Rain, rain, and more rain. It rained like it was monsoon season.
I thought we were in Seattle for the month leading up to the trip. Thursday
night before the trip was the hardest it had rained all year and all
the guys were calling me wondering if we were still going rafting in
this mess. I had my doubts, but I tried to keep a positive front to
the gang.
Aaron was just coming
off a 4th place finish at the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las
Vegas, so I knew it was going to be tough to match that week of excitement,
but I was going to give it the old college try. Friday came and we all
met at the hotel, and yes, it was raining. After checking into the hotel
we took the shuttle to dinner at River City.
Dinner
that Friday was a special experience because every guy stood up, there
were 17 of us, and said a few words about the group and their history, telling hilarious
stories that seem to all be described a little different than the actual
event. It was our own version of the Friars Club Roast.
Dinner closed and we moved over
to the night club where we had rented out a private room. The night closed with Texas Hold ‘Em
in the hotel room until 5:00am. 7:00am came
a little early and the tour guide had a little trouble peeling
us out of bed and into our cars for the trip into the mountains, but
in true form, I must admit that we rallied with pride.
The sea was angry my friends, and
cold, but the sky parted around noon and we had a great day of rafting
and football around the campsite. The morning rafting was pretty calm
so we all thought it would be a walk in the park, but the afternoon
turned out to be quite the opposite. Waves were high due to the rain
and heavy winter snowfall, but we all managed to stay in the boat.
After
rafting and some relaxing around the camp, we headed off to dinner to
watch the NCAA basketball semi-finals game. The game was pretty boring
as UCLA dominated LSU, but the scenery of the place was great as it
looked like we walked into a saloon from the old west.
The party moved over to a local
mountain bar where the townies were not prepared for these city slickers,
but after a while they could not help but join the festivities. The
night ended around the campfire, roasting marshmallows and camping under
the stars.
The weather held all weekend and
everyone had an experience to last forever and the video to prove it.
Dinner
that Friday was a special experience because every guy stood up, there
were 17 of us, and said a few words about the group and their history, telling hilarious
stories that seem to all be described a little different than the actual
event. It was our own version of the Friars Club Roast. 
After
rafting and some relaxing around the camp, we headed off to dinner to
watch the NCAA basketball semi-finals game. The game was pretty boring
as UCLA dominated LSU, but the scenery of the place was great as it
looked like we walked into a saloon from the old west.
