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CONTENTS
HOT
SPOTS
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Rafting Is Not A Spectator Sport
by Lisa
Hofmann
photos by Allison Waltz
Hot Dogs and Memories
We set up our tents, get a fire started and eat a nice spaghetti dinner. But we're camping and have to partake of real camp food, too. Mike, Lauren and I whittle the ends of some long, thin sticks, so we can roast hot dogs.
 Becky Baldwin circumvents a collision by pushing away from a boulder. |
"You can't go camping and not eat hot dogs," Mike explains. "It's like going to the movies and not watching the movie."
I mix the baked beans and hot dog cuts on my plate, listening to Mike extol the goodness of hot dogs.
"Do you want to hear something sick?" he asks.
"No," Becky replies immediately, but her request is denied.
"It's four weeks into the semester, and I've already eaten seven packages of hot dogs," he answers.
With that, I turn the subject to our trip.
"I thought it was going to be a lot harder," Mike says.
"Yeah, we were the only boat with no people to fall out," Rich adds.
"I thought it was funny when you guys thought I was going to fall out," Becky says. Her position at the rear of the raft put her in the easiest position to go overboard.
"I thought you were going to fall out for sure," Mike laughs, remembering her hanging halfway out of the boat at one point.
Rich remarks that it would have been cool to have been sucked into the Double Hydraulic.
"If we hit that we wouldn't be sitting here saying, 'Oh, we did so good, not falling out,'" Mike points out.
I'm rather relieved we didn't fall out. That may have marred the experience for me. Maybe I wouldn't have wanted to raft again, which I do.
"I think you guys were pretty calm," Becky says, noting how quickly we learned what to do and worked together well. This is what she enjoys about teaching and leading adventuring.
"Everyone teaches you how to play basketball," she says. "Chances are you've never rafted in your life, backpacked in your life. It's cool to see people go through the learning process."
"I like leading somebody and seeing the look on their face that they enjoy it," Rich agrees.
We assure him we enjoyed ourselves. I'm glad I went.
It would be something to come away from this experience saying, "I did it," but it is something more to come away saying, "I did it, and I want to do it again."