Stephen Wright checks in from Idaho, first stop on western tour!

April 17, 2005

Photos

After flying all day Tuesday, I arrived in Boise for
a great day on
Wednesday. I stopped by Alpenglow, which is Idaho’s coolest kayak shop.
Chuck runs the shop, is a great paddler, and is one of the nicest guys
around. Having only met me for a few hours, he actually loaned me his
truck
so I could paddle while he had to work! I was able to spend a few hours
talking with Chuck, Tim, Matt, and other staff members there. They are
now
Idaho’s leading EXPERTS on Jackson Kayaks. They were still in Ski Shop
mode, but will be switching over this weekend to the ultimate kayak store.
They have demos in-stock for all the Fun’s and Star-series boats, with
Rockers, Heroes, and Super Heroes on order and due to arrive soon!

After spending some time in the shop, Tim took me to
paddle on the main Payette at a playspot called "the gutter".
It was a small, shallow foam-pile hole that was great for left cartwheels,
spins, and practicing boat-control. Tim worked to get some of his first-ever
intentional spins and controlled side-surfs in his JK 4 Fun. I had a blast
working left ends, clean ends, and trying to stay off the bottom. -Stephen

As Stephen was finishing up his paddle with Tim on
the Main Payette I finished up teaching in Stanley, Idaho. The 4th-8th
grade students joined me for my Dare to Kayak day at the pool. The pictures
are from the hotspring we were able to paddle in. Then I headed to Boise
to join Stephen Wright, Chuck Cremer and his employees from Alpenglow
for a Jackson Kayak Pool Session. Chuck is so happy to be a Jackson dealer
and had a ton of people at the pool session. My 2 Fun and Star were in
use the whole time. Coming up April 22 & 23 Alpenglow is hosting a
Kayak Swap and flatwater rodeo. Check out www.alpenglowidaho.com for more
info. -Devon

Then we headed over to BSU to a JK Demo night in the
pool. 20 people showed-up to paddle, test boats, and work skills. It was
awesome to see how many people came with their own Jackson boats! Highlights
for me: -Jeff, who had never been vertical in the flatwater before. We
got him in an all-star and by the end of the night, he had done a few
2-end flatwater cartwheels! COOL! -Working with lots of great boaters
on getting more ends, bigger flatwater loops, and getting vertical for
the first time. -Watching Devon work with women on learning to roll and
improve their roll.

The next day we woke-up at 3:30 Pacific time, left
at 4:00 am, and drove for 16 hours to Kernville. It was great to be done
with that drive!!! More updates soon from Jackson Kayak on tour on the
West Coast! -Stephen and Devon