1 Sept: Labor Day in South Bend

Allan said he saw only a couple of other people taking photos of these events; I said I would make a bonus blog post about it for the possible amusement of the organizers and participants.  All photos by Allan Fritz.

Come and Play on Labor Day

South Bend, Washington

A drive around the bay took Allan to South Bend.

He took three garden photos to make this post appropriate for a gardening blog:

Karaoke with Doug in the background

 Poker Paddle on the Willapa

From a blog post about last year’s event:  “Participants start at the 101 Public House kayak dock and then paddle along the Willapa River to 4 other docks to receive playing cards in envelopes, hoping to get the best 5-card poker hand.”

This is a 26 foot kayak on a small SUV & three parking spots.

Other types of boats were welcome.

I arrived fifteen minutes late. Here is the main group headed upstream along the shore of South Bend.

.

Another group headed out.

A view downstream and some of the participants returning…

…including a paddle boarder and her daughter.

It brought to mind an image of ancient Egypt.

More kayaks returning.

A kayak dock built in 2010 improves river access. Volunteer help was available for lifting.

A tourist came by and carted down with a couple of boats for an afternoon trip and were surprised by the crowd. They told me about their system of loading and launching off their car top rack.

I listened to the builder tell his story of building this lightweight canoe to another canoe builder from nearby Westport.

Another person was out on the river rowing his wood boat.

Come and Play on Labor Day Pole Walk

Just walk the bouncy log out to the mark, turn around and walk back without getting wet. The mark was set out further for adults.

A large crowd cheered the kids on.

Lunch 

A generous serving of curly fries was available.

But I bought an elephant ear as it reminded me of Long Beach and later shared it with Skyler.