Well, after a fairly boring weekend, I call Ryan (boddah) to see how RWW was going, and to see about a baseball game this weekend. Little did I know that instead of a ball game, we would be headed to Wake Nation.

We arrived around noon, and the weather was mid 60's with a constant breeze, which later in the day caused some shivering problems. After catching up with Pete, the owner of Wake Nation, and Bill Mefford, I knew that this day was going to be special. Pete is as into this sport as any die-hard that actually goes out on the lake. To see someone who enjoys what he does as much as Pete does, I knew that even if I fell flat on my face, this day would still be fun.

After getting out gear, we were told to try knee boarding first. For those of you who don't know, knee boarding is where you kneel on a board, and go from that position. I saw Ryan pulled off the dock at an impressive 18.5 MPH, I lined up, and went down that ramp. What a rush! Being pulled from a sitting still position to 18.5 MPH is definitely an experience.

Well, Ryan and I both made two successful launches while knee boarding, we "thought" we were ready to play with the wake boards. So we go and get the wake boards, and set up on that same ramp. After getting several helpful hints from Pete (who was operating the ride, checking up on people, cooking food, not all at once of course) I line up on that ramp. Here is where Tom learns a lesson: Water is INDEED denser than concrete, and as such you probably should not face plant into it.

Fast forward to 6PM (where Ryan's most successful run was about 150 ft on his backside and mine was 15 ft on the board,) we stopped and decided to try the concessions. To say that the cheeseburger was the best I have ever had would be an understatement. This was WONDERFUL, and I normally don't talk about the food unless it is that good.

After this short break, we decided to hit the water again, only this time since my forehead was red from faceplanting and not the sun, I decided to go back to knee boarding while Ryan took shots, and we ended up leaving about 730.

All the time we were at Wake Nation (and even in the parking lot,) not only were the employees great and knowledgeable about their jobs, but they were as friendly a bunch I have ever met. In fact, while Pete and the rest of the staff were giving us tips and tricks to try to get us out on the lake, even those who have been riding and knew what they were doing were chiming in, as well as laughing with us and probably at us, but hey, I was laughing at myself as well. In fact, even though it was Ryan and mine's first time wake boarding, we were asked by several people if we were coming back the next day. Even though I swam more than rode on the wake board, this group helped me out and made this day truly an experience I will never forget.

Overall, the atmosphere, the challenge, music, employees, and even the other patrons made my decision to come back to Wake Nation a no brainer. Even as I sit here, I am sore and sunburned, but Wake Nation is definitely one place everyone needs to attend, whether to watch, or to attempt, wake boarding.

Sounds great, and somewhat hilarious. Do they provide wet suits, cause 60* is cold.

They have wet suits and heater suits available for rent.

And trust me, the wet suit top really makes a difference.

Oohh yeah, faceplanting into the water is definitely a bad thing (Which I discovered the hard way this weekend at The Beach).

Cool TR though, I really need to get my stuff together and head out to Wake Nation one day. It sounds like it was a blast.

faceplanting into the water is definitely a bad thing

You're telling me. For years, I used to repeatedly try to perfect several different flips and dives off of a diving board that was 15 feet above the diving pool. It does indeed feel like hitting concrete.. but you all know me, I didn't give up until I got it right, no matter how much it hurt.

Nice TR SOB_TOM. It sounds like you and Ryan had a fun time up there. I'll have to check it out when I get the chance.

If there was one thing I learned about water skiing or anything similar it is...

when your skis fall off, let go of the rope. I didn't.

Ryan actually took a pic of me when I wiped out on a kneeboard, and its clear I forgot to let go of the rope.....