Rafting II

Aside from a few aches in my back and right hip, I feel surprisingly good today.

Thursday night Kay and I drove to Roanoke, VA and checked into the Hotel Roanoke, which is a very old hotel/lodge that was recently refurbished. It was cool given the surroundings. I had to work Friday so Kay ran and went shopping during the day. When I was done with work we got in the car and drove to Fayetteville, WV.

The drive to WV was uneventful except for a nasty tractor trailer accident that closed all lanes of traffic on the highway. The accident happened just before we got there, so emergency vehicles were arriving when we pulled up. A few trucks and cars in front of us were turning around and driving south down the northbound lane to a spot where they could get into the southbound lanes and drive around the accident. Kay simply said "oh boy" when I turned the Jeep around and drove down the grass median then cut across the highway and into the southbound lane. We followed some hillbilly through the back roads at break-neck speed on what turned out to be a great detour.

My GPS couldn't find the rafting company's address in Fayetteville. Actually, the GPS only had 10 streets on file for the whole town, so I did a little creative navigating (and lucky guessing) to find the site.

When we arrived at the rafting camp I finally got to meet Tony, who ran the office. I walked into the office and introduced myself and Kate to him. Tony and I spoke many times on the phone, but it was like he had never even heard of my name before when I said who I was. For reasons he would later affirm over and over, I gave Tony the nick name "Smart Tony". I incorrectly figured he was very busy. In fact, he was borderline retarded. To give you the visual, Tony was tall and skinny with a full-blown mullet and a thin mustache. He was wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt, Jams shorts (remember those), and old school Reebok high-tops with very tall white socks. After 3 minutes of excruciating chit chat I said "Tony, we had a hard time finding this place, our GPS didn't know the road, is there a landmark I can give my buddy who is on his way here?". Smart Tony let out a little chuckle and picked up a rock on his desk he was using as a paper weight and said "You can give him a rock.". I shot Kay a sideways glance, eyebrows scrunched, and said "What?". Smart Tony continued "Or, we sell t-shirts, you can get him one a them." I burst out laughing right in his face, I couldn't help it, "No, Tony, I need a landmark, a place I can tell my buddy to drive to, not a souvenir." Now Smart Tony was the one with the scrunched up eyebrows, he had no idea what I was talking about. I said "Thanks!" and Kay and I walked away. It was the first of many interactions we had with "locals" that weekend that would leave Kay and I in hysterics.

We set up camp and drove into "town" for dinner. Dinner at Gumbo's, a New Orleans Creole joint, was surprisingly quite good and very reasonably priced. If you ever find yourself hopelessly lost in West Virginia hills, and stumble upon Gumbo's, it's worth stopping. After dinner we met our friends at the campsite and drank until about 1am, then hit the tents. I woke at 3am to the sound of heavy rain hitting the roof of the tent, it sounded like we were sleeping in a snare drum. Honestly, I cannot recall a time I camped when it didn't rain. I actually expected it. I started cycling through all the things that may have been left outside that would be ruined by rain. "Cell phone? Uhhh, no, in my pants pocket in the tent. Flash lights? In the tent. I-pod? Nope, in the car. Wait, the car windows are open!" I ran out of the tent wearing only my dick and my diamonds and quickly closed the windows. I was outside maybe 25 seconds, but I was soaked from head to toe. Back in the tent I dried myself off with my t-shirt, the only thing I had that was dry, and got back under the covers of the air mattress. Kay almost flew through the top of the tent. "You're freezing! And soaked!". I don't think I said anything, I just pulled her in close to try and warm up. She stopped squirming after a few minutes and accepted the fact that she wasn't getting away. What can I say, this is what happens in West Virginia.

In the morning we signed our lives away, literally, on the rafting waiver and hopped in the rafts on the New River. The day started off cool and overcast, but it quickly warmed up and the clouds burned off. By 11am it was beautiful out and we took every opportunity we had to jump out of the raft to cool off in the river. The rafting went well except for one really hard hit. Most of us got tossed into the center of the raft and I smashed helmets with the guy sitting next to me. Kay was directly behind me, so when I got my bearings again I turned around to make sure she was OK, but she was gone. "This isn't good", I thought. I looked to my left, nothing. I looked to my right, and there, 30 feet from the raft was Kay, in the water, being swept down river in a fairly swift current. There wasn't much danger in that particular rapid so the guide turned the boat and Kay managed to swim out of of the current and towards the boat. I held out a paddle to her and she was back in within a few minutes. No biggie.

We were all exhausted Saturday night and went to bed fairly early. We woke up at 8am Sunday morning and all had a great breakfast at a place called Cathedral's in "downtown" Fayetteville on the recommendation of one of the river guides. I have three words for you: "Croissant French Toast".

On the drive home Kay and I talked a lot about past relationships. I learned that Kay has been in three serious relationships in the past twelve years, all back-to-back. Basically, she dated the same guy all through college, then one guys for seven strait years. She broke up with that dude when she met Martin, whom she immediately moved in with. She has been single since about March. I'm really growing to like her, but part of me can't help but think that she should probably get out into the market and date a little. I say this not because this is what I want her to do, but because I feel you really can't know what you want until you experience many different things. There has to be a part of her that wants to play the field and have a few wild years.

I'll have to wait and see what happens.