So Many Ways to Have the Time of Your Life

You speed along the path, trees passing in a blur. The breeze blows against your face, drying the sweat from the effort you put in to climb the last hill....

From woodpeckers to waterfowl, bald eagles to blackbirds, feathered friends abound in Carroll County and the surrounding region. Abundant woods, wetlands and the Mississippi itself make the area a perfect breeding and hunting ground, and the county is the home of 190 species of birds....

You feel the spray on your face as the boat zips down the river, but after awhile you throttle back and she glides to a stop. You watch the waves as they travel out from the hull, growing smaller and smaller....

You take a deep breath, smelling the freshly cut grass. The bright sun shines down on you as you take your stance with golf club in hand. The wind blows softly, rustling the grass and swaying the leaves on each tree....

You feel the sweat on your brow from exertion, but you push on. As the trees get thicker, the trail gets steeper. You feel your calves tighten....

You wait silently hidden in the thick of the trees. You’ve been in the stand since before dawn, looking out at the woods and tall grass....

"Get away from the city and relax," they said. Sure, you thought, huffing and puffing up hiking trails and sleeping on hard ground sounds like the perfect vacation. It’s not that you don’t like the clean air or that you don’t have a positive attitude. It’s just that you like having your city amenities, and your idea of "roughing it" is sleeping on the couch.

You lay your towel on the back of your chosen chair, and you put the rest of your things beside it. Though the sun is shining brightly, you remove your sunglasses, preparing to go into the water....

You’re roaring through the rolling hills of Carroll County, farmland and forests spread out ahead of you in the bright October sunlight. The trees are spectacular shades of orange, yellow and red now, and the temperature is perfect for a long ride. But you remember this spring, when you roared past trees that were just starting to bud and the black soil of newly seeded fields, and the summer, when there was green everywhere in the countryside and red white and blue everywhere in the towns. You escaped from the city to come here for festivals, poker runs, group rides, car shows...there always seems to be a good reason to ride over to Carroll County. But then, you never need a reason to ride. The good stuff in between is icing on the cake.

You hear the bullfrogs in the distance, but you’re silent. Nothing’s biting at the moment, but patience is part of fishing. Plus, you can glance over at the live well and smile when you see what they’ve caught so far....