Previously when I've travelled to Florida for training my parents have stayed back at home for their work commitments. So when they asked me to choose somewhere for our family holiday this year, it was a no brainer! Florida...We stayed on International Drive, which is in the heart of Orlando. It was a cool to experience Orlando because I haven't spent much time there so all the sights were not only new for my parents, but me as well.
Even though this trip was a family holiday to celebrate my dads 60th birthday, I managed to squeeze some wakeboarding in at Otown Watersports on Lake Barton. It was a dream to finally visit and ride at Otown, a wakeboarding school I had heard and read so much about! Glen and Melissa are so helpful and I learnt so much from my training sessions with Glen! The wake behind the Malibu was crazy and probably the biggest wake I've ever ridden behind! In between the days I was at Otown I stopped by Freedom Wake Park and Orlando Watersports Complex (OWC) for a set. It was a great experience to visit so many different wakeboarding sites as Orlando is the mecca of wakeboarding and there are so many places to ride.
On our last day in Florida we drove over to Chain of Wakes (COW) in Winter Haven. I love everything about Winter Haven, it's such a cool little town about an hours drive out of Orlando. There are so many lakes all connected together by canals and the scenery is beautiful. Although I was only at COW for one day I had such a great set landing my first tech trick, a wrapped roll to blind. I was super pumped on landing this trick and I can't thank Stew enough for his help and encouragement to get the trick landed! It was great to catch up with coach Stewart Mackie, and show my parents around Winter Haven for the day. Hopefully we'll be back there soon!
America 2016 2.0 was such a fun trip and as usual I can't wait to go back! In the end we stayed for an extra day courtesy of Thomson Airlines cancelling our flight and then rescheduling it more than 24hrs later. It was a bit of a hectic rush to get back to the UK as we landed at Gatwick then had to drive straight to the UK Boat Nationals, but the trip was so worth it!
Thanks again to Glen, Melissa and Stew for their great company, and the good times riding!
Even though this trip was a family holiday to celebrate my dads 60th birthday, I managed to squeeze some wakeboarding in at Otown Watersports on Lake Barton. It was a dream to finally visit and ride at Otown, a wakeboarding school I had heard and read so much about! Glen and Melissa are so helpful and I learnt so much from my training sessions with Glen! The wake behind the Malibu was crazy and probably the biggest wake I've ever ridden behind! In between the days I was at Otown I stopped by Freedom Wake Park and Orlando Watersports Complex (OWC) for a set. It was a great experience to visit so many different wakeboarding sites as Orlando is the mecca of wakeboarding and there are so many places to ride.
On our last day in Florida we drove over to Chain of Wakes (COW) in Winter Haven. I love everything about Winter Haven, it's such a cool little town about an hours drive out of Orlando. There are so many lakes all connected together by canals and the scenery is beautiful. Although I was only at COW for one day I had such a great set landing my first tech trick, a wrapped roll to blind. I was super pumped on landing this trick and I can't thank Stew enough for his help and encouragement to get the trick landed! It was great to catch up with coach Stewart Mackie, and show my parents around Winter Haven for the day. Hopefully we'll be back there soon!
America 2016 2.0 was such a fun trip and as usual I can't wait to go back! In the end we stayed for an extra day courtesy of Thomson Airlines cancelling our flight and then rescheduling it more than 24hrs later. It was a bit of a hectic rush to get back to the UK as we landed at Gatwick then had to drive straight to the UK Boat Nationals, but the trip was so worth it!
Thanks again to Glen, Melissa and Stew for their great company, and the good times riding!