it was trying not to fall out.  While I was thinking fish just were in the river everywhere waiting for my worm, my husband informed me that they do 'runs', and that no, the fishing would not be like this every time and that i had to wait for the times the fish were running.  Ohhhhhh! Well....maybe if I had known that i would of posed with my first trout, as I never caught another one yet.  LOL! 

Smallmouth Bass, Suckers, Walleye - Yes, at this point everyone I am considering myself a professional fishing woman and waking up early running out the door before my husband can even sip his coffee with a 'where you going!  " ummm.... "Fishing , Bye!!" 🤣

Below is called a Red Horse Sucker Fish.  I caught sooo many of these fish in the river.  I guess they are not great eating but they are so fun to catch.  Omer, Mi even does a Sucker Fest where people come in from all over to catch these.  He does not look amused, does he?  He was released with hook taken out and put back in River. Sorry fish!  He was looking so super annoyed with me.  Look at those eyes!  (image below the Red Horse, is a Sheephead i caught)

Pileated woodpecker that likes to visit. See the length of the bird feeder behind him? This is a pretty large bird.  So pretty to see.  This was just caught with my phone so it is not a great image.  My taking pictures of birds hobby was just about to get started though...  

Birds on the River  

You can not live on the River and not suddenly want to become a wildlife photographer.  And that's exactly what happened to me.  Not seriously, but fun new hobby? YES!!  I suddenly needed a good camera and lens to take pictures of "my birds".  I am now kayaking or sitting in my yard snapping pics and very much into this fun hobby during summer.  Sometimes my husband laughs at me how i am dressed when i am up north because you just don't know what I might be wearing.  Fishing boots, unmatching clothes, walking around with messy hair and getting muddy and i might run outside with my mukluk boots in my pjs to get a picture of a bird i see on the feeder. 

This Blue Heron below i took while kayaking, i am so close to him on my kayak. It was awesome because i have been waiting to get a good picture and I finally got him standing there, and a great in flight picture as well. 

Now that you know fishing and taking pictures of birds are my hobbies, I can share one more hobby that i like to do on the River.  Collecting rocks.  I might lose some of you here, but hear me out!  It can be a fun hobby, i promise!!  While i am kayaking down the river, I will stop in some shallow areas and just scoop rocks from the bottom, looking for anything neat i might find.  I always am looking for Petosky Stones of course, being from Michigan that is a rock we like to hunt for and i do find them in the river.  They are usually pretty small but they are in there!   I do not know much about rocks, but I put the ones I like in my gardens, or my hubby likes to point out that I might have a little bag of them all over the house, or sitting on the deck in a little collection here and there till i figure out what to do with them.  Yes, you might even find a neat rock in my purse!  😂 I might be known to shout "Look honey, i found a jade rock!!" or something else as cool as that.  I know there has got to be rock collecting women out there that think this is cool.  Anyone? 😆 I am turning 50 next year, so just let me enjoy my new hobbies. haha!!