Help Missoula Make a USA Today “10Best” List

My past experiences with water sports haven't really resulted in triumphs. I tried paddleboarding once with some unfortunate results. In my defense, it was a blowup board and it seemed to have some sort of leak. When I would try to stand up the entire board would slowly submerge beneath the water until I comically fell over. Maybe I'm just too chubby - but I'll always claim it was faulty equipment. I tried water skiing once but couldn't even get up out of the water. And I can't forget about the white water rafting adventure of 2015 that saw me and a few others thrown from the raft. I think I'm just fine keeping my sports on solid ground, thank you.

Despite my misadventures, I know we live in a great place to get outdoors and have some fun, including kayaking. I've never tried it, but my siblings got into kayaking last summer and it looks like it would be pretty enjoyable. But based on my other attempts at having fun on the water - I'm sure it would somehow result in me ending up regretting the attempt!

I was online today and saw Missoula get some big time recognition when it comes to our incredible outdoor scene. Missoula is one of the nominees in a USA Today contest to make their "10Best" list of places in the country for urban kayaking.

"You don’t have to leave the city to enjoy a day out on the water, at least not with these 20 urban waterways. Urban kayaking offers an unexpected way to get active in the outdoors while seeing a destination from a new perspective. What’s your favorite place to go urban kayaking? Vote once per day until polls close on Monday, February 15 at noon ET. The 10 winning kayaking spots, determined by your vote, will be announced on Friday, February 26."

There's some pretty stiff competition when it comes to options......Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver. I've lived in both Seattle and Tampa so I know how great the Hillsborough River and Lake Union are - and both of them are also on the list.

Missoula has a change to be right there with those big cities when the 10Best list is announced. You can cast your vote for Missoula and the Clark Fork River by visiting the voting page HERE.