Floaters - Day 99 - 100

Not to jinx myself, but I'd say I have been pretty fortunate so far on this trip. I have had one small speeding ticket and one flat tire, but otherwise, not much has gone wrong. And it seems like everything keeps working out for the best. It's a bit dumbfounding how well things work out.

Well yesterday took "things working out well" to a new level. I had met bCollins on this trip while having an Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista in San Francisco about a month ago. He had said, "When you get to Portland look me up and I'll take you out on the river kayaking." so yesterday, that is what we did.

I arrived in Portland around 10 AM with an offering of beer. bCollins was at the ready and offered me back a hat from the outerwear company Janelle works at as "the office goddess". [Aside: Oddly, I am accumulating hats; I started the trip with one, and I now am toting 4. The 2 other additions are a purple Gamma fishing hat I won at the tourney and a leather cowboy hat from AZ].

I was accompanying bCollins and Janelle on their standard kayaking trip. They told me they "were going to be taking this float today with or without me, so they were glad to have a third along, and the second car helps also." This assuaged my concerns that I was asking these relative strangers to go far out of there way, and wondered why they called it a "float".

Shortly after my arrival at their abode, we had a beer and began to fully load up the trunk and back seat with equipment. There were 3 inflatable kayaks, two air pumps, one very large cooler and two smaller coolers. We were bringing a large quantity of yellow plastic, that would eventually turn into seat cushions, "dry" bags with an obvious purpose, extra-extra seat cushions, and some plastic we didn't seem use. We had 3 double-ended oars, 3 life preservers, three comfortable camping chairs, as well as about 3 bags filled with groceries and Tupperware. And yes, all of this and more was soon floating down the river with us.

Just as soon as we had gotten all this inflated, loaded and into the water, we pulled over. The original push off spot was still in sight and we had gone perhaps a football field in distance. Time for just a real quick break to open a beverage and readjust some of the equipment. When we again stopped about 15 minutes later, I began to realize that this was going to be as relaxing and enjoyable as being in a spa for the day. We could have kayaked the complete trip in 2 hours with little effort. But we idled as "floaters" for 8 hours going down the Clackamas river.

We stopped every few bends down the river. Sometimes it was to simply admire the scenery or for them to impart information about the area, other times it was just to use the facilities (a nearby tree). There were also the longer layovers where we pulled out some or all of the cargo for a picnic of fresh fruit or cheese and crackers, or "salty snacks" to accompany the Mirror Pond Pale Ale.

I should add that at nearly every one of these stops, trash in addition to what we created was picked up. bCollins and Janelle feel that because they enjoy the river so much they are responsible for helping keep it clean.

I must also add that bCollins and Janelle are excellent democrats. A few of the conversations vehemently turned to the "I" word. (Impeachment). As well as hopes that Al gore would eventually enter the race.

The floating itself was fantastic. You lean back on your comfy air filled seat cushions, with your

legs dangling over the pontoon sides. It was similar to sitting in a Lazy-boy recliners in full back position. Mostly, you just lie there drifting in the slow river currents, while taking in the flora and fauna. Every once in a while you come to a bend in the river where the water accelerates and you have to paddle a bit to keep from running aground. Capsizing could have happened, but only if you really weren't paying attention at all.

Also floating along were sparse groups of friendly tubers, rafters and other kayakers. Occasionally along the banks, there were picnics or kids awkardly diving off rope swings.

Most of the adventures I go on, which while they are extremely rewarding, also tend to be draining. This trip, however, was completely rejuvenating.

We followed this with a short drive to downtown Portland for a late feast off the under priced bar menu at McCormick and Schmick's, where the half-pound burger and fries go for $1.95. I then took them up on the overly generous offer of lodging for the night on their comfortable couch. This morning, bCollins broke out his scissors, gear and extensive skills and gave me a new modern coif. Hey, he's done Keanu Reeve's hair.

Thanks bCollins and Janelle for being better hosts than I could have possibly imagined. It's great when things work out so amazingly well!

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I am now checked into bro's luxurious hotel room. I plan to make ample use of the room and spa services, have him pick up the check on an expensive seafood dinner at Jake's Crawfish and generally run up his company charge card. (And yes, I know there are a few of you from his company who check in...Thanks for dinner! Cheers!)

I am not sure exactly when I will be able to post again. If you have read the comments from the last post, you know that Battlestar has started his journey across America to his new hometown, Seattle. Tonight he is in Chicago and will catch a Cubs game at Wrigley. Tomorrow we will both converge on Minneapolis, me on a flight out of Seattle where I will be leaving Pre with bGirl.

My 100th Day - Yea!!!