Paddle Fest

We headed out Carefree Highway with Gordon Lightfoot's song running through my head. The plan was to see how many of our paddling friends showed up at Paddle Fest at Lake Pleasant. It's clear across the other side of the Phoenix metro area, but miles never bothered us.

Many of the active members of the paddling community and vendor reps had camped the night before on the beach. There were all sorts of boats to try out - everything from rafts to sit-on-top creek boats to ...

When we got there about 9:30, there was 25 minute lineup just to get through the park entrance. I'm pretty sure they'd evaluated all their seasonal volunteer staff and put the slowest person available to work by themselves at the toll booth. It didn't make any difference - the beach was awash with people and paddle craft.

I thought the Arizona themed stand-up paddle boards were especially colorful.

Folks of all sizes were waiting their turn to take a canoe, kayak, raft, or stand-up board for a spin.

Many (most?) had no experience, but were having lots of fun.

Even Susie Too was there, still sporting some Colorado River mud from the Grand Canyon trip that she'd completed the day before. Susie didn't come alone - Helen was there, too, which was the main reason we drove out. We wanted to hear about her Grand Canyon trip. Sounds like it was another really fun trip.

I took lots of people pictures but this was one of the few that made the cut. I loved James' shirt. Pretty much sums it up!

Even Kathy's granddaughter came out and had to check out Susie.

Parking was a bit of a hassle with the crowds. Even the deputy had a hard time hitting the spot that had been reserved for him.

We did see several people that we haven't seen for years, so the day was well worthwhile. Glad we took the time. Now to finish loading...