ABOUT

At a very young age I was obsessed with horses and becoming a Cowboy. I was that kid you'd see in the grocery store in a cowboy hat, boots and shorts and – of course – my toy gun belt and holster. I was so obsessed with being a cowboy that I'd bug my parents every day for a horse. If I wasn’t pestering them for a horse, I was playing with my horse figures, watching TV shows with horses, or drawing horses.

When I was about 7 our family moved to what I refer to as “God’s Country” – most people know it as Minnetonka, MN.  Home of Lake Minnetonka and the original "Tonka Toys." A place where kids played at parks from sunup to sundown all year long. Well, two short years after we moved to “Tonka” my parents finally caved and got me a horse!  My dad would drop me off at sunup at the barn and my mom would come get me at sundown. It was amazing.  I got to be a real “Cowboy.”  I spent hours at the barn from the time I was 9 until I turned 14. Then, sports began to take up much of my time, so I didn’t have enough time to get to the barn and I had to say goodbye to my horse.  

That same summer, my parents bought our first family boat, and that's when I discovered my new love – Lake Life! I went from riding my horse, to riding the waves behind the family boat.  This would be my passion all through high school and college. Summer days spent with friends tubing, floating and listening to music. 

After college, I took a job in corporate America and moved away from  Minnetonka. Every time I would come back home, I would visit friends on Lake Minnetonka and I realized I really missed those days on the Lake.

After 7 moves, 2 daughters and 1 dog over 15 years, we made the decision to leave corporate America and move back to Minnesota. Finding myself now single and my "Girlz" approaching their high school years, I realized I didn’t have much time left with them before they started their adult lives.  In an effort to create more memories with them I moved back to Lake Minnetonka, bought a boat and of course- a Cowboy Hat! 

Summers were spent with my "Girlz" and their friends out on the water, telling stories at the bonfire pit in the backyard, and  mingling with my group of friends who I fondly referred to as my  "Krew.” 

One summer a few  years ago, there were concerts on the shores of Lake Minnetonka – Zac Brown Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and one of my personal favorites, Tim McGraw. Needless to say, I would have my "Krew" on board, and of course I would be wearing my Cowboy Hat. Once I hit the boat, the cowboy hat would go on and It wasn’t long before my “Krew” gave me the moniker of “Lake Cowboy.”

What is the Lake Cowboy lifestyle? Well its relaxing and making memories with your people, its  boating and floating while listening to country music from sun up to sundown. It’s doing the things that make you feel at HOME.  I loved watching my "Girlz"  mingle with my “Krew”. I have soooo many fond memories of being on the lake with my family as a kid, with my buddies in high school and college, and now with my daughters and my coffee cruises with my wife and our golden retriever, Kallie.  

In an effort to share this lifestyle with others, and after some serious encouragement from my wife, who I fondly refer to as #MrsKoepps, I decided to start Lake Cowboy! So with the help of a few of my friends I'm starting this ride and I'm bringing some of my “Krew” with me.

I hope to run into all the Lake Cowboy lovers out there, along the trail, at a dive bar with some live music, playing bags/cornhole or floating on the water!