Maya hits the town

Wednesday was the day the Batteau Festival came to Scottsville. Batteaux are long very shallow draft boats previously used to move goods on the rivers in Virginia. They are propelled by river current, and controlled by a long sweeping oar of sorts mounted on the rear end and manually with poles. The festival is an annual event consisting of a flotilla of batteaux and associated canoes and kayaks that accompany them. They put in on the James River in Lynchburg and float down to Richmond over a period of eight days. They camp along the river en route. It sounds like fun, but you have to remember that Virginia is hot, muggy, and buggy in the summer and it's likely to rain during the time, and the accommodations are primitive at best in most places. Plus, it's not easy work. If the river is low the boats are likely to get hung up on rocks and they are big, heavy, and unwieldy. The only solution to getting stuck is to get out and push.

Wednesday was the day the boats got to Scottsville so we went down to see. We walked along the river for a bit, probably a dozen boats were in at that point, and then we headed over to James River Brewery, the real purpose of the trip.

There was a good crowd at the brewery and several other dogs. Maya doesn't pay much attention to other dogs, but there was a puppy who wanted to be her friend. The puppy wanted to be everyone's friend. Maya was good with the pup, very tolerant, but eventually told the pup to beat it. Maya has become quite social and she made a point of going up to everyone within reach of her leash. Lots of people know her down there.

Solstice sunset