Canoecopia is an annual event put on in Madison Wisconsin. Its represents the opening of paddling season with a collection of vendors filling a conference center. We’ve been once before in 2016, but it seemed like a good time to go back. I remember from last time that we were able to walk the convention floor in a few short hours. Its like shopping at a large outdoor store, but focused on paddling. However without kids this year, we would be able to go to the many sessions included in our admission. Those sessions had lots of diverse topics about paddling.
In the foyer are booths for special interest groups. Our goal was to take our time and visit as many booths as possible. Danelle didn’t disappoint. In fact she seemed to know a ton of people. She started her environmental networking. I enjoy seeing the professional side of her life that I don’t often see. Here is a brief shot of the entrance foyer.
I’m always interested in the new fancy boats and there were many to look at.
I’ll forgo the blow by blow of the event but it was a great time. We met up with Andrew and Jackie and went out to dinner with them. Along the way, Andrew introduced us to Paul Mellor, a national speaker and author. We learned about his travels and I came away with a few of his books.
I spent most of the weekend engrossed in the speakers and booths and didn’t take many photos. Its a mixed blessing as I want to show and tell where I was. But its also great when you’re so focused that you forget to take photos!
Instead of heading home on Sunday to St. Louis, we went to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Danelle had a work conference that week. Since the kids are away at school, I came along to work in a hotel for the week.
Danelle booked a really nice suite that made it easy to work remote.
We didn’t see a ton of each other as she was at the conference and I was working, but it was a nice break from our normal daily lives. We did manage to get to meet Madison’s parents (she is dating Corvin) as they live in town. We went out to dinner and enjoyed fun conversations about our respective kids.
When I wasn’t working, I was walking a lot. The weather was nice and I was averaging around 20,000 steps a day. I also pushed my luck on a long unicycle ride. It was a bit cold and the path appeared to be a paid one. But I read the sign literally and decided it didn’t apply to unicycles.
I’m hoping Danelle has more business trips I can tag along with.
Hogan Haake