Spring Fling was a huge success with a great turnout this year! Participants myself, Joe McCreary & Laura and kids, Tacey Stone, Ron Babram, Travis Sims, Robert Lacy, Mike and Ben Keith, Laurie O’Connor, Paul Meister, Mark Byers, Marshall MacDonald, Warren Gaeiski, Stephen and Carla Beene, John Brinkerhoff, Bill Stearns, Keith and Kristin Macedo, Jay McSpadden, Ben Mills and Larry Leonard (sorry if I missed anyone).
The weekend started out early for a lot of us. Amongst the first to arrive included Ron, Paul, Tacey, Robert, Ben and me. It was really windy that Friday, which would make you think the water was rough – but not in Paradise – it was sweet water! The lake is surrounded by cat tails AKA “the reeds…” I opted to set up camp before skiing which was a great idea to avoid setting up at sundown when the bugs came out (and they did!)… It was so windy (20+ mph) I had to use my truck as a wind block for my tent.
The 1st group of diehards got out on the lake as soon as Paul arrived which included Paul, Robert, Ron and Ben. Poor Ben skied to the outside of the wake around the island on the far end and came to an abrupt halt because he smashed into the reeds. Good thing is, he was not hurt. I managed to get in three sets that day, the last one almost in complete darkness. Joe had he light bar on the boat on, and we managed four passes through the course. With the proper adjustments, I think we could put that thing to good use…
At the end of day one, most of us were pretty cooked…. We fired up Ron’s grill and cooked burgers and brats and settled down with a good cold beer… Later after the kids went to bed, we sat around Joe’s laptop and watched the 2002 U.S. Open on DVD – bugs on the screen and all… I love Deep Woods Off and what it does for my skin (not)!!!
Afterwards, someone (I wont mention any names, Travis) had the bright idea that we should go on a midnight boat ride… What we expected to see, I have no idea, but it was kinda cool… We got down to the far end of the lake when I see a head of an animal in the water. Was it a beaver? Was it a nutrea? No, it was Joe’s lab Rosie, and Laura’s dog Champ - and they wanted to join us in the boat! We picked them up and rode them back on the platform laughing about it the whole way… When we got back, we threw them off the boat and forced them to swim back. Rosie made it – Champ wasn’t so lucky. Champ made it back to the ladder at the dock and held on for dear life. Champ was rescued at the dock - he couldn't find the ramp. Then the boat stopped ˝ way around the big island…. Uh oh… we’re stuck… “Travis, you got us here, now get out and push…” We made it back to the dock a few minutes later...
The Saturday night cookout was great – thanks to Tacey and her awesome grilling abilities and Keith’s deep fried Wild Turkey!! There was even fireworks afterwards around midnight…
Sunday morning around 3 AM, a cold front moved in and it got cold!! I was under heavy blankets until 5:50 AM, when I got up to ski. There was a BAD east wind blowing right down the lake, but we managed to get in some good stuff… Glad I had my shorty – it was really cold out there…. Got out of there around 9:30 AM after two sets and 18 passes through the slalom course. Not a bad weekend at all!
