Rafting...

As I briefly touched upon in my last blog entry, I *think* I like rafting. And actually, after yesterday's trip down the South Fork of the Payette, I'm a bit more confident in my ability to say, "Yes, I like rafting."

So here's a little story for you...

Josh was a bit disappointed when he didn't get a permit to raft the Middle Fork of the Salmon this year, so when he found some guys on a forum about rafting stating that they were looking for an experienced rafter to go with them in June, he was nearly jumping up and down in his house. A few e-mails and phone calls later, it was set--we were going on a week-long trip with a bunch of guys we've never met before. Have you ever seen "The River Wild" cuz that's about how I was feeling--rafting with a bunch of guys I've never met and fearing that I'd be killed by them along the way.

Enter: Travis.

This guy was a riot yesterday. Josh and I had plans to go rafting down the South Fork of the Payette (a bit more adventurous than our last day trip down the Main Payette) and invited Travis to come along. Travis is a burley, curly and long-haired, bearded, aviation sunglasses-wearing 31 year-old who runs heavy equipment for a living. And he's a talker. After a few hours with the guy, I decided that this trip would be nothing like The River Wild, but rather a little more comedic. Here are some things I found out yesterday that made me a little more excited about the trip-

1. I'll be the only female (this shouldn't make me too excited, actually, but I'm happy that I won't be going with stranger-danger females who carry too much drama)
2. One of the guys who is going is a chef at Table Rock (a restaurant in Boise)
3. The other guys who are going don't know how to raft either
4. If the other guys are anywhere near as entertaining as Travis, this trip is going to be a hoot and a half!

Time frame:
Proposal due for grant-writing: June 1
Last day of work: June 7
Trip to the Lochsa (???) June 8 - 10 (this is a big maybe)
Put-in on the Middle Fork: June 11
Take-out from the Middle Fork: June 15
Home for a week-ish before heading out to another rafting trip with Josh's family...