I wish I could say that I had been singing for hours and my throat was dry, but really my singing is just that bad. Yep I'm in the newest michaelpella.
Thursday, July 10, 2003 When he turned his right leg inward and bent the knee, we all knew what was next
Jeff was our guide the second day, July 6th. We found out the night before that anyone that went on a rafting trip that day was given a discount on the next day. So we signed up for the lower New River. As we sat on the bus waiting to leave the camp, we all saw them at the same time. Marc and Cal were looking lost as ever and trying to sign up for a trip or talk to someone, not really sure. But we thought the worst and figured that the delay must be them. Then just as hope began to fade, the group leader hopped on the bus and said “Sorry about the wait. Let’s go.”
Jeff introduced himself as Nathan, and then later as Jeff. So I never said his name because I was not sure which one was the joke. With our brave leader, ready to crack jokes and scream like a little girl at us, in the back of the raft we set off down river. The first half of the trip was a repeat of some of the first trip. It was during this time that we got to know our guide. He is a very funny guy, he’s going straight to Hell, but he is a very funny guy. Along with jokes he would do this bit. As a mentally handicapped person. His right foot would turn inward and the knee would bend just slightly, and that was when the yelling to the other rafts (and anyone else that would listen) would begin. He would yell out in a handicapped voice (don’t act like you don’t know what I mean), “they let me guide dah boat today”. Sometime there would be more, but usually he would just mumble and twitch. We are going to Hell too because we all laughed, every time.
Oh yeah and we did some rafting too. Whitewater, very scary. Nobody died; nobody was even thrown from the raft. I was thrown down into the floor of the raft once and Howard was knocked back into the floor of the raft once. I think everyone else made it through with out much incident. We’ll be doing that again. We just have to find out about the Gauley River for next time. Jeff might hook us up. Pictures will be provided soon thanks to Jonny.
Tuesday, July 08, 2003 Safari Charley and the two pricks from Connecticut.
Rafting Saturday the 5th of July, on the upper New River in West Virginia, proved to be more of a float trip then a whitewater adventure. Lucky for all of us in my group of friends we had the singing and story telling of a native to entertain us. He introduced himself as Safari Charley. Thin, red hair, and wearing tinted sports glasses, he would tell us tales of growing up in W.V., sing about a south bound railway train, describe the 4th of July party he was at the night before, and occasionally yell to his sweetie who was a guide on another raft or check on the watermelon which was strapped to the center of the raft wearing a helmet. There were so many stories and song that I know if I try to tell one it will just be a mix of all of them. What stood out was his love for “his girl”, drinkin, and the girls mud wrestling the night before. He did say wrestling not raslin.
Now and then Safari Charley would spot a bit of whitewater and we would paddle our way to it with the hopes a thrill. There was not much because the water lever was so high. So when the two pricks in the front of the raft would not pay attention of just decide to stop paddling, or they were both be so out of sync that it would hinder the rest of us from paddling, we including Safari Charley would get a little pissed. Why you say, because on a few occasions this meant we missed some of the little whitewater that was around. Marc and Kal (or Cal, Cale, Kale, not real sure because he mumbled) or Jackass and Mushmouth, came down to W.V. for a real white water adventure. Seeing as this was not happening today all they did was ask about when other parts of the river would be open to raft. Now I understand that they wanted to have more fun then a float trip and they paid good money just like myself, but the thing that got me was, Marc would ask the same question over and over again. I know he heard the answer each time because he would follow it up with a little bitching. But sure enough, later on (sometimes and hour later sometimes 5 minutes) he would ask again about the same part of the river. “Are we gonna do the Gauley (River) tomorrow? And Safari Charley would reply “They’ll know back at the office by the time we finish here and get there.” This jackass would not even change the question around he would just ask it over and over. By the end of the day when the jackass would ask we would all just start laughing.
Monday, July 07, 2003 Hi my names Laura and just wanted to introduce myself to people while I’m on my way to the bathroom.
She surprised me as she stuck out her hand for a hand shake, with the kind of confidence only Drunks and used car salesmen have. I did not rise out of my chair I just shook and replied with my name. Jonny was to my right so she went to him next, and just worked her was around our camp fire. She then told us her friend just called her “a horrrr”, but did not explain why. She did however tell us of how she drove 1 hour to find and buy a hooters “wife beater” shirt. Which she was wearing, and I think that it would have looked better on me than her. But then my friends might call me a horrrr. Sherry being the outgoing person she is, brought Laura into our conversation by asking if she believed in ghost. That confidence came out again in Laura’s tone as she replied “no but I do believe in demons. I was laughing too much to hear the rest of the short lived conversation. She stumbled off, but she remained as a reoccurring topic of conversation and question throughout the rest of the weekend. We heard that she had found friendship with one of the bouncers at the camp grounds bar. Yep, the camp ground had a bar.
July 4th Weekend in West Virginia Rafting the New River
I was at the Rivers rafting and camping resort for about 30 minutes when Jonny and his wife Elizabeth got there. We greeted each other and then it was down to business. We found a spot and setup camp. Once we where done with the three tents we the setup a cover kind of thing which was like a tent but with no sides. Basically a place to hide in the shade. A bit later Jenny (Jonny’s sister) and her friend Sherry (The two of them went to college together and were roommate for a few years and have been friends even since) got there and we all greeted each other and helped them unload stuff. Howard and Gwen (friends of Jonny and Beth's since Jonny and Beth met each other) came in shortly after that. The seven of us helped each other with any of the remaining set up.
Pitchin A Tent
Tents are labeled as 2-person, 3-person, 4-person and so on. I am not sure how big tent manufactures think people are but they are way off. My “2-person” could fit two children and that’s about it. I am not tall, but I had to lay diagonal in the thing. The Girls (Jenny and Sherry) shared a 3-person tent and I think the two of them fit just fine but a third would have been a bit much. So I resisted their sirens song and stayed in my own tent. Jonny and Beth have a 4-person and could not only stand up in it, but they fit a queen sized air mattress in it. Gwen and Howard had the biggest tent I had ever seen considers it was just the two of them. I don’t know how many people that tent was supposed to hold but going by the scale of my tent I’d say 10, which means it would fit 5. I think we could have stacked the tent inside one another like a Russian doll and Gwen and Howard’s tent would be the outer most tent. This was a long weekend and because nobody likes a long blog entry I’ll be tell the story of this weekend in parts.
Thursday, July 03, 2003 Didn’t the band Chicago do a song about this?
Ever run into someone you once dated or just knew and wanted to date? When you see them and they look good, and you don’t, or they are either doing something with their life or at least trying, and your stuck in the same place. Does it make it worse if you broke up with them or if they broke up with you? No I don’t think that matters as much, it could just be and extra kick in the balls. I ran into someone yesterday; you might have guessed that, and she was on her way to lunch with her mother and sister. We stopped and talked for a bit, but I spoke mostly to her mom. The girl really didn’t have much to say. I’d ask her about school and work blah blah blah… Then it hit me as she gave her short answers and kept urging her family to go. I LOOK GOOD! I LOOK DAMN GOOD! She didn’t look bad but she was disheveled. They caught me as I was about to drop off my application for a position that just came open in the library system. Her mom made a point of how “that position pays pretty well”, and how “that would be a great department to work in considering my major” (The mom remembered my major?), and then glanced at the girl. The glance said either the girl was not doing enough in the eyes of her mom or that maybe, just maybe, I’m the one that got away. Not really sure either way but there was a look of disappointment thrown from the mom to the daughter I used to date. I thought it best that I didn’t mention the 54 I got on my last Managerial Economics test.
