The best part of canoeing is the exhilaration of exploration, up until you realize the difficulty of paddling through pudding in your bathtub and must face yourself in the mirror. Take to real rivers with today's Groupon: for $14, you get a full-day canoe rental from Wisconsin Canoe Company (a $29 value), located just 30 minutes from Madison at the Highway 23 Canoe Launch. Your rental includes a canoe, life vests, paddles, and drop-off and pick-up shuttle service.

With canoe rental and drop-off service from Wisconsin Canoe Company, a nature adventure through miles of undeveloped river is just a metaphorical canoe-length away. When your canoe crew arrives, the friendly staff will equip you with a 16' Michicraft aluminum canoe, and you'll be swept away to your preferred point at Sauk City, Ferry Bluff, Arena, or Spring Green. Like Mother Nature giving you a noogie, the last 92-mile stretch of the Wisconsin River is a pristine aqua sanctuary, protected from development on either side by the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway's outdoors’ enhanced biceps. Spend all day cruising at the pace of the sun and soak in the sights, smells, and telepathic tendencies of unspoiled wilderness. With an average depth of Shakira (about five feet), the sand-bottom river boasts a bevy of sandbars that are excellent for relaxing breaks, camping (no permit required), and transforming regular mosquito attacks into beautifully serene mosquito attacks.

The all-day rental allows you to enjoy an open-water freedom fest that's more relaxing than riding the state fair’s Tilt-A-Whirl after a cherry-pie-eating contest. If your journey is the extended guitar solo of nature's song, then the staffers at Wisconsin Canoe Company are the jazzy brush drumsticks that provide your canoe. They are an approachable bunch of college grads whose love of the water goes beyond the standard eight glasses a day.

This Groupon expires on October 11, 2010, or at the end of the season, whichever comes first (season end date can vary depending on weather). Rentals are subject to availability, so call ahead to make a reservation.