Ray and LeAnn sent kayaking on the Cannon river south on the Twin Cities. We set off for Welch and thought we would get our canoes there. Well as we pulled around the final bend as we decended into the valley, we saw a huge crowd at the rental place, waiting for buses to take them up river. The rental company also rents innertubes, which is why most people were there. We also noticed a large number of coolers being dragged toward the bus and just thought this might not be the peaceful river trip we were invisioning.
We then decided to head up to Cannon Falls and see if we could rent a canoe there. The crowds were much smaller, and I saw some canoes on the rack, so i figured we were in good shape. The first question he asked me was if we had a reservation (which we didn't), so I thought we were out of luck. He then asked if we would like to kayak. That sounded just as good. We got our kayak, paddles and life jackets and we were off. Even though this portion of the river had experienced huge floods just 3 weeks earlier, it was actually very low and calm. 
A few very mild rapids, and a few places where you were scraping bottom, but lots of evidence of the huge powerful floods a few weeks earlier. Trees on the banks were undercut and fallen into the river, debris wrapped in trees 10' above the water line. 
This upper portion of the river was much quieter than the lower portion. (Where we pulled out is where the tubers put in). Cannon Falls Canoe rental even rents 4 and 6 person rubber rafts. This looks like a really fun way to do a group trip down the river for people who may not be as comfortable in a canoe or kayak. We saw a few groups with a cooler full of beverages just floating down the river without a care in the world.
After kayaking, we drove down the Red Wing for dinner. LeAnn mentioned how it felt like we were on vacation with an afternoon activity and then a dinner at a new place in a small town. These are the days that make a Minnesota summer so great.
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