Canoecopia

Well the long awaited trip to Canoecopia was this weekend.  I say long awaited because I have been wanting to hit this show for oh, a long time.  I mean 20 years.  I have always liked being on the water.  With the boy scouts doing the High Adventure camp in upper Wisconsin (which has since been shut down).

Good old Troop 260.  I remember Dad volunteered to drive some of the troop up for this.  Then he turned around and headed back all in one day - something like 12 hours of driving...

Then there was the trip to Quetico national park in Ontario with a friend back in 1988.  

A 7 day 80+ mile canoe trip in the heart of Canadian wilderness. I have always wanted to get back out there, but a lot of things took precedent over those wishes.

If you remember, Tracy and I took a paddling class last summer and liked it enough to get more involved. So fast forward to Friday where we headed out to Madison the day before we were to go to the show.  Call it a date night if you want.  We went to the Tempest Oyster Bar for dinner.   The first time I had oysters on the half shell, i.e. raw oysters. Yes you do chew them and no they really are not slimy, just different I can't explain the texture.  They were pretty tasty, very bright, like when you go in the ocean and get a mouthful of sea water.  It tasted like the ocean smells and tastes.  I ended up getting 3 in total.  Two west coast and one east coast and yes, they tasted different.  Another check off the culinary bucket list.   We also had an appetizer of calamari, scallops, shrimp, clams and cooked oysters.   For the main entry Tracy had a perch fry and I had scallops, shrimp and pork belly on a bed of creamy grits.   One of the best meals I have had in a long time.  

The next day we had a bit of breakfast and headed to the expo center.  Think of the sport show or the expo hall at state fair except for canoes and kayaks and all the gear that goes along with them.  Paddles, clothing flotation, transport, camping, fishing, pets etc, etc etc.   They also had all kinds of speakers:  How to, technique, beginner, trip's taken (many epic 1000+ mile type trips).  All in all very cool.  

Are we boat owners?  No, not yet anyway.  We found some boats we like and will head back when the weather is warmer and we can test paddle before we buy.   

Until then I will just have to keep the dream alive.