I knew that my daughter Bridget, her husband Erik and kids Lily and Mats were competing in a Wakesurfing Competition at Lake Pleasant, Arizona on November 1-2, 2019. I had never seen any of them participate except by watching them online. Since my friend Ruth and I were arriving in Phoenix, just some 46 minutes south of Lake Pleasant, on October 31st, I thought, just maybe, we would be able to drive up to the lake the next day and see them participate. We could make it a SUPER-DUPER SURPRISE.

We were late getting to the condo on Thursday night; our trajectory was Calgary-Edmonton-Phoenix and the Edmonton leg was late out of the gate by two hours. Once we arrived in Phoenix, got our luggage and golf clubs, the I-10 — the Interstate from the Airport — was a parking lot. Our shuttle driver ended up trying to avoid the I-10 and, in doing so, turned a 35-minute drive turn into a two hour drive.

We had a lot to do, as they say, to open the cottage: connect the post of the SUV battery, move patio furniture out of the living room and onto the patio, get a few groceries for breakfast, etc. Friday morning we had a booking for the gas man to come and re-connect the gas lines (a time window of 8 a.m till noon). You may have guessed that we wouldn’t have any hot water till this was done — which also stands in the way of getting things done! We wanted to leave for the lake by 12:30 p.m. but still there was no sign of the gas man. We called and made arrangements for him to have a key and left for the lake.

We headed up 99th Street and soon we were on Lake Pleasant Parkway and before long, we could actually see the lake.

A few twists and turns and we were at the Park Entrance and $7.00 later, we were headed for Scorpion Bay. We parked the Honda and right close by there was the TRAM to take us down to the lake boardwalk. There are two trams and both go up and down.

Ruth was checking out the tram and tracks before we took a ride down to the lake.

We walked several blocks down the wide boardwalk and after a few turns we caught up to some young people. Ahead of us two gals came out of the wash room and sure enough it was Bridget and Lily. “SURPRISE” we shouted.

In a few minutes we met up with Mats and Erik and more surprises and hugs.

It was fun to see the wakesurfers either on the large TV where the announcer was calling each and every rider to run through the course or we could see them out in the water behind the boats.

We said good bye after Lily’s excellent run and we’re so happy we were able to see her live! Lily ended the weekend in 1st place in the Pro Surf division – you can see all the results here.

Ruth and I walked into the General Store looking for some ice cream for our drive home. Our last surprise was finding Snickers ice cream chocolate bars. They were really yummy.

That’s all for now folks.