Rafting post 2: It kicked ass!

Here is installment two of my whitewater rafting trip on the Kennebec River in Maine. Here's the good stuff.

There is nothing quite like whitewater rafting in Maine. It was just amazing. After an intense ride through some class 4 rapids, there was a nice long drift where the scenery was just unbelievable. It's a tough workout followed by a nice and relaxing float down the river. So nice and I can't wait to do it again next year. I got to do this 2 days in a row, so I was in heaven. Rafting may be sneaking into my top 10 things to do on the planet earth.

Living in New Jersey, I had forgotten what stars look like. When the sun went down, the sky was awesome. I've never seen the Milky Way so clearly before. Absolutely no light pollution and just a beautiful sight. It was funny listening the the Jersey people trying to share their knowledge on constellations. I heard at least 3 people say they "found" Orion. Guess what, you can't see Orion in the summer, it's only visible late Fall and Winter. I made some people feel dumb about that one.

"Oh, you think you found Orion did you? Guess what, you're a moron."

(no, I didn't say it like that, but I should have).

I was on the crazy raft. It was full of 40-year-old guys who were just looking to get us killed. We did half of one of the rapids backwards on our raft. Dyl and I got vaulted out of the raft when our guide steered us into a rock. Still, it proved to be quite the exciting ride. I wouldn't have wanted to be on any other raft.

The rafting guide's wife winked at me and told me she liked my sweatshirt. She also tried to give my buddy Dyl a back rub. Hmmmmm.

Funniest quotes of the trip:

"This is how they do it in Norway." followed by "Am I bleeding yet?" (our rafting guide, Hans, while trying to open a bottle in his eye socket)

Overall, this was an amazing trip. It was intense and relaxing at the same time. It was just what I needed (which was to get away from NJ for a while). Now I'm back at work, with absolutly no motivation to do anything at all except write about rafting. Gotta love the government job.