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The water is getting lower here in Reno, and there are so many darn kids at the whitewater park,  I find myself reminiscing about some trips I took this year.  The first one was to Skook in BC, Canadia sometime in November.  

Neither Stephen or myself had ever been there, so after an hour long ferry ride, a two hour drive to the middle of nowhere, and a great night sleep in a treehouse cabin, we woke up in the dark to head down to the wave.   Imagine this, kayaking in the dark, on the ocean, fog all around, freezing cold, and not knowing when we might hit a huge rapid.    All of  sudden I see Stephen paddle his little BUTT OFF to the right side of the channel, I am not as fast, and still smack dab in the middle.  I look up just in time power right into TubeSteak, a huge wave in this tidal rapid, try my best to eddy out, however get stuck in the whirlpools of death.  Now I am tired.  

Now unfortunately, after this first day I came down with the cold of the century.  I felt like the walking dead for five days straight.  I tried drugs, juice, and even chocolate.  Nothing could cure the nastiness.  However, I got a couple surfs in, but also got some great pictures of Stephen, Ruth, and Judd.  

Skook is an amazingly beautiful place. Even when you aren’t surfing you can play with the sea lions and starfish.   There is also a two mile hike in through some of the most beautiful woods and rainforest.  The dogs were in heaven.    Plus the wave is always changing as the tide changes so even that is fun to watch.  I am not sure how busy it gets during the summer, but I would recommend this little patch of heaven to anyone!!!

I got a couple super awesome pictures of the dogs in colorado.  Can’t forget those.

I know. . . I know. . .  I get a little carried away with the dogs.  But at least they aren’t kids. 

Where did I leave off??  Oh yeah. . .  van is fixed and we are on our way to Salida for FIBark and Freestyle Nationals.  Vail was fun, but it took all my money.   Salida was better because we had the big red van.  I drank a lot of coffee at Bongo Billy’s and spent some time in the Salida hole, which has turned into a bit of a wave with all the water the Arkansas had.    I also had some time to get addicted to the PSP and crochet a couple of hats.  

The kayaking events were also fun.  They were short scribes for Pro Men and Women, so I got my first experience in scribing.  Not bad, it was something to do and I learned alot.  They sure do take those tricks seriously.   Stephen came out on top in prelims with a couple blunt mcnasty’s.  Then during finals he started out with a bang.  No one was able to beat he first score.  Therefore, for the 3rd year in a row he won Nationals!!!  YEAH BUDDY!!!!

Lastly. . . Don’t forget the Hooligans!!!

My trip to Colorado started with a text from Stephen. . . “Van died.  I am on it.”   Now what is that supposed to mean less than 12 hours before I am supposed to get on plane to live in the big red van for a week.  Well. . . what it meant was that the van stopped working thursday on Stephen’s way to the Homestake Creek Race.  Now being that this was thursday and no one seems to work on the weekend (can’t blame them, I don’t), the fuel filter that the van needed wasn’t going to get there until monday.  Which ended up being the fuel regulator, and we didn’t get out of Vail and the van wasn’t fixed until Wed.   So, we spent the first five days in Vail, CO sneaking Black Dog and Sera up the stairs in a hotel room.  Welcome to Colorado.

Now the kayaking part.   The Teva Mountain Games were super fun.  Saturday was spent watching the pro freestyle finals, making sure the dogs behaved, and taking lots of pictures.  Stephen came into finals first, however a stomach bug which included dry heaving and a case of the sharts, dropped all energy from him and he ended up fourth.  No worries, he was still the sexiest one out there.  Did I mention my hobbit loops bigger that your boyfriend?  Hee hee.   If you want the official results, I am sure if you search hard enough you can find them.

Sunday was the the 8 ball, and I have never seen anything like this before.  It was hilarious.  It is basically a boatercross with 4-8 large men in kayaks (8 balls) trying to prevent you from winning and trying to drown and kill you in the process.  The more blood the better.  It was awesome, Clay made the hole in Vail super sticky so there were several group surfs and people getting hit in the face all over the place.  Stephen and I were lucky enough to be the finish line judges so we had a front row seat for all the action.  I don’t remember who won.  I think it was the person with the biggest hospital bill. :-)

This isn’t the end of the story.  We got the van back from some really nice people on Wed, and headed out to Salida for FIBark and National Freestyle Championships.  More pics and stories to come.

I hate packing for trips.  I never know if I have everything, and I spend two days before I leave checking and rechecking my lists just to find out when I get to my destination that I forgot my toothbrush.  And usually deodorant.  But I guess when the plan is to live in a big red van for more than 10 days with nothing more than  a river bath here and there. . . who cares if I stink.   Stephen??  Naw. . . he doesn’t care.  I think the last time he showered was before he left my house.  (Was that too much information?)

Ok, what was I talking about.  Oh yeah, the trip.  I am almost packed.  And, what is the plan?  I arrive in Denver on friday.  Then I will bundle up in all my winter clothing for three days in Vail.  (Did I remember a hat and gloves?)  No worries, I am remembering my bull horn for cheering.  Then i am hoping for a couple days of testing out out the swollen rivers around Vail before heading to Salida and Buena Vista.  (I wonder if I have room for a hammock?)  A couple of runs on The Numbers, and it is a long drive back to Reno.  (Don’t forget the book on tape. . . van doesn’t have a CD player).

The best thing about planning for the trip and packing. . . knowing that in less than two days I get to be with Stephen and Sera and Black Dog and the Big Red Van.    YAY!!!!  

More to come. . . with pictures!!! (Promises. . . promises)

I thought while I was looking though my photos I would post some pics from Surfest last year.  It was a fun weekend of good friends, good food, and good drink.  And after we had already left. . . good costumes.  From what I know if it, this little get together happens every Nevada Day weekend on the coast for some ocean surfing.  (Oh yeah, in Nevada we have a day off to celebrate ourselves. Don’t be jealous.)  

Enjoy the pics!!!

After a rainy and cold weekend of laying around the house and hammock, I decided I needed to take the last day of memorial day weekend and make the most of it.  I called up the cousins, they had recently found out about a release on the Moklumne.  I was game.  Only a 2 and half hour drive.  And, I was fortunate enough to be graced with Toby’s presence so I had some great conversation on the way there and back.  (As well as on the river).

I was a little nervous on the way out there when we passed Kirkwood and discovered 3-4 inches of fresh snow over the pass.  Kayak or snowboard??   After a quick snowball fight we continued over the mountain and through the woods. . .  to the river.  

The river turned out to be super fun.  My first time.  The first three miles were continuous Class III fun.  The first run was myself, Toby, and Matt. We took our time and still only took us about an hour and a half.  We would come to a horizon line, guess which was the best line, and drop in.  Everything turned out great with a boat scout.  The fun really started with the last two rapids.  Two super fun class IV drops.   On the second run of the day, (myself, Toby, and Steph) we discovered that the last drop can be ran just about anywhere.  Steph went left, Toby right, and I somehow ended up backwards, yet upright, right in the middle.   The second run we bombed in just about 45 minutes.

Unfortunately I don’t have pictures from that weekend.  Toby took some snow pictures, but you will have to ask him for those.   I was too lazy and didn’t have Stephen around who always has a camera somewhere. It was also a great reminder to myself that I need to keep with americanwhitewater.org.  We have to thank them for helping to arrange the release.  Keep it up!!!  Don’t forget there are about three more Mok releases. . . then comes the Pit!!!