We rolled into town on Wednesday night after a long drive fueled by Melissa's never-ending candy supply that travels with her where ever she goes. CC, the coolest chick in AZ, hosted all four of us for the time we spent there and who is the head of the AWA! Thursday morning we scuttled to Starbucks and then out to the site--we had directions . . . but still felt "directionally-challenged" in getting to Two Cow Cove on Lake Pleasant which is gorgeous! (just hard to get to). Embarrassingly enough we were pretty much the last to arrive as the locals knew how to find the location a little more efficiently than we did. We spun the Uhaul around and set-up in record time with the help of the local ladies who were just as excited to hit the water! 

We loaded 2 boats: a brand-new Nautique provided by Century Marine and Strat's Tomcat. The morning crew experienced glassy conditions and mild winds. We saw some awesome talent that morning with HUGE wake-to-wakes and helped a few girls prepare for their upcoming AWA comp the following weekend.  

After everyone returned to shore we noticed the trailer attachment looked a little different . . . the electric was completely torn out and has alarming-looking exposed wires! Somewhere between the paved highway and the "more-than-slightly-bumpy" dirt road to the site had showed our electrical connection no mercy--we'd have to fix that before dark. 

The afternoon session was packed and we met more terrific AZ gals who are strengthening the local scene with increasing skills. A couple girls tried inverts and came in with new tools to work on their tricks all summer.  

The nearest Uhaul location closed at 7pm and it was 6:35pm so we closed down and packed the Uhaul quick Tasmanian Devil-like and pulled into the Deer Valley Uhaul at 2 minutes to close--ready to find some unhappy service men. Instead we were greeted by a few 20-something babes who were more than happy to fix our electric! I guess its not everyday that hot pro wake athletes show up in need of assistance. The girls signed a poster for the guys while Amber sticker-bombed the service center. Thanks guys at Deer Valley Uhaul!  

The second day of the AZ Maven Sessions we met a very special local family--the Cooley Family! Linda Cooley came out to the event with her four daughters! What a great water sports group of gals! Nicole (20), Lynnsie (16), Megan (13) and Haley (12) all braved the chilly waters to pop up and ride. Nicole has a strong edge and was getting some terrific pop off the wake. Lynnsie was up for trying some switch riding and and did a few 180's! Megan strapped in for the first time ever and stuck it out through the cold conditions to pop up and start riding! Haley, who is obviously very comfortable on the water, rode for a long set even though she appeared to be slowly turning blue from the chilly waters--all the while chewing gum! Linda is an excellent wakeboarder and showed her girls how to "charge it"! They all gave each other words of encouragement and a little healthy "heckling" :) to encourage everyone to do their best. It was so much fun to see a mom who brought out all 4 of her daughters to enjoy time on the water together. They were a really fun family to meet and made our whole experience more enriching. Thanks Cooley's!

The Sessions ended with a set by both Steph and Amber to "give the attendees something to work on" and pump them all up on what girls can accomplish in wake sports. We packed up the car and Uhaul, said goodbye to CC, Strat (the best LF sales rep in AZ!), Melanie and Michelle from Century Marine and hit the road for a long drive back to Encinitas.  

We would all like to extend a very special thank you to all the girls who came out and made it such a fun weekend for us, and to CC, Strat and everyone at Century Marine. Thanks for making this happen!