Day 12: Company

Motivated by company, beer, and hot dogs we paddled 24 miles by 1:30 to Big Sandy Rec Area.  We were very tired, but it would all be worth it later on.  Since we paddled so quickly and the current pushed us quite a bit we had time to kill before my Mom and Aunt Beth and Uncle Dave were set to arrive.  I went on a walk to tour the campground and Anders immediately began frantically writing down a story idea he came up with while paddling.  If he ever writes a best seller, I'll assume this is where it started.
My Mom arrived first.  We dove into the chips and Top the Tater (SO DELICIOUS) and cracked open our first good beer of the trip.  It was great.  Thanks Mom.  Beth and Dave then arrived with more beer and margaritas which they kept cool in a travel growler.  They were extremely refreshing.
After responsibly consuming a few beverages we went to Zorbaz for some food.  They had good beer on tap, Surly Furious, and the food menu looked decent as well.  The only problem was that all the "s" in the menu and pretty much the entire restaurant were changed to "z."  It was incredibly frustrating trying to read the menu.  Then of course everybody started reading it and saying the "z."  That got old fast.  But then I started doing it and it was fun.  Then it got old again.  I'm assuming our waitress' name was Ashley and not the "Azhley" that was printed on her nametag.  I could be wrong though.  People name their kids weird things nowadays.
It was really nice to spend some time with family and get a pampered a little bit.  It was also nice to chat with people who were excited and interested in the trip.  Dave kept pulling out maps looking at the next couple of days and also the delta to see what we should do when we get down there.  He even did some research and informed us that the Aitkin library is just seven blocks from the river.  This was his way of saying, "Hey guys, update your blogs!"  I'm glad to know that people are actually enjoying reading them.