Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Home Again, Safe & Dry
I'm short on time, but I'll do my best to recap my madcap adventure whitewater rafting. We're home again after spending 3 days on the Rogue River. We had a really, really fun time minus one plugged eustatian (sp?) tube (earache on my part), one wicked sinus headache and some so-so weather (brrrr!!). But the river was fast, the scenery spectacular, and the comraderie was top-grade. Mr. Chick and I really did make some great friends in law school. And to make it even better, my period was light and manageable, so no trouble there. And, as it turns out, there were at least two other women in the same boat as me, and everyone knows that misery loves company.
There were 20 people in total on the river this trip. That's a lot. We had 6 boats and a shitload of equipment and supplies. The first day was the longest one - 7 hours on the river. In overcast weather that got downright COLD when you got wet, and getting wet is a given when you're on the river. Duh. We hit one of the biggest rapids that day (see pics below). Can you say FUN??!
The paddle boat getting swamped in the rapids
That first night after we got to our camping spot everyone was pretty wiped out. Most people crawled into their tents and napped for a bit before dinner. We had pretty decent camping fare - no complaints about the food. Lots and lots of candy, chips, gummy bears, beer, fruit, beer, granola bars, beer, burgers, french toast, yukka, beer, and s'mores. Did I mention beer?? Yeah, lotsa that. After a late dinner that first night, no kidding, most everyone went to bed early. Like 9:30pm early. It's like these people had KIDS or something (we were the only ones there who were parents)! BUT, I must confess, it was NICE getting hours and hours of interrupted sleep, being lulled into dreamland by the sounds of crickets chirping, the rushing water of the river, and no fewer than 5 guys snoring. Oh yeah, loud-ass snoring. It's not like tents provide a whole lot of insulation or sound dampening. We started referring to our camping area as "snore canyon" and one of the girls passed out extra earplugs. That helped. It was universally agreed that Mr. Chick is the worst offender in the snoring realm. Great - just my luck. But I could have told you that from the get-go. No surprise - I LIVE with the man.
The next morning was leisurely. We broke camp, pigged out, and then got back on the river. The weather still sucked - misty rain from time to time, cold breezes - general ickiness. Plus I had the worlds WORST sinus headache. I felt like shit and feared I was acting bitchy. This DESPITE getting 9+ hrs of sleep - what gives?? Anyway, the scenery was amazing. We went through a very narrow, very deep canyon with cool rock formations. Really spectacular. Saw a few bald eagles. We were only on the river for 4 hours this day before hitting our campsite and gearing up for the party night. People needed to make up for being such lame-asses the night before. So naps were taken and people got refreshed. Then the party started! Dinner and drinks were had by all. We got a nice campfire going and busted out the fixin's for s'mores. Yum! Then, at some point in the drunkeness of the evening one of the guys issued a dance challenge. Yes, a dance challenge. Around the fire. It was the most hilarious thing I've ever witnessed! Picture a really big guy - mid to high 300 lbs big and something like 6'4". He used to play Pac-10 football on the offensive line. But in truth he's a big teddy bear. Now picture this behemouth doing dance "moves" dubbed things like "the shopping cart" and "the oarsman" and "the bus driver". Funny shit!! We were practically peeing our pants. Then he commanded ALL of us to bust a move across the fire pit. I love to dance but was caught off-guard and ended up doing some embarrassing PeeWee Herman move. I'm ashamed.
The final day the weather finally cleared and was sunny and hot. Beautiful weather for being on the water. THIS was the day for water fights and swimming. It was awesome! Lots of dunking and pulling people off their boats. General mayhem. We got into a water fight with some tourist jet boats never expecting them to fight back WITH the jets. They absolutely drenched us. We never saw it coming, but it was fun. And then it was over and time to return to reality. I had to drive hours and hours to get back to Portland and get the kids. It was good to see them and they did great with my parents, but I truly enjoyed my time away. Good for my soul to get back to nature like that. Very elemental. And good for Mr. Chick and I, too. There is something about sleeping curled up together for warmth inside a cozy tent that gets the juices flowing. It was good.
But now we're home and I've been spending all day getting the house pulled back together. UG! I'm putting the kids back into separate rooms and having to move all the furniture around and get stuff organized. They've done great sharing a room, but we're going to be selling soon and the house will show better if they are in separate rooms. Time to get back to it! I didn't drown on the river, but I'm drowning in laundry.... help.... I.can't.breathe..!
There were 20 people in total on the river this trip. That's a lot. We had 6 boats and a shitload of equipment and supplies. The first day was the longest one - 7 hours on the river. In overcast weather that got downright COLD when you got wet, and getting wet is a given when you're on the river. Duh. We hit one of the biggest rapids that day (see pics below). Can you say FUN??!
The paddle boat getting swamped in the rapids
That first night after we got to our camping spot everyone was pretty wiped out. Most people crawled into their tents and napped for a bit before dinner. We had pretty decent camping fare - no complaints about the food. Lots and lots of candy, chips, gummy bears, beer, fruit, beer, granola bars, beer, burgers, french toast, yukka, beer, and s'mores. Did I mention beer?? Yeah, lotsa that. After a late dinner that first night, no kidding, most everyone went to bed early. Like 9:30pm early. It's like these people had KIDS or something (we were the only ones there who were parents)! BUT, I must confess, it was NICE getting hours and hours of interrupted sleep, being lulled into dreamland by the sounds of crickets chirping, the rushing water of the river, and no fewer than 5 guys snoring. Oh yeah, loud-ass snoring. It's not like tents provide a whole lot of insulation or sound dampening. We started referring to our camping area as "snore canyon" and one of the girls passed out extra earplugs. That helped. It was universally agreed that Mr. Chick is the worst offender in the snoring realm. Great - just my luck. But I could have told you that from the get-go. No surprise - I LIVE with the man.
The next morning was leisurely. We broke camp, pigged out, and then got back on the river. The weather still sucked - misty rain from time to time, cold breezes - general ickiness. Plus I had the worlds WORST sinus headache. I felt like shit and feared I was acting bitchy. This DESPITE getting 9+ hrs of sleep - what gives?? Anyway, the scenery was amazing. We went through a very narrow, very deep canyon with cool rock formations. Really spectacular. Saw a few bald eagles. We were only on the river for 4 hours this day before hitting our campsite and gearing up for the party night. People needed to make up for being such lame-asses the night before. So naps were taken and people got refreshed. Then the party started! Dinner and drinks were had by all. We got a nice campfire going and busted out the fixin's for s'mores. Yum! Then, at some point in the drunkeness of the evening one of the guys issued a dance challenge. Yes, a dance challenge. Around the fire. It was the most hilarious thing I've ever witnessed! Picture a really big guy - mid to high 300 lbs big and something like 6'4". He used to play Pac-10 football on the offensive line. But in truth he's a big teddy bear. Now picture this behemouth doing dance "moves" dubbed things like "the shopping cart" and "the oarsman" and "the bus driver". Funny shit!! We were practically peeing our pants. Then he commanded ALL of us to bust a move across the fire pit. I love to dance but was caught off-guard and ended up doing some embarrassing PeeWee Herman move. I'm ashamed.
The final day the weather finally cleared and was sunny and hot. Beautiful weather for being on the water. THIS was the day for water fights and swimming. It was awesome! Lots of dunking and pulling people off their boats. General mayhem. We got into a water fight with some tourist jet boats never expecting them to fight back WITH the jets. They absolutely drenched us. We never saw it coming, but it was fun. And then it was over and time to return to reality. I had to drive hours and hours to get back to Portland and get the kids. It was good to see them and they did great with my parents, but I truly enjoyed my time away. Good for my soul to get back to nature like that. Very elemental. And good for Mr. Chick and I, too. There is something about sleeping curled up together for warmth inside a cozy tent that gets the juices flowing. It was good.
But now we're home and I've been spending all day getting the house pulled back together. UG! I'm putting the kids back into separate rooms and having to move all the furniture around and get stuff organized. They've done great sharing a room, but we're going to be selling soon and the house will show better if they are in separate rooms. Time to get back to it! I didn't drown on the river, but I'm drowning in laundry.... help.... I.can't.breathe..!
// posted by MP @ 2:36 PM 
Hit Counters
