Cool water, warm sun, good friends and the beautiful surroundings of the Namekagon River — life as a teenager does not get much better than this. For many, including myself, earliest memories of being on the rivers within the St. Croix River watershed were formed floating down the river on an inner tube. Growing up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, the Apple River was a popular tubing destination for me. In northern Wisconsin, the Namekagon was where my wife’s family tubed and canoed in an annual summer trip that gathered the family members from across the country.