on the road again; like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
It's back ... ... ...
July 13, 2006
227 miles. Wow, it’s hard to believe we made so many miles today, considering the entire morning we were RAFTING ON THE MOTHERFUCKING COLORADO RIVER. (There are certain things I imagine myself saying at dinner parties when I’m rich and famous and yet incredibly approachable, fun-loving and down-to-earth. Name-dropping the Colorado River is one of them.)
Shoogie has never been rafting, and I hadn’t been in, like, 20 years.* It was incredibly fun, but after we got over the anticipatory terror of the first few rapids, I think both of us wished there had been more continual excitement. Apparently we’re secret thrill-seekers. I suspect rafting is something we’ll do again. Our guide’s name was Jamie. She’d grown up in the area, and regaled with tales of her wayward youth -- which Shoogs & I ate up, but the family with us was a bit non-plussed. Jamie pointed out a bridge where it was now illegal to jump from. Because of her, actually. When she was in high school, she and a friend jumped off it as a senior stunt, and “some bum” saw them and decided to follow their lead. He jumped too close to the bank and broke himself. They dragged him out of the water, but he died. “Why did he do that?” the daughter asked. “Because he was stupid,” Jamie replied. It was freakin’ surreal. I still don’t have a handle on how to feel about that entire exchange. Soon after that, we anchored at “the Boxcar Eddy” and jumped in to swim. It was cold, but no colder than Lake Washington & certainly warmer than the Columbia River. Refreshing. I swam in a famous river.
Then we had this great lunch at a brewpub in another nameless town I want to retire to. I drove the rest of the way to Moab, UT while Shoogie slept most of his cold away. We decided to take it easy this evening. We went for a dip in the campground pool and hottub, and did a little cold-plunging to detox and relax. Lucky us, we’ve hit the desert in a heatwave.
*I can’t believe I’m old enough to say things like “20 years ago” and have it actually mean something.
July 13, 2006
227 miles. Wow, it’s hard to believe we made so many miles today, considering the entire morning we were RAFTING ON THE MOTHERFUCKING COLORADO RIVER. (There are certain things I imagine myself saying at dinner parties when I’m rich and famous and yet incredibly approachable, fun-loving and down-to-earth. Name-dropping the Colorado River is one of them.)
Shoogie has never been rafting, and I hadn’t been in, like, 20 years.* It was incredibly fun, but after we got over the anticipatory terror of the first few rapids, I think both of us wished there had been more continual excitement. Apparently we’re secret thrill-seekers. I suspect rafting is something we’ll do again. Our guide’s name was Jamie. She’d grown up in the area, and regaled with tales of her wayward youth -- which Shoogs & I ate up, but the family with us was a bit non-plussed. Jamie pointed out a bridge where it was now illegal to jump from. Because of her, actually. When she was in high school, she and a friend jumped off it as a senior stunt, and “some bum” saw them and decided to follow their lead. He jumped too close to the bank and broke himself. They dragged him out of the water, but he died. “Why did he do that?” the daughter asked. “Because he was stupid,” Jamie replied. It was freakin’ surreal. I still don’t have a handle on how to feel about that entire exchange. Soon after that, we anchored at “the Boxcar Eddy” and jumped in to swim. It was cold, but no colder than Lake Washington & certainly warmer than the Columbia River. Refreshing. I swam in a famous river.
Then we had this great lunch at a brewpub in another nameless town I want to retire to. I drove the rest of the way to Moab, UT while Shoogie slept most of his cold away. We decided to take it easy this evening. We went for a dip in the campground pool and hottub, and did a little cold-plunging to detox and relax. Lucky us, we’ve hit the desert in a heatwave.
*I can’t believe I’m old enough to say things like “20 years ago” and have it actually mean something.
Comments
flamingbanjo | 10.04.06 - 5:43 pm |
PJ |10.04.06 - 6:00 pm |
Don't suppose we could settle this like gentlemen?
All this reminiscing has been making me jones for a road-trip of my own. I may ask to pick your brain sometime in the early spring.
COMTE | 10.06.06 - 3:39 pm |