A Saturday free canoe and kayak ride attracted people from around the county and beyond to the Big Sioux River's waters. Larry Braaten of Canton, S.D. was among the crowd of adventurers.

It must be the Minnesotan in me (or maybe it's the residue of 3 million mosquito bites over my lifetime) but I crave bodies of water.

When I pull into my hometown -- Sleepy Eye, Minnesota -- I sometimes take the long route home just so I can drive by our little Lake Sleepy Eye and see the sky staring down into itself on the water's rippling surface.

And go ahead and make fun of Minnesota's "10,000 ponds" or "mosquito breeding grounds," but I know it's just jealousy.

I'm just going to be honest - when I moved to Iowa I about flipped when I heard you have to drive about an hour to get to the nearest lake.

But, gentle reader, there's no need to wallow in envy. Northwest Iowa's got some lovely water of its own. In fact, I spent a good four and half hours of quality time with some of it this Saturday -- I did the Big Sioux River canoe ride offered by the Big Sioux River Recreational Corridor Council.

Admit it: at some point in your life you've poked fun at the Big Sioux. It's not known for being the cleanest of all rivers, nor is it often heralded as a top vacation spot.

But there's a group of people who have the right idea. The Big Sioux River Recreational Corridor Council (yeah that's a mouthful, try BSRRCC for short) see the river not as a blemish but as a beauty mark on the face of northwest Iowa.

The river's got possibilities, they say.

With a well-marked out river trail, canoeists and kayakers will come from all over to enjoy the waters. With a little advertising, fishers will come to cast their lines. Families will come to picnic.

Wayne Schlotfeldt, a member of the BSRCC said, True, it's no Disneyland. (Right now, if you're in need of an, er, outhouse, you "go natural.")

But it still is tourism.

Not that we need to start marketing Big Sioux River souvenir musical keychains or hire Kappy the Katfish to entertain the kiddies. Blech.

But this Minnesotan, for one, is glad to have a friendly body of water not too far away.