Here's a story that started off with a foolish assumption I made: that a canoe is symmetrical from front to back.

We packed all our gear: tent, sleeping bag, food, cooking utensils, firewood, fishing rods, camera & lenses, the list goes on in this 16 ft. canoe we rented from Algonquin Outfitters. Neither Ashour nor I had canoed before and we ended up sitting in our canoe BACKWARDS (i.e. the left tip of the canoe in the picture is the front and we were facing the opposite direction.) So after a frustrating first hour of zig-zagging across the width of this river, we came across a very nice elderly couple who owned a cottage on the river's bank.

The wife was kind enough point us in the right direction (literally). "You need to turn around" the wife shouted, "we're trying!" we replied thinking she was pointing out the obvious. We were well aware that our canoe was going in an unintended direction but what she meant was that we, ourselves, were sitting backwards in the canoe. The husband, a former canoing instructor, finally came over and called us to their small pier and he began going over Canoing 101. After a 15 minute lesson, we were sent off with our new knowledge. If it weren't for that couple's kindness, a mere 30 minute canoe trip to our campsite in Whitefish Lake would have taken us a few hours because we could not figure out why our stupid canoe kept changing directions on us so sporadically.

My only regret is that I did not get the couple's names or simply a picture of them. I am and always will be grateful for that couple's kindness.