Paddling - can't wait!

It's February...and and old girl's thoughts turn to...paddling. And not the Fifty Shades of Grey kind!

I met my Bestie, Deb at CanoeSport Outfitters in Indianola for Paddlesport Expo today. The store does this Expo each year, when they show off new equipment and there are sessions on kayaking and canoeing at the Legion Hall and a nearby store. CanoeSport Outfitters Store

I got there first, so I took a quick spin around the store, which is located on the southwest corner of the Indianola Square. When we first decided to buy kayaks ten years ago, Deb and I decided we wanted to go somewhere we could try out boats and get expert advice. CanoeSport is that kind of place. Back then a young woman named Casey helped us with our purchases - a few years later, she married the boss, Jeff Holmes at what looks like a lovely ceremony at Lake Ahquabi. Now they have a little girl who is about 4 - a towhead blond. She was bopping around the store today.

I was drooling over the new model kayaks when Deb walked in. Man I miss that lady! She gave me one of her usual power hugs. We continued to shop. Boy things have changed since we bought our boats. There are such beautiful shiny kayaks - big bucks! The store also began selling bikes as well as boats a couple years ago. I need one of those too!

Nate

Deb and I walked down to the Legion Hall to take in a program by Nate Hoogeveen. It was eight or nine years ago when I met Nate the first time  - just after he wrote his first book on paddling the rivers of Iowa. The guy would kayak a river and then find a farmer with a truck to drive him back his vehicle. Since then, around the time I started working for Iowa DNR, Nate did too. He runs the River Trails program, which is located right near where I work - the lovely 5th floor of the Wallace Building. They work on clearing and marking Iowa's rivers for paddlers like me.

Nate has updated his Paddling Iowa book. He showed a PowerPoint Slide show of paddling the four quadrants of Iowa, talking about particular rivers. There were a few pics of his family, with Thor and Dane, his boys. The program got Deb and me fired up! Of course he showed our fave river, the Upper Iowa - with the tall limestone bluffs. But I heard about some other areas I'd like to try - the Yellow River is one. Plus Red Rock Lake is another place we'd like to visit. This year, after last summer's terrible drought, it might be a good year to stick with lakes, Nate told us when we spoke with him after the session.

We went back to the store after hearing about all those great rivers - full of enthusiasm! That's when we found these great Eddyline Kayaks - lighter than our current models, and so shiny and new. They're 10% off this weekend only and we'd get a trade-in on our old ones. We were getting sucked into the vortex...

We each tried this one on...for size!

In order to let our heads clear, we decided to go to the Brick Yard for lunch - we needed to think! Pizza and a beer helped. Plus lots of conversation - we had lots of catching up to do. I got to hear about Deb and Larry's big trip plans - Hawaii in March. I got to update her on my night out with the Diamond Brooke ladies. By the time we were done, my credit card wasn't dying to purchase like before lunch. Phew! It was hard to say goodbye. To Deb and to that green kayak.