I Love Rafting!

Yesterday, I took my first commercial trips on the Rio Grande. It was running at about 3,700 cfs, which is pretty darn big! My morning trip was on the Gorge section of the river, which is basically just a float with a couple of Class II rapids. Nothing crazy. I took a group of boy scouts who were supposed to go on the Racecourse, which is solid Class III and IV right now, but the age limit for our company was bumped up to 12 years old, and most of the kids were too young or too small. Anyway, they were pretty disappointed that they didn't get to do the big water, but they ended up having a really good time, trying to one-up each other by jumping into the freezing water and shouting the best paddle commands and such. It was fun. I'd never seen that section of river before, so it was interesting when they were asking me questions such as, "How much longer?" and, "When's the next rapid?" I couldn't even lie because I had absolutely no idea, but they just went with the flow.

The afternoon trip was definitely where all the fun was to be had. Before yesterday, I'd only seen the Racecourse twice, once when the water was pretty low and I was in a ducky, and once a few days ago when I rode along on a trip. Let's just say that it's a completely different river at almost 4,000 cfs. The waves are absolutely huge and the water is really moving! I had spent the morning trip warming up and mentally preparing for the afternoon trip that was sure to be a ride. It was! I ended up with a boat of 7 people from 3 different groups. One was an older couple, then there were two younger couples and one of their friends. We started out practicing all of our paddle strokes and moves on the river that might be needed to keep everyone in the boat. No matter where I moved people, the right side of my boat was having trouble keeping up with the paddlers on the left. Looking back, I think that the amount of air in the right and left tubes must have been uneven and that's why the boat tended to turn to the right the entire trip.

We punched through the first set of rapids called Little Albert's and Big Albert's. The other guide had a swimmer, but nothing bad. Whew...The day before someone with another company had flipped in Little Albert's and they had to MedEvac a lady out because she was blue. Yikes!

The Narrows is the longest section of whitewater and it's huge and fast. It's called the narrows because the river is more narrow there! Get it? We made it through there as well and I still hadn't lost anybody. Good. I was still so very nervous though. The big stuff was still to come!

After some other sections of water came Big Rock. Big Rock is a set of huge boulders that are in the middle of the river, one of which has a huge and nasty hole behind it. Since the river is high, we ran the left side of the huge rock. That rapid is called the Toilet Bowl. It's a steep drop and you pretty much just get flung around the huge rock and into a huge lateral wave. I was afraid that I wasn't going to get around the rock! But we made it because the current around the rock is so strong. It grabs you and, as a guide, you have just enough time to take 1 or 2 strokes to square up to the huge lateral wave before you have to yell at you crew to "get down" and you yourself have to get down before you all get flung out of the boat by the power of the water! No swimmers in the hole...but almost! We filled completely up with water, then caught a strong eddie line that pulled the right side of the boat down. Since we were full of water, the right tube sunk WAY down and I almost lost 2 people! I almost went in as well! That would have been embarrassing!

There was another big surf wave called Chupacabra, then it was time for the biggest wave of the trip-Sousse Hole. Sousse is another big drop with a huge curler at the end that's pretty much a ginormous boat-eating wall at this water level. At around 4,000 cfs, it starts to flip 50% of all boats that go into it. It's big and nasty, but a pretty safe swim with few consequences. People gather on the cliff above Sousse Hole when the water is high just to watch the carnage of boats flipping all day. I noticed that there was quite a crowd there as we rounded to corner, headed toward the hole! I informed my crew that this was the last wave on the trip and the last time that they would have to paddle, so to give me everything that they had left. The more speed we had going in, the easier I could move the boat, and the less likely our chance of flipping. The first 2 boats made it through and then it was my turn. I gave the "paddle forward" command and we were off. We hit the lateral wave on the left side and were set up perfectly for the hole! My crew paddled hard and we got tossed just as hard when we punched the huge wall of water. A helmet made contact with my front tooth, (no, not the one that I already had a root canal on due to a previous rafting incident, the other one! But it's fine Mom and Dad, don't worry!) Finally we made it through! No flipping! Yessss! I was SO stoked, and SO relieved! The look on my face was probably priceless!

After we made it through, everyone had this look of relief on their faces as well. Apparently I went right for the meat of the hole. While I could see that I was FAR from the obvious boat-eating part of the wave, it didn't look like that to everyone on the other side! They thought we were going swimming for sure! Maybe I did hit it a little more right than everyone else, I dunno, but I lived to tell about it! I got all kinds of props from all of the other guides and the owners who were watching when we hit the Sousse! I guess the pictures will tell just how vertical my boat really was...pretty freaking intense! You're not gonna want to miss THESE PHOTOS! They're really going to freak my Mom and Dad out! Love you guys! Oh yeah, and the series of photos before me are of K going through the same rapid. Better czech them out too.

Dawgs

I can sit and lay down and shake already. I even know sign language for these commands!

Nappy Time

Playing Outside

Best Buddies!

Nebraskee

I took my first trip to the great state of Nebraska 2 weekends ago for Kevin's high school graduation. It was a good time, I must say. Lots of drinking and cake eating, fires and barbeques, story telling and laughing. Lots of laughing. There was one question weighing heavy on my mind throughout the trip...where are the mountains? The answer...not there! It was kind of a weird experience for me to be in a place so flat. I felt kind of exposed most of the time. All of the trees seemed to make that a little bit better though. Despite all of the complaining and bad things that I seem to hear about Nebraska, it's really not such a bad place. In fact, at least this time of year, it seemed like a wonderful place to me. Everything was super green, there were flowers everywhere, the weather was gorgeous, and the air smelled like spring. Nice. I got to meet a lot of the local fire department, who coincidentally were involved in building several raging bonfires, and got to go for a little ride on Kevin's brand new bike. Oh yeah, and I bought some much-needed clothing. (Turns out that a lot of the clothes that I wear are from high school. Lame. I need to get out more!) That brings me to my next point, Old Navy is truly a great store. Although I have to try a lot of things on to find the ones that fit the best, I've never left the place empty-handed or paying too much for anything. K got some clothes too. No more shorts with the ass mostly ripped out. Yay!

While we were shopping, I received a call saying that I didn't get the Genzyme job. Bummer. They told me that I interviewed really well, but that they cut the class size from 4 all the way down to 2, and I was #3. I guess the two people that they did decide to hire already worked at Genzyme and had some experience. Hard to beat that. Anyway, they said that I should try to stick with my job for another few months and re-apply for the same position in September. Maybe I will. I'm still kind of disappointed, but there's no reason to let my stubbornness cause me to miss out on what I still believe to be a great opportunity. I wish I could just raft all summer...

As one last comment, if you ever have a long layover in the Denver airport, go people watch in the Frontier concourse. The people over there are way more interesting, unique, and weird than the ones in the United concourse!

Before you Move, some Random Factoids

I came across a couple of statistics today that I found mildly interesting and somewhat shocking. In my state of sleepyness, I'll share them with you. Sorry if they're lame.

Earlier today, Newsweek released a list of the top 1,300 public high schools in the U.S. The ratio used to determine rank was calculated by dividing the number of students who took certain forms of advanced placement tests by the number of graduating seniors. (Sounds to me like there may be some other factors to consider, but who am I to question the Cambridge people?) While many of the schools were for the "gifted" or were college prep schools, oddly enough, a few schools that I am familiar with made the list.

#536-Fayetville H.S. in Fayetville, AR. Maybe Brenna should start applying for jobs here. I guess they even have a Target!

#602-Stevensville H.S. in Stevensville, MT. A college friend of mine is from Stevensville, but was homeschooled all 13 years. He never took a biology class. Perhaps that wasn't the best decision his parents ever made.

#606-Bozeman H.S. in Bozeman, MT. And they get to go to school so close to the gorgousness that is the Crazy Mountains! Hmmmm, I can't help but notice that A-town didn't make the list...

#738-Littleton H.S. in Littleton, CO. I just wanted to put this one on here to point out that, even after a horrific event, this town still has its ducks in a row and puts education first.

#1120-Mead H.S. in Spokane, WA. This school barely made the list, but somehow managed to turn out the great (and diabetic) Adam Morrison, now of the Charlotte Hornets. Whooptydoo... Sorry, not impressed with the guy. As much as I complained about the place, 3 of the high schools made the list. Not too shabby. Oh, did I mention that Morrison is diabetic?

#1331-Millard South H.S. in Omaha, NE. Having recently traveled to the area, all that I can really say here is that it takes most girls from Omaha WAY too long to get ready in the mornings. Based on that observation alone, I'm surprised that a school in Omaha made th list. The girls are probably all late for school every day. Pays to look pretty, I guess!


BestLife published an article today listing the top 100 cities to raise children in. It also listed the 10 worst. I was shocked, stunned, and amazed to see, resting comfortably near the top, at #3, Billings, MT! Having spent the first 12 years of my life there, I guess maybe it was pretty nice. I've spent the past 5 years running away from it, but maybe I should give the "Magic City" a little more credit. Others that caught my eye included:

#9 Colorado Springs, CO
#16 Omaha, NE
#20 Boise, ID
#32 Las Vegas, NV
#46 Albuquerque, NM


One more thing. Men's Health listed Colorado Springs as the fattest city in the U.S. Interesting.

To My Mother and Yours

This is for the mothers who have sat up
all night with sick toddlers in their arms,
wiping up barf laced with Oscar Mayer
wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying,
it’s okay honey, Mommy's here.


Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end
soothing crying babies who can't be comforted.


This is for all the mothers who show up at
work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains
on their blouses and diapers in their purse.


For all the mothers who run carpools and
make cookies and sew Halloween costumes.



This is for the mothers who gave birth to
babies they'll never see.

And the mothers
who took those babies and gave them homes.


This is for the mothers whose priceless art
collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.


And for all the mothers who froze their buns
on metal bleachers at baseball or soccer games instead
of watching from the warmth of their cars.


So that when their kids asked, 'Did you see me, Mom?'
they could say, 'Of course, I wouldn't
have missed it for the world,' and mean it.
This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids
in the grocery store and swat them in despair when
they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before dinner.


And for all the mothers who count to ten instead,
but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with
their children and explained all about making
babies.


And for all the mothers who
wanted to, but just couldn't find the words.


This is for all the mothers who go
hungry, so their children can eat.


For all the mothers who read 'Good night,
Moon' twice a night for a year.

And then
read it again, 'Just one more time.


This is for all the mothers who taught
their children to tie their shoelaces before
they started school.


And for all the mothers
who opted for Velcro instead.


This is for all the mothers who teach their sons
to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.


This is for every mother whose head turns
automatically when a little voice calls 'Mom?'
in a crowd, even though they know their
own offspring are at home -- or even away
at college -- or have their own families.


This is for all the mothers who sent their kids
to school with stomach aches, assuring them
they'd be just FINE once they got there, only
to get calls from the school nurse an hour later
asking them to please pick them up. Right away.


This is for mothers whose children have gone
astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they
bleed when their 14 year olds dye their hair green.


For all the mothers of the victims of
recent school shootings, and the mothers
of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors,

And the mothers who sat in front of their TVs
in horror, hugging their child
who just came home from school, safely.


This is for all the mothers who taught their
children to be peaceful, and now pray
they come home safely from a war.


What makes a good mother anyway?
Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips?
The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and
sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart?

Is it the ache she feels when she
watches her son or daughter disappear
down the street, walking to school alone
for the very first time?

The jolt that takes her from sleep to
dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M.

to put
her hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again
at 2 A.M.

when she just wants to hear
their key in the door and know they
are safe again in her home?

Or the need to flee from wherever she is
and hug her child when she hears news
of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are
universal and so our thoughts are for
young mothers stumbling through diaper
changes and sleep deprivation....
And for mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers with out.

This is for you all.

Happy Mother’s Day! I love you!

Alright, alright!

Well, Dillon told me that I was lame for not posting often enough, so here I am, trying to appease the tall, skinny kid! P.S.- he can get his driver's license in 2 weeks and that freaks me out!

Hmm, a lot of the same old has been going on around here. Just trying to manage the chaos that is 2 puppies in one house along with a boyfriend who has a terrible case of cabin fever! The pups are getting along great, chasing each other relentlessly and having a great time. It's been decided that Hyside is probably going to be a big fella. His paws are actually as big as Kona's now, but I compared his current weight to Kona's weight at his age, and they're about the same. Maybe they'll end up the same size. I guess that it all depends on whether the lady that we rescued him from guessed his age correctly! We'll know when his teeth start falling out, I guess.

As for the stir-crazy boy, (or should I say old man?) he turned 30 yesterday, forcing me to consider a trade-in for a newer model. I decided to think about it for another year before I make any decisions... ;) He took the turning 30 thing pretty well, I'd say. Nothing like my father took it, apparently. Rumor has it that my mom had a little surprise party for my dad's 30th, complete with a casket in the living room and pretty much all of the schwag that you'd expect at a 40th party. Well, I guess that there were tons of people at the house waiting for my dad's 5:00 arrival and he never showed up! My mom got a call from him later. He took the whole birthday thing a little hard and decided to head straight to the bar after work for some drinks. I think that my mom finally sent one of his good friends (who was at the party) to go to the bar and convince him to come home. The casket and all of the black streamers and such didn't do much to cheer him up I bet! Funny stuff though! Well, back to K...the two of us got really dressed up and met up with another couple for sushi last night for a birthday dinner. The place is nowhere near fancy, as some sushi joints are, so that's why we felt the need to get so dressed up. K wore the infamous corduroy suit that used to belong to his grandfather, and I wore my cocktail dress and heels. People looked at us funny! Fun times and LOTS of fish! Mmm! We both ate way too much but managed to arrive home safely just before the food comas really took hold. A little birthday cake with chocolate frosting and the day was done.

As for me, I'm going through major river withdrawl, but am managing to get some quality "wet" time in. I took a ducky down the "Racecourse" section a couple of days ago and didn't even swim! Quite surprising considering that I don't think I've been in a ducky for at least 2 years! I'm really not sure how I pulled that off. Nobody but K had any idea what my skill level was, so I had 8 babysitters the whole way down the river. A good thing indeed, but interesting. They all made me a little nervous, to tell you the truth! Better safe than sorry, though. The river was amazing and I even managed to stay warm! I think I had on 4 layers! Guess that's the magic number. I'm always, always so darn cold! I'm blaming the diet...booo! I have a wetsuit and a long-sleeved hydroskin top on the way though, so I should be able to survive! I hope the doggy life jacket comes too, so that I can work on making the mutts into river dogs. I guess we'll wait to buy the other jacket when we have a better idea of how big Hyside will be...

Other than that, just watchin' for hummingbirds at the feeder and waitin' to hear back about the job that I interviewed for like 3 weeks ago. Should know by Friday. If all else fails, maybe I'll just guide all summer and figure out something else in the fall. Job market here=lame. Oh yeah, and we're going to Nebraska next week for Kevin's graduation! Should be good times!

Gotta work the night shift tonight, so I guess it's about nap time!
Life's pretty rough, as you can see!

Love!

My babies LOVE each other!
*Tear*