WORLD KAYAK TOUR

Back to Oz

2006-10-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

This has been an amazing trip, probably one of the most amazing trips I have been on as I have been able to experience a huge tour with many stops throughout. More of a dream than a tour, except with a whole more tiredness.

Things started off with a trip to Utah from North Carolina for the Outdoor retail show with the highlight being getting on the water with Esquif Canoes. Now O.R. knows how to throw some great parties. Free swag for all and then back to Asheville to get the bus ready.

The fun bus tour started from Asheville heading north to the Ottawa. A few stops on the way including the Potomac river, Washington DC and the Black river NY. By far one of the highlights was passing by Thule, one of our sponsors and meeting the folks there. Our bus got bigger, stronger and more powerful from this stop due to the racks that Thule hooked us up with.

A quick move to the Ottawa and we met up with the rest of the Jackson Kayak Team. Garb was in full operation, big and meaty but with huge 15 minute lines waiting to get in the hole. World cup one was all about getting big air.

A relatively short drive across the boarder to New York and we continued the tour with the Blackwater Challenge. The town went all out and showed us that they wanted us there. A great hole feature this time with big air loops and cartwheels.

Next up was a bunch of driving south to the Yaugh river, technically demanding and a classic creeking river, followed by a day on the New River West Virginia. Paddling with Clay and the team in WV, every river becomes more of a story than just a notch on your belt.

Onwards to the Charlotte whitewater park, a river that is not for beginners and a bunch of fun.

World cup number three at Rock Island, where the parties were awesome and the location spectacular. This time a hole/wave feature was on the cards, with a huge range of moves being able to be completed.

Then on to Gauley Festival where it rained a bunch however the river was awesome, big, and fun. I have never seen a river as packed as it was on Gauley Saturday. Finally on to the Jackson Kayak team week at Rock Island where I learnt a great deal both on and off the water thanks to the senior team inclusive of EJ.

So there it is. A whole lot of fun packed into a small amount of time. If only I could do this every day. With a second place in OC1 overall and a first at Rock Island, competition was by far a whole lot of fun against my good friend Eli Helbert. C1 I realized that I can make a go out of this, getting third in my prelims on the Black. Not bad after just three months in a C1.

This was a tour I will never forget and I could not ask for a better summer. Now it’s back to work and once again dreaming of getting back out on the road.

Rideout said it a whole lot better than I can.

“The past 55 days have taught me that life is short, we are not promised another day. Go out, and do what you love. Treat those who are important to you the best you can. Make the most every situation. Don’t forget the people and experiences that make you who you are. If an opportunity comes available, take it who knows where you might end up!”

Thanks for the tour Rideout.

jez

The End...

2006-10-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

Early Saturday morning I dropped Jez off at the Nashville International Airport. Unfortunately our grand adventure has come to an end.
We spent 55 days on the road traveling together all across the U.S. and Canada. We visited 2 countries, 1 District, 1 Royal Province, 21 states, and countless Pilot Truck Stops. We drove 10,132 miles!
Jez landed in Sydney at 6:00 am on Monday and started back to work with the police force 4 hours later at 10:00 am. He is crazy! This is a man who truly loves to travel, paddle, and seek adventure.
I am returning to Murfreesboro to spend the fall paddling our beautiful southeastern rivers, and spend time with family and friends. The adventure is far from over. After I dropped Jez off at the airport I led a weekend trip to the Ocoee River for MTSU Campus Recreation.

The past 55 days have taught me that life is short, we are not promised another day. Go out, and do what you love. Treat those who are important to you the best you can. Make the most every situation. Don’t forget the people and experiences that make you who you are. If an opportunity comes available, take it who knows where you might end up!

Rideout

Gauley Fest

2006-09-22T17:55:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the lack of posts this week, it’s been very busy with rivers, promoting and the like. We drove up to the Gauley Festival where there will be thousands of boaters checking out boats, gear and our rig is right in the center of the field. The Jackson crew has already taken on the New River and hucked off a few waterfalls prior to getting up here. You will have to check out the pictures to believe some of the drops we took on.

We also me up with Tim and Henry from Florida who we threw some promo stuff at and will for certain come to Camp Arrowhead next year.

The weather has been far from great. Unfortunately the first day and night of Gauley has been cold wet and stormy. Today we fired up the Lower Gauley which was quite fun to say the least, so I can’t imagine what the upper will be like. The new JK Fun boats were turning heads and we also took the Mega Rocker on it’s inaugural run. This is going to be an amazing multi day boat that’s for sure.

See you on the Gauley.

jez

Pictures from Rock Island Tennessee

2006-09-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the event. This is my home playspot, where I learned to paddle. It was great to see so many of my friends and family at the event.

Live from Murfreesboro,
Rideout

New River Gorge Put-in Video

2006-09-18T17:17:00.000-07:00


As promised, some video of our fuun times at the put-in for the New River Gorge.

This park was a blast.

If the video does not work follow this link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8652043480776726551&q=new+river+gorge

Rideout

World Cup # three, and the tour continues.

2006-09-18T16:16:00.000-07:00

We traveled over the state line to Rock Island Tennessee for World Cup number three. This is a spectacular place to have a world cup and one of the most prettiest places for a feature. Unfortunately due to the drought that the South East has been going through, water for training has been a bit of a problem. We only got a 45 minute practice which converted to about five practice rides. One of the least amount of practice time I have ever seen for a competition. The only good thing about this was everyone was on the same page.

Day one was Junior prelims, practice on the water and a meal provided by the local truck stop-Bino’s.

Day two started off with a Jackson Kayak demo down at the lake. This was a whole lot bigger than I expected as at one time there were 70 people down there either in boats, looking at boats or talking about boats. I spent a great deal of time with a few people helping them double pump boats and also got a few new kids into boats for their first paddling experience, John and Robert. The rest of the afternoon was spent on the water with the men’s and women’s preliminaries with everyone not scoring very big scores and people still getting used to the feature. That night was the best party of the World Cup thanks to the sponsors Jack Daniels, Red Bull and Jackson Kayak. The party was held at the Jackson Kayak Plant where Elvis made an appearance and I can guarantee this….Elvis is most certainty not dead!

Day Three was the finals including Men’s and Women’s K1, C1, OC1 and Squirt. Some huge runs were thrown down by Clay Wright which threw him up to the top of the standings. C1, Guillaume once again showed how to paddle with one blade while Nick took out the Juniors and Tanya in the women’s. Sure it’s not on top billing but OC1 was quite a spectacle with the biggest rides of the world cup being thrown down. Eli and I tied for the best ride with some clean’s and split wheels. It came down to the judges looking back at the previous rides to determine the winner which meant I just nosed in front of Eli for the win, although my congrats go to Eli for winning the World Cup.

No surprises in the Men’s K1 with all Jackson Boaters taking the top placings and E.J. continuing his domination.

That night turned into a party at the Fog light with presentations and speeches. A big thanks to all the organizers, Judges, Scribes, Volunteers, helpers and everyone else that played a part in the 2006 World Cup.

Thanks to the support from all my mates who turned up to wish me well including the Burgess family. I hope you had an awesome time and I appreciate your support.

Congrats to the following World Cup Winners:

Men’s Pro
Eric Jackson- USA
Stephen Wright- USA
Clay Wright- USA

Junior Women
Sara Hunter -USA
Noria Newman- France
Alexandra Shallhorn- Canada

Women’s Pro
Tanya Faux- Australia
Emily Jackson- USA
Ruth Gordon- Canada

Junior Men
Nick Troutman- Canada
Dane Jackson- USA
Sam Sutton- New Zealand

C-1
Guillaume La Rue- Canada
Seth Chapelle- USA
Joe Stumpfel- USA

OC-1
Eli Helbert- USA
Jez Blanchard-Australia
Jeremy Lauks- USA
Dooley Tombras- USA

Squirt women
Devon- USA
Valerie Bertrand- Canada
Kim Gauthier- Canada

Squirt men
Koyo Morita- Japan
Jeremy Lauks- USA
Matt McGuire- Canada

Now for those that think that the World Tour is over, I regret to inform you that you are mistaken. That’s right we are still on tour and will be on tour for the next few weeks. Gauley Festival is this weekend and Team week follows. So there is a bunch of fun to be had that’s for sure and I can’t wait to see how intense Gauley. I hope all the hype and stories are true.

As for right now, some of the folk are going out wake boarding, some going to the rope swing and some cruzing the internet taking a break. This is officially team wind down day!

Stay tuned for some pictures from Mat.

jez

Pistop at Arrowhead

2006-09-18T06:31:00.000-07:00

A Update from Jeremy at Camp...

I have been holding down the fort at camp for the past few weeks, answering the phones, composing the next leg of home shows and college staff recruitment, etc. In my time here among the beauty of Camp Arrowhead I have been almost isolated and though to many this would seem a torture it, for me, has been a great time of reflection and communication with staff. Many of the staff are back in school and enjoying the post summer reclaiming their relationships on their respective campus and getting back into the swing of classes. David Swanson, aka Swamp Donkey, emailed to thank me for introducing him to a game that I taught during staff training. He stated that in his sociology class the professor offered extra credit if anyone could figure out the secret to the game…needless to say Swamp Donkey got the credit and fame! It’s interactions like the one with “Swampy” that make me grateful for such a great staff this summer.

So, it was AWESOME to see Rideout and Jez this week when they rolled into camp! The energy that they had and the stories they told were very fun to hear. They are on a great adventure and I must say that I am very, very jealous. As Jez would say, he and Rideout are “great mates” to see once again. In addition they brought with them the entire Jackson Kayak team. I got to catch up with Dane and meet the rest of the crew…a great team of people to travel the country alongside. Thinking of the skill and world class talent that is on the team made me want to ask for more tips and “can you help me with my roll,” but I refrained from looking like a dork.

The crew rolled out after making the day more enjoyable for me and Rideout and I got to chat some more. It was great to sit and chat with my friend and hear of his adventures and we made the promise to go paddling after the tour was over. Guess I better work on my donkey flips and cartwheels…Ha, I’m trying to catch on to the lingo.

Anywho, life is too short to sit idle and watch the grass grow. Congrats to Rideout and Jez for taking this adventure on and going for their dreams. Good luck to them on the rest of the comp’s and thanks for the friendships.

From camp…Jerm

Charlotte Whitewater

2006-09-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

A huge road trip to say the least. Yesterday we booked it to Charlotte Whitewater center, a huge haul from the New River. We trucked there and got to it late in the afternoon. We met up with Christina, a good friend who hooked us up. We all got on the river, yelling and hooting about. The first run set us up for the afternoon. It’s quite pushy water and we took on the competition channel. This is not for beginners. This center is quite challenging, and at the end of the competition channel there is a huge 7 foot drop. We were blown away at how technical a man made river can be. One hour on the river was enough for some, as they got off the river they were saying…whoa.
The M-wave is changing, a little shallow right now but from what we hear it will be a whole lot better as they tweak it up.
Devon commented that this was Penrith on steroids (Penrith being a man made river in Sydney Australia)
I really was blown away at how big the center is. It’s huge. Quoting Garrett from the center, “Up to 3800 CFS of water pumping out of the turbines”. I mean even the grade two section converses into a huge big water channel. We were done at the end of the day, we were very very much done. Tired, happy and sore. Every paddler has to go there once in their life.
That night we drove on to camp and crashed very hard at Camp Arrowhead. A comfortable bed, a hot shower and breakfast courtesy of Starr Teel. Currently we are working on the trailer, of which the ball bearing broke off somehow. Charles noticed it just before we left, and he has been helping us out. Thanks a bunch Charles for your help, we appreciate it. We also met up with Jeremy and Danny from Camp who are working tirelessly being very jealous of our antics. It’s always good to catch up with great mates like them.
We hopefully will be bussing off to Rock Island very soon. Thank god we are back in the south east. Speaking of which, we ate last night at Cracker Barrel and the internationals were impressed with the accents in the South. It was weird trying to interpret all the different nationalities with their food requests.
See you on the road.
jez

Fayetteville, WV

2006-09-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

The New River is beautiful. Our crew made it to the river without incident.

The put-in is awesome; it’s a slide down 56 stairs on to a concrete slide into the river. When you hit the water you have enough speed to get a big pop for air screws, backstabs, blunts, and pistol flips. Check out the pictures, it was definitely tons of fun. So much so, that we camped at the put-in and ran it this morning for 2 hours, videos coming soon.

The river is fun, big rapids with flat water stretches in between. The New runs through a beautiful gorge and under the Western Hemisphere’s Largest Suspension bridge. The water is warm and the waves are big, fun times.

I love my job, its fun to just drive around and paddle everyday.

We are headed to Charlotte to the U.S. National Whitewater Center this afternoon for some more boating.

Rideout

Upper Youghiogheny

2006-09-12T06:35:00.000-07:00

We drove until 4:00 am this morning to reach the Upper Youghiogheny in Friendsville, Maryland. The caravan drove tirelessly through the night to reach this classic northeast run.

While in Friendsville, we visited John’s company Mt. Surf. They make the best spray skirts you can buy. It was fun watching the master craftsman makes skirts. It is hard to imagine how many different styles and sizes of skirts they make, there was neoprene everywhere!

We paddled the river with nearly 30 people this morning; most of them were not from the U.S. It was crazy to paddle with a group this large, on such a tight and technical run. We had a blast. Only Clay and Stephan knew the lines. The first few in the line would follow them, but after them it was mass chaos because the rest of us would run where we guessed we were supposed.

Twenty seven of us went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Dinner was filled with explanations of Mexican food, and hot sauce dares. Pikey from England won the craziest bet when he drank 2 bottles of hot sauce straight into his mouth.

Tonight we are headed to the New River in West Virginia for some more paddling.
Goodnight from the road.
Rideout

Blackwater Challenge

2006-09-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Blackwater event was originally going to be held at route three wave in Watertown. Unfortunately due to some dam release issues it was not in and therefore held at hole brothers, a feature I had been at a few weeks ago playing in. I loved this feature as it was just like a wave at Penrith called Jacks.
In the men’s K1 E.J. looked very much at home on this feature throwing all the big pointer moves in 45 seconds. Easy to see why he is the current world champion throwing some huge moves all day long. Brian Kirk went big getting third while Andrew Holcombe stayed in the feature when it counted getting second place.
I was originally placed 3rd in C1 and only a few points from the lead, so I was able to get many big moves out placing some of my heroes. Unfortunately in the finals my head was not in the game and I could not stick any of my big ariel moves and slipped down to fifth. As for OC1 another third was on the cards for me. I was trying very hard to loop the Salsa like I did in training, however again just like the C1 finals, I flushed more times than I would have liked.
As for the juniors Dane tore it up as usual winning this event.
A whole lot of effort went into this event and the town of Watertown is amazing at getting behind the kayakers. Thanks to the town and all that helped out for the event.
http://www.blackwaterchallenge.net

The Caravan is moving out!

2006-09-10T17:37:00.000-07:00

We are on the road again. We have 4 vehicles, 1 trailer, 24 boats, 13 people. and lots of gear in our caravan. We just stopped for gas and snacks. Tonight we are headed to Friendsville, Maryland to paddle the upper Yough. It wil be fun.

Gotta Roll,
rideout

Black Water Challenge Day 1

2006-09-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

Today’s competition went very well for Jez, and the rest of the Jackson kayak team. The Day started off warm, but quickly cooled off as the day passed. By mid-afternoon the temps were in the mid-fifties and drizzling. The weather didn’t dampen our spirits any, we had a great time. Jez claims it was the coldest day he has experienced in years!

Jez took 5th in the prelims for C-1 and either first or second in OC-1. Emily and Ruth qualified for women, while EJ, Stephan, Clay, Jay in Pro Men. Also, Nick, Dane, and Jason qualified for junior men. Not to shabby! More results and stories will come tomorrow after finals. Check out Stephan Wright’s massive air!

We also met Bradley and Mike Meyer's aunt who lives in Watertown,she was very excited to see us and take our picture.

Tonight we are going to bed early.
Rideout

Another Eventful Day in Watertown

2006-09-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

This little town is packed to gills with kayakers from around the globe. Everywhere you drive around town; there are boaters with boats strapped to the tops of their cars. Watertown locals love us, everywhere we go, and the folks are very enthusiastic about having us here.

Jez, Nick, Jason, and I got really bored this morning and went to the mall, since there was no water. Jez got his ears lowered, and then we went of rambling around the mall. We made Jason try on costumes (Check out his dragon suit!), after he tried on a couple we settled on a monkey suit for him. He is going to where it during his competition tomorrow.

After shopping, we got word there was water, so we headed to Hole brothers for a session. It is so crowded; I took me 90 minutes to get 5 rides. At one point I counted 32 people in the eddy.

Time for Opening Ceremonies,
Rideout

Opening ceremony is tonight

2006-09-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

Last night was the party for international athletes down at the fairground campsite which was quite fun. All the athletes from around the world having fun, kicking back with a barbeque and some tunes. It’s crazy to see everyone here from around the world but it really is a great vibe. We have heard that there are a few television crews that are making the journey to capture this event which is quite a treat. From what I hear OLM (cable) and a few others will be here.

Right now I am sitting with about six other people with laptops at what we refer to as the internet Kiosk (an area of our campsite that we can get free wireless)

The opening ceremony is tonight which should be fun, but from then on is where we will get stuck into it. As we have mentioned it is very difficult to get moves on this feature, you really have to work for every move. It is testing us all that’s for sure.

The hydro plant here has been causing some hassles; yesterday the wave was not in all day so no one could practice on it at all. This caused a few frustrated paddlers to go to hole brothers, a short five minute drive.

As you can see we have worked out how to link video to the webpage so we will do our best to throw up more.

jez

World Cup #1 at the Ottawa River

2006-09-07T10:05:00.000-07:00


Video coverage of the C-1, OC-1, and K-1 competition

Kayaking Video from Camp Arrowhead 2006

2006-09-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a little video from the summer. Check it out, and let us know if you want more!

If it does not work click on the address below

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2930495282621509741&hl=en

More from Watertown

2006-09-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

Hey mate. We are here at the Black River Watertown and we have taken over Tommy Gun’s field. It’s an interesting place here where the locals really love kayakers. The town is trying to go through some rejuvenation and paddlers coming to Watertown bring in the tourist dollar for them so they are very happy to see us here. The Jackson crew is camping in a field that is only a short walk to the wave which is key indeed as the rest of the competitors are a 10 min drive from here. Last night we all went out to dinner for Mario’s birthday. Congratulations Mario from Costa Rica who turned 32 yesterday, and still kicking on strong.

A few of us went to hole brothers yesterday and had a little fun down there, another great play spot in Watertown.

We have aslo given a few really bad haircuts.

As I sit here I see no clouds in the sky and my only concern currently is to paddle or not. This is the life.

Jez

Journey to New York (by Nick Troutman, Team Jackson Kayak)

2006-09-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

Hey the Jackson team has finally made it to the Black river in New York. It only took a couple hours drive, including a 45 minute stop at the boarder, and finally a quick hitchhike for more gas, once the bus ran out.

Now that we are finally here, the team has started to rip up the great feature crowned the route 3 wave. It is an awesome little wave, being around 4 feet tall, with a super green shoulder that gives opportunity to launch into the air.

This morning Eric and I went for a session and for an hour and a half it was just the two of us, which made it possible to try new moves without worrying about waiting in line.

If the Jackson team keeps on competing like they have been, there will probably be another handful of team paddlers on the podium.

Check back later for more pictures and updates from New York.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Nick

Send JEZ Instructions!

2006-09-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

Last night, I was updating the blog when some cool Canadians came and checked out our bus. Here is a shout out to our new mates in Pembroke, Ontario. We wrote down there names on a sheet of paper, but I lost it. So we will made up Swiss German names for them; Gunter, Adelheid, Jutta, Ingrit, Clara.

New York we have arrived. The team finished our packing this morning and rolled out of the bug filled air of the Ottawa Valley. The Ottawa was sweet. We have so much gear! Big thanks for the rack and for THULE helping us manage massive amounts of GEAR. We passed through customs surprisingly easy; it took us only about 45 minutes. Not to bad for a bus registered in NC, driven by a Tennessean filled with foreigners, eh.

One last tidbit, Jez does not know how to read a gas gauge. We ran out of gas after he was repeatedly asked by several different nationalities if we had enough gas. So send him an email and leave him instructions on how to read the gas gauge in a GMC bus.

Goodnight from NY,
Rideout

Bye Bye Ottawa

2006-09-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day of the mighty Ottawa. The past 10 days have been awesome. We have paddled nearly 100 hours at Garb, and made great friendships with some of the best paddlers in the world.
Today we ran the river for the first time; it is a beautiful run with some big rapids. The Ottawa is low; I cannot even begin to imagine it in spring at high flows. The rest of the day we have spent packing our gear and finding our belongings mixed in with about 15 other kayakers. The farmhouse has been awesome; there have been many fun times. We have also had some 4 legged mates, Target, Roxy, and Flow ( Target and Roxy are the Jackson’s Dalmatians, and Flow is Clay’s Lab).

Tonight we are in Pembroke, Ontario. We went out to dinner with the Swiss guys, Lucas and Sandro, they are hilarious. We went out for pizza, and pop ( a luxurious commodity in rural Canada).

I have learned several things about Canada. First the pros, big rivers and huge waves, wide open spaces, beautiful sunsets, and warm friendly people. However, they do say EH, way to much, their milk comes in a bag, ad there are more bugs than you can shake a stick at. I am looking forward to being back in the states.

New York here we come!
Rideout

World Cup Event #1 is over

2006-09-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Well it’s really been an awesome time here. This river really is amazing and has some great features that’s for sure. A few days before competition I showed Dane Jackson how to convert his boat to a C1 and gave him some tips. This was such a big mistake as he took out third in the C1 class after two days in a C1. Bugger. Well I am sure we will see some ridiculous things from him as he gets older.

As for the OC1 class, we have been struggling in this feature however had a great time trying. Competition was very close and very difficult to score anything. I will settle with third up here. We just finished the award ceremony which was very cool indeed and the first time I have been up on a podium in a world competition. Again, very cool indeed.

The men’s pro was a spectacle, with our good friend Steven Wright taking the win. Big names and great mates Eric Jackson, Jay Kincaid and Anthony Yapp were throwing some amazing rides thought the week however were knocked out in the Semi finals. An eye opener that’s for sure. Also congratulations to fellow Australian Tanya Faux who won the females competition.

We will probably go for a paddle tomorrow with all the team including the Jackson fam, two mates from Switzerland, Devon Barker and the Wrights. Not a bad crew to go boating with. After that we will pack up, clean up and move the team down to the Black River. Then the plan will be Rock Island and Gauly. Quite possibly a few more stops on route as well. Speaking of the Switzerland guys, they are crazy fun people to boat with and I just found out they also have a very similar blog site. Check it out at http://www.kayak-worldcup.blogspot.com

Everyone is talking up next years competition on Bus Eater which will come into flow in Spring. From all the footage I have seen and the hype that comes with it, I will be looking forward to just surfing that thing, yet alone competing on it.

It has been a great week, and a whole lot more great things to come.

Competition Heats Up!

2006-09-02T16:19:00.000-07:00

Day 2 of the World Cup, and the Ottawa is packed. The day started with an early wake up time and hours of comps at Garb. Jez brought home 3rd in OC-1 Category! More pictures and details to come.

Rideout

World Cup Day 1

2006-09-01T18:15:00.000-07:00

It’s what you been asking for…daily updates and photos. The pictures are from this morning’s session. Everyone here is starting to get pumped up for prelims tomorrow. There are people everywhere. The farmhouse is filling up, the eddies are full of boaters, and Garberator is packed, things at the Ottawa are starting to heat up. It is awesome.

I went out this afternoon and paddled by myself (not what I was planning on doing, but the others I was supposed to meet did not show up and I got dropped off at the put-in). I realize it is not safe, but it gave me some time to think. I am so lucky to have this opportunity! I would like to thank my family and friends for supporting me, and our sponsors for making all this happen. My absolute favorite thing to do in the whole world is paddle, and I have the opportunity to paddle many of the best features in North America. I can honestly say that I am doing my best to be on the water as much as possible. I am surrounded by great new friends who also happen to be the best paddlers in the world.

I have learned something this summer. Life is short and we are not promised another day, go out have fun and make everyday count. God’s creation is beautiful, enjoy it!

Time for another evening session!
Rideout

The World Cup Starts Tomorrow

2006-09-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the start of competition. Being from Australia, I have never seen so many boaters in one place at one time. Garb is great, I got in it K1 yesterday and managed to do more things than I have ever before. It was a little confidence booster as prior I have been flushing more times than catching the wave. The OC1 is struggling right now, leaking a bunch so I will have to fix it up before tomorrow. As for the vibe here it is pumping. You would not believe how cool it is to paddle with the world’s best every day. Today is a rest day for me, and while I rest up for tomorrow Matt is on the water going big.

Garb is in the middle of nowhere. It is beautiful and spectacular at the same time. A walk in from the road, over some rocks and you hear the awesome crashing sound of the whitewater. When you do get there you usually see a huge line of boaters waiting in the eddy. This does get frustrating at times when it takes sometimes up to 15 mins to get back on the wave.

Last night was a long session indeed. I paddled till the moon came up which was quite an experience for me. I have never boated in the dark, but something I will remember for a long time. The organizers have a generator set up so boaters train till the early hours getting as much time on the water as possible. Last night I heard that there were a bunch of boaters still out there at 2am. Now I like boating probably more than the next guy, but wow, that’s late, especially considering how cold it gets here in the night. Which brings me to another point. The weather up here is crazy. Canada can be ridiculously hot one day, perfect for paddling, and that night it will get to freezing temperature and you struggle to walk outside yet alone go paddling. I mean what kind of a crazy country is this? Last night I got off the water and I was afraid that I would get icicles on my gear. Also I know we have mentioned it before but the bugs here are everywhere. Some days I struggle to get a breath in without a mouth full of protein. However in saying all this, I would not rather be anywhere else in the world right now.

We are staying with the Jackson Kayak team and have made some good friends with the Swizerland paddlers. They go big on the water but struggle to understand a word you say. Very funny to be around. The X-box has also had a work out the past few days. Nothing better than a bit of gaming to relax and get ready for your next session, even though the juniors usually beat everyone.

I think I made one of the biggest mistakes showing Dane Jackson and Nick Troutman how to paddle C1. They are ripping it up already and will be interesting to see in competition. However after their rides, they usually take a few rolls to get back up. We have started a bet to see which one will swim first.

As for pictures, right now we are getting our internet from Wilderness Tours who provide it free however the bandwidth is horrible. We will try to get some pictures up as soon as we can.

Thanks for the comments guys, we will try to keep updating as much as we can.

jez

Almost Heaven... Ottawa

2006-08-31T19:16:00.000-07:00

I love the Ottawa! The past 6 days could not have been better, I love the Ottawa. The farmhouse is full of the best paddlers in the world. Big Congratulations to our good mate Nick Troutmen, for winning the Canadian team trials.

I am starting to figure out Garb, my rides are getting longer, and my tricks are getting bigger. This is very good. We have been spending nearly 6 or 7 hours there a day. Hopefully we can get some pictures in the morning, it is hard to set on the bank and photograph when one of the best surfing waves in the world is right in front of you.

Jez has been practicing in his Esquif Salsa; it is amazing to what an open canoe can do. He is also trying to convince the world that C-1 is the way to go. So far he has gotten Dane Jackson in a C-1, and I just passed Nick walking to the put-in with Jez’s All-Star C-1. I think Dane is going to compete in Men’s Pro C-1 in the World Cup this weekend.

Check out the sunset, time to go for an evening session!
Rideout

Garb, Canada team trials and more

2006-08-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

A few days into our Ottawa experience and we are loving it. The river is huge, the biggest thing I have ever seen. The wave that the competition is on is no different. Huge to say the least. Bouncy, foamy and flushy all in one. Day one of my Garb experience was just about trying to get on the bloody thing. Clay Wright gave me a few tips and now I can at least surf it. I managed to get a few roundhouses and back stabs but still can not say I understand this wave.

As for the people here, they are awesome. All the best paddlers in the world are here and long time friends as well. It’s also great to see all the same faces I have seen over the past few years for the world competitions in Australia here. I met my good buddy Yappa yesterday, great to see him on the water throwing real big things out there. It was kind of weird to hear him throw in an “eh” a couple of times. That’s messed up.

Again I think how great our position is, having an awesome rig and staying real close to the wave, so close you can hear the water out the back door. In saying this, because the river is so big, it takes about 20 minutes to paddle up to the wave but I’m not complaining. It makes for a great warm up.

Yesterday afternoon I taught the Jackson Team how to play one of my favorite card games, assassins while Matt went out for another session.

Right now we are sitting at Wilderness Tours over looking the river, even though it looks more like a lake due to the size of it.

Right now the Canada team trials are happening, we watched for quite a while and saw some huge moves being pulled off. I have a feeling that Pat Camblin may be tough to beat. As for the C boaters, my good mate Paul Danks flew through and may be lending me his Open Boat for the weekend. Awesome!

Eli Helbert, one of our best mates is up here and always a good chat. We saw him on the water for the first time yesterday and he looks quite intimidating with a full cut helmet, sunglasses and the biggest beard of any competitor. Just stay away from him while he’s on the water though, I hear he has a mean left jab.

Anyway thanks guys for all the comments, they make for some great reading.

jez

A Quick note.

2006-08-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

One more thought, I cannot think of anything better to do on the first day of school than surf GARB!

Ottawa !!!!

2006-08-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Ottawa is INCREDIBLE! We have spent the past two days paddling our hearts out. Most of our time has been spent on the water. When we haven’t been boating, the remaining time of the day is filled with eating and sleeping. This is the life; eat, sleep, paddle. The water is warm and the people are even friendlier, eh. The river is not as crowded as we expected. There is a contingent of boaters who train at 5:00 am and at 9:00 pm. This helps to keep the line down at Garb during the day. It is really cool to be sitting in the eddy and hear 8 or 9 different languages being spoken. We are surrounded by the best paddlers in the world; it is amazing to see all this talent in one place. Garb is the biggest and fastest wave that we have ever surfed. The pictures do not do it justice.
The Ottawa is in the middle of a very rural area, the picture of Jez walking through a bean field, is us on the way to put in from the house. It is absolutely beautiful here, I cannot believe it has taken me this long to get up here. I must say that it is more green here than in North Carolina.

Last night we went to dinner with Devon Barker, she is awesome. I have learned one thing in Canada, Wal-Mart close at 9:00 pm on weekdays and at 5:00 on Sundays. We have made two trips to town, and gotten there after Wal-Mart closed both times. Oh well, we will try again tonight.
One last note, Welcome THULE Road trip bloggers! Check us out on THULE’S website… http://thuleroadtrip.blogspot.com/ !

Off to the river,
Rideout

Technical Difficulties

2006-08-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

In order to view the most up to date blog page make sure to refresh the page once it is open.

Good Luck,
Rideout

One quick thing I would like to add before we sign off for the day. We get a stack of hits every day and yet we only have a few comments posted. What is this so? At least let us know you stopped by our site. Take care guys and see you on the water.

jez in Canada eh

Ottawa, we have arrived!

2006-08-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

This morning we got early, to 20 steps and got in the river for a practice session before everyone else was up, it was perfect. After 2 hours of Hole Brothers, we decided to pack things up and head towards the Ottawa. We had 4 hours of driving and customs to deal with, which went surprisingly smooth. Jez was slightly worried about getting the bus and himself across the border because we heard that they were giving other boaters a hard time. Luckily all went well and we made it through customs in about 3 minutes, it was great.

Canada, eh? We made it across the border late this afternoon, eh. Canada is a beautiful place with billions of insects and really big waves, eh. Everyone in Canada finishes every sentence with, eh. We found the Jackson crew, they have the closest place to Garberator (the wave where the competition will be held), eh. We met up with Jay Kincaid, Devon Barker, Emily Jackson, Nick Trotmen, and Clay Wright at the farm house, eh. It is sweet, eh. We are resting for the remainder of the evening since we had an amazing day yesterday, and session this morning at Hole Brothers, eh. Being in a foreign country is fun, plus the French makes things a little interesting at times, eh. Jez is happy because everything is metric, eh.
Good night from the Ottawa,
Rideout

Watertown equals Plain-ville USA

2006-08-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

Watertown is an interesting place. Matt commented that it’s plain-ville USA. Not much happens in Watertown, except it has a few great waves for paddling. We awoke this morning to drive a few clicks north on 81 and arrived in Watertown only to find that the only directions we had meant going via a tunnel 12 foot high. This was no bueno as D-mac would say, since our brand new Thule racks are a little higher than that and there is no way we would want to scratch them up. So we took the long way. The long way indeed, adding on an extra hour or so however this is just part of the journey we are on. When we did arrive we found the wave to be ‘wicked’ as they say up here. Not many people around and a great wave to boat in. Throwing some great loops, ends and blunts as you can see from the pictures.

A few hours into our boating we met two young paddlers called Zane and Dan from Massachusetts 16/14 years old who loved boating and were on a trip for the summer. Matt and I played a little king of the wave for a while with the two which was kind of upsetting for the most, as Dan, the smallest kid always seemed to win. They had to trek off, so we gave them some gear about camp and Jackson Kayak and went back to the hole for some more paddling.
Eventually after having the wave to ourselves for most of the day, the pros started arriving making the wave all of a sudden packed. There was a festival being held at the river and the organizers wanted us to stay (we are sure just because of our newly outfitted rig). In fact our rig has become quite a topic of conversation everywhere we go and as Matt has mentioned a true head turner. We are crashing here for the night and will most likely cross the Canadian border tomorrow (Canada eh?).

One more thing we forgot to mention. Betty has by far been one of the coolest people we have met on this trip. Betty is a toll collector for the Washington Bridge in New York City. We met each other for only about 40 seconds however we exchanged a whole lot of information in that time and almost brought her along for the trip to Canada.
Tonight we sleep by the river, right by the river. I mean we can throw rocks at the hole from our bed side window. We definitely have the right spot for this festival and everyone knows the Jackson/Camp guys here.
Goodnight from the river, we just hope it does not rise overnight.

2006-08-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

We spent the night driving from Washington DC to Seymour, CT. This was quite an epic drive to say the least. We pulled out of DC around 11:00 pm and drove our way through Baltimore, and then onto New York City. Somewhere in Delaware we stopped for a midnight snack at McDonald’s. This was the beginning of an interesting conversation. Jez and I were standing at the drive thru, because the bus was too tall to fit through, and a guy sticks his head outside the window of his big black Excursion piloted by his driver wearing tuxedo and begins to speak. He asks,”Are you guys just standing there or what?” I replied by saying,”Yes we are waiting for our food, sorry mate.” A few moments later we walked away with our sacks full of food and Jez turns to me and asks if the guy looked like a member of the band Hanson. I answered,”I think your right.” I walked back up to the excursion and said, “You asked me a stupid question, so now it’s my turn… are you guys Hanson?” To make a long story short, it was most definitely the band Hanson ordering French fries at 1:00 am in the morning in the middle of nowhere Delaware… Random.

We passed through the New York City around 4:30 am, and there were already massive amounts of traffic. I was amazed to be driving on an interstate that had 6 lanes of traffic in both directions, that’s right 12 lanes of mass chaos! The lanes are very narrow, and the tractor trailers were passing us as if we were setting still. Jez drove through the heart of the city; I feel that he deserves an award for driving the bus right through the middle of Brooklyn! After we traveled out of New York City I fell fast asleep as Jez drove us on into Connecticut.

We arrived at Thule U.S. Headquarters around lunch today and met with Steve Doviak, their marketing director. Steve checked out our remarkable new bus (which still does not have an official name) and then treated us to lunch. After lunch, we picked up our new gear and began to assemble the massive, massive new rack. The two of us spent the next 3 hours putting the rack together in THULE’s parking lot. The bus now has 4 sets of 89” bars ( largest allowed by law, built for a Hummer!), 2 Ferrari red twenty one cubic feet cargo boxes, 2 sets of Hull-A-Ports, 2 kayak stackers, 12 straps, 2 t-shirts, 2 work shirts, 2 hats, and a bunch of logos to put on the bus. The people at THULE are some of the best people we have met on the road. There is no question that the two of us will always be THULE customers. Check out the bus pictures, this thing is awesome & really tall. We are only 6 inches shorter than the average tractor trailer.

Jez is back at the wheel again, and I have resumed my roll as computer nerd and we are headed for Watertown, NY. The next update will be from the Black River Festival.
Good night from interstate 84,
Rideout

Great Falls

2006-08-24T19:58:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Jez and I took the opportunity to paddle the Great Falls of the Potomac. It is a Class V section of river only 20 minutes from DC. Ally led the way to a spectacular surfing wave called Horseshoe. There were many other boaters out paddling as well; we watched wildwater boaters training, expert creekers running the big drops, and beginners alike playing around in the smaller rapids. This is truly a beautiful place that has something to offer for everyone. It was amazing, we got playboat at the wave, and run a couple big drops all at the same place. The pictures do not do this place justice; it is difficult to illustrate how huge this gorge really is. Thanks, Ally for the being our guide!
NYC here we come,
Rideout

A Day in DC!

2006-08-23T19:13:00.000-07:00

Washington DC the state capitol is big and has a lot of monuments that’s the truth. The American monuments are crazy, there is no such thing as small, nor do you guys understand the concept of ‘understated’ but I guess in the land of bigger is better, your monuments should be no different. A quick tour around the capitol made for a fulfilling day. Checking out the White house, the Capitol, the George Washington memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial made for interesting times.
The day started out waking up on interstate 66 headed east. A stop at Matt’s friend Ally’s house was key. We arrived early, had a quick shower and headed downtown. With Ally as our tour guide we were set to see all that DC had to offer in the space of one day.
Check out the pictures of our bus in front of these well known monuments.
After a day of speed sightseeing, we headed out to the great falls on the Potomac River only to find an angry Police officer saying the road was closed and to get the bus out of the way. We did and later walked up to find a not so hostile officer explain to us that there were a bunch of wires down and would have to attain from down stream. Attain. Hmph, this is a word I have never heard of before in my life and have since been educated on the meaning. Apparently the folk here in DC think that paddling upstream instead of downstream is a part of paddling. They give this activity the name of ‘attain’. Bugger that I say. We have just driven to the other side of the river and hope to get in there with minimal “attain-ing”
Time to get wet!
jez

Canada Here We Come!

2006-08-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Time to DRIVE! The team has officially left camp Arrowhead in our styling new wheels. Big thanks to Jim Frady for hooking us up with a massive new rack for the bus! The bus is definitely turning heads as we hit the road; nearly every driver we pass suffers from rubber neck syndrome, haha! Tonight Jez and I are headed to Ashland, Kentucky to visit with the Burgess Family. That was until we got horrible directions from Charles… it is way farther to Charleston than 3 or 4 for hours man. Don’t worry I gitt it.

Unfortunately, DMAC made the decision to stay in North Carolina and nurse his injured shoulder back to health. There is plenty of room in this big bus, and we wish he was with us. We were somewhat sad to leave our dear friends at camp. Today, Jim is flying back home to Wyoming; Starr, Danny, and Jeremy are back to work running camp during the off season. All of these great people helped to remind us of how lucky we are to be able to take this amazing journey, and we appreciate them giving us the opportunity.

For anyone who did not already know, this bus consumes gasoline at an alarming rate. We filled it up in Hendersonville, and it is nearly empty just over 200 miles into the trip. Finally, I want to end this update with a call to the people. This bus, our bus, your bus, does not have a name. It is going to see many new places and meet many new faces. We need help to give it a name, so leave a comment with your name suggestions for our rolling home on wheels!
Good Night from interstate 81,
Rideout

We are now heading north

2006-08-22T11:57:00.000-07:00

Just about to head north and we just talked to our friends the Burgess Family from Arrowhead and they invited us to come on over for the night. Awesome news!! Thanks guys. So we are headed to Kentucky first...Wish us luck on our adventure.

Just about to leave N.C.

2006-08-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

One more day till we push off from NC. That means lots of running round getting things done. All those last minute changes, decisions, and packing is happening. A road trip from NC to Canada to most would seem like a huge trek however after just completing a trip to Utah....heak Canada is about half that distance, we could do it in our sleep.
Still working out if we will make a stop at the Thule HQ in C.T. or push on to Canada. Just awaiting on some more details for that.
The trailer is done, finished, finally. That means I have a slight reprieve to complete this blog.
We had dinner out at one of Hendo's finest thanks to a mate called Starr. Thanks mate.
Now my good mate Jim Liboriallas is here and we are trying to organize our lives, such a hard task to do.
D-mac is thinking twice about the trip due to his prior dislocated shoulder. For those who didn’t know D-mac dislocated his shoulder running a class 5 called the Green Narrows NC. This is known as one of the best, big, tough rivers around. He got stuck in a hole and ate it, that's for sure. After numerous attempts he could not get it back in place and had a huge hike out which meant it was out of place for at least six hours. Something I am sure he will be telling his grandchildren.
Well anyway, recovering from a dislocated shoulder is a fair enough excuse. Not being able to paddle for quite a while and watching from the sidelines would be a tough ask. We will find out tomorrow what his decision is.
So hopefully the next blog will be about hitting the road and the usual randomness associated with it.
Stay safe.
jez

Still in NC

2006-08-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

DOWN TIME?? None of the sort. For me it's answering phones, talking to sponsors and getting deals done. Not to mention painting the trailer and getting that up to scratch. That took a whole lot longer than I expected. It's all rust guarded up, bolts in, plate on and ready for action. Next comes the 'blinging' of the trailer. With all this, I make sure I have a bit of time each day to go for a run and paddle on the lake.
Right now I am at camp by myself and the nights become very quiet. Very relaxing to say the least. It's amazing how I went through the summer without taking some time out to just sit and ponder.
If you get a chance feel free to give me a call at camp and shoot the breeze , (828) 692 1123.
jez

Down Time?!?!

2006-08-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ahh, finally a decent nights sleep. It's amazing what 12 hours of catch-up sleep can do for the mind and body. A long trip like NC to Utah and back requires a day to recover, but we don't have that time. Instead we are on the phone constantly, painting the trailer, fixing things etc...getting ready and psyched with anticipation about the up coming month. Jackson Kayak hooked us up with banners, and other goodies to spread the good word about their company. Thule has also gotten on board and is helping us out with roof storage...THANKS A TON to both companies...being at camp right now is sorta weird...no kids running around...no counselors acting crazy...its just too quiet...but it does make camp a nice place to relax and think about things...Jez got out on the lake today and had a good workout...getting ready for the worlds...but don't worry...I see a #1 in his forcast for atleast one of the 3+ stops on the tour...we found out that penguin is getting a roof rack and is going to be incredibly awesome when it comes back tomorrow (we hope)...Rideout is still in Tennessee hanging out and getting some last minute things taken care of...although we need him here, but whatever...nothing much else to update on...thanks to everone so far for hooking us up and the good karma that you have been spreading around for us...peace,
DMAC

On the road again!

2006-08-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

On the road again… We have left the land of the Great Salt Lake and are headed back to the southeast. We had an awesome time, met a plethora of awesome people, and checked out lots of cool new gear. Tonight we are on the road home. Jez is at the wheel counting down the miles, DMAC is riding shotgun mixing up the tunes, and I am laid out in the back updating this blog. Tonight we are headed to Colorado Springs to see Sam Steele and stay with Stephan, DMAC’s friend from grad school. Driving this far gives one much time to think and search the soul, wow I love my life! We are driving 4000 miles in the span of about 6 days, and this is only the beginning! Good night from the desert.
Rideout

Another awsome day at OR

2006-08-16T06:31:00.000-07:00

Today day brought us a plethora of excitement on the floor of the convention center. Jez has been in the pool exhibiting Esquif Canoes, while DMAC and I collected swag. We roamed around the floor with Dane Jackson today; he is a crazy kid who loves Camp. According to the style experts, everyone in the southeast will be wearing white sunglasses in about 6 months… so I picked up a pair… they are awesome! Saturday night the crew of us attended a party sponsored by the Oil and Water project, a team who is driving a bio-diesel bus from Alaska to Argentina; it got us to thinking… Later that night we attended the Granite Gear party where we met the guts who trekked to the North pole this summer via snowshoe, skis, and a an Esquif canoe. a Once again we found ourselves getting tired and without a place to stay, until Eli Helbert came to our rescue and let us crash out on his floor, he is the man. Good night from Eli’s hotel room.
Rideout

Finally...We are here!!!

2006-08-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Friday, the first day that we were at OR; we had a blast meeting other folks as well as keeping the randomness alive and well. First off, DMAC walked up to the KUHL Mog, a Swedish vehicle, and hopped in and rode around SLC for a while. Then we entered the show...WOW, talk about a lot of people, booths, gear, kayaks, swag, stuff…it was massive. All three of us were blown away by the magnitude of the convention. Now we started to understand why we could not find a hotel room the night before. I made my way over to Esquif and found out when I was doing some demos in the pool, and then we started walking around. Think about a football field, then multiply that by 50, and that might start to be the equivalent of the size of the convention, not the convention hall, but all the booths, exhibitors, and the such. We all got lost many times looking for things in the hall. Right after lunch we Matt and I lost DMAC, and spent the rest of the day looking for each other in the convention hall.
After we walked and talked for 9 hours, we all wanted to go to dinner and eat some real food (the Powerbars, Luna bars, Larabars, and Balance bars just weren’t cutting it for an entire day). We ended up at a Mexican restaurant a few blocks from the convention center. When we were seated, the three of us saw someone eating alone, so we did the logical thing and invited Kate to join us for dinner. After talking with her for some time, we found out that she had lived in Australia for a time, went to Camp Greystone for 8 years, she knew Starr Teal, and she was friends with many of Matt’s friends from Sewanee…sort of random. After dinner it was time for the LVM/Teva party. On the way there, DMAC and I waved at a car full of girls, who stopped and talked with us. They were going to the Nickelback concert, but said that they would find us later on that evening at the Teva party. Once we got to the Teva party, LVM was doing a tribute to Daniel DeLevernge, one of the world’s best kayakers who was killed a few months ago. After that, the party started going. Live music, entertainers, shirts, bags, massive games of indoor Frisbee, and DMAC getting into and kicked out of the VIP section, it was about time to go home. THEN, the two girls that we met on the way to the concert showed up. Two very nice ladies, whom we told our story about not having a place to stay. They were nice enough to offer us floor space in their house in Provo, which was about 30 minutes away. We did not want to drive that far, that late at night, so we decided to stay with Kate, who was staying no more than 5 minutes away and had a huge hotel room. Sleep has never been so good after sleeping in the Subaru for 2 nights, the floor in her hotel was magnificent. Never underestimate the goodness of people! That’s all for now, the show just opened its doors…. JEZ

The L-O-N-G Haul

2006-08-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

More and more randomness goes on. We did arrive in SLC safe and well, however the last day has been very interesting indeed. We start things off with an interesting meeting on highway 70 with Lindsay. A cool looking bug (VW) drives by with a PINK Jackson Kayak on the roof. Now this is an interesting thing to see in east Colorado where there is nothing around. So we start a conversation via paper messages we held up. Eventually we talk via cell phone and have a totally random conversation driving down the
highway. Lindsay is going to try to get a new job in Colorado and she definitely
helped the miles fly by.
Later on that evening, as we crossed into Utah, we were listening to Talk to Rusty on the Radio, because it was the only station that we could pick up. Something that he said made DMAC a little upset, so we pulled the car over and DMAC called the station. Matt nor I have ever seen DMAC so worked up about anything. After DMAC called Rusty out a few times on National Radio, Rusty hung up on him and made his point. This further infuriated DMAC, but by the time we got to SLC, he was calm again.
Next we tried to find somewhere to stay. The problem with this is that all the hotels are completely booked. Try finding a hotel at 11pm here in SLC during Outdoor Retailer, no vacancy, no vacancy.....NO VACANCY. So we decided that the back of the Subaru was good enough and we stayed in that in the parking lot of the Salt Lake City International Airport.

2006-08-13T07:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick blog to let you know we are still going strong in Utah. Stay posted for more news....

2006-08-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

This blog is sponsored by;

Camp Arrowhead http://www.camparrowhead.org

Jackson Kayak http://www.jacksonkayak.com

Entropy Gear http://www.entropygear.com

The Journey Begins

2006-08-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

So its day 2 of your trip to Salt Lake City, and let me say that Kansas is a very big state. Not only that but I am surprised at the abundance of nothing here. Currently we are sitting on interstate 70, with corn fields as far as the eye can see. Dmac is taking up the charge behind the wheel cruising along to some techno Bach while Rideout is sitting in the back reading some kayaking magazines of course. Dmac and I met Rideout late last night as we passed through Tennessee, after crossing the Caney Fork five times.
As for our stops they are far and few between, but when we do stop we make the most of them. Take for instance last night; Subway was on the menu list. Just a sub and a drink is not enough for this group; instead a conversation with the Subway girl about random things was on the cards.
Last night I got the short straw and drove most of the midnight shift. Driving late at night you defiantly get some time to think. Time to relax and catch up on thinking about things you normally don’t get a chance to think about. Driving out this way I got to thinking how amazing my life is and how much freedom I have. It would be easy to stick to a day job stuck under fluorescent lights all day, watching the clock, counting down the hours to your weekend and the ever presence cricket/golf game with your boss. But I guess this is not what we are all about. There really is so much more out there that is to offer, explore and investigate.
I have to say I have laughed a bunch already on this trip, I guess this is one major priority for all of us…have fun. Right now Dmac is mixing up the Ipod with gangster rap/classical/pop all at once. Random. Speaking of “Random” yesterday we saw a bird commit suicide as it collided with the car in front of us. I have never seen that before.
My computer battery is running out so its time to close this up. Hopefully the next blog will be about our safe arrivals in Salt Lake City. Stay safe.
Jez