Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Float trip!

This is a ridiculously fun way to spend a weekend: Start by camping. I really love tent camping, I sleep better (which is strange), I wake up earlier and excited to do something out of the ordinary and fire is literally hypnotizing. Once the tent is up and the fire is built all I want to do is stare. And maybe roast a marshmallow. Step 2, rent a canoe and float lazily down a river. We (I was in a boat with Leon's daughter, Carley) got stuck on gravel a couple times and were floating backwards a couple of times, but mostly we faced the right direction and only had to get out and push the boat a couple of times. :) People were standing on the bank with huge water guns spraying us as we floated by and everyone was so nice. We floated about 8 miles. We passed a cover band playing awesome music, and we saw this huge boulder. And people were jumping off of it. Now I'm afraid of heights, but I really try to push it, because so many fun things are taller than me! And when's the next time I'll be floating down the Elk River... in a year if things go according to my plan! So I jumped. Over and over again. It was really great! I don't know if a picture was taken of this or not - most of the pictures of the weekend were taken using disposable cameras, because I didn't want to drop my good camera in the drink. So as soon as I get those developed, I will scan and upload. Anyway, the floating continues. As we get to the end, Carley and I realized we were a little disappointed that we didn't tip... so.... we tipped purposely. It was so funny, but the canoe was so full of water we just had to hold on to it and float the rest of the way, because we'da sunk it if we could've even gotten in. All in all, the 8 miles took about 3 hours. Leon's kids and I were still pretty amped, so we got Leon to drive us back to the Boulder and we jumped off it and a bridge and just free floated back down. That was to me... definitely, a highlight. I'm covered in bruises, because some of the river is a little shallow and moves too quickly for you to avoid the bigger rocks, but it was awesome. I'm sorry I don't have pictures now... or even better words to describe how great the weekend was. All I know is I came back exhausted and happy and wishing I could do it again. If I ever get a boat, I will name it "Float Trip". When I get a boat.

In other news, Vixie is now completely blind. It's really sad...but it's also kinda funny sometimes. This morning she couldn't figure out where the door was from the dog yard. She was about a foot north of it barking at a brick wall and picking up her front paws begging for me to open the door. Which was open about a foot south. I really do feel sorry for her - 1st diabetes, now completely blind. But she will adapt...and I guess the rest of us will too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

That sounds like so much fun! I hope there are pictures of the rock jumping. Jumping off tall things is always fun. :-) I'm sorry about Vixie! Give her a pat and sing her some James Taylor for me.

Bishop Dr. Michael C. Lewis said...

Is singing James Taylor songs to blind dogs something people actually do? I mean normal people, not krishnas or hippies. As a Doctor of Divinity and Comparative Religions, I'm not aware of any special treatment you'll get from any mainstream deities or creator-figures for singing James Taylor songs... no matter the audience. But I'll skim the pamplet again, er, I mean, I'll vigorously reread the volumes of ancient texts and mysterious tomes I've accumulated during my studies.

Oh, wait was that a joke about James Taylor being deaf? Hilarious, LJ. Very funny!