Home for the Weekend? I Think Not

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened. I went white-water rafting last weekend in West Virginia. My dad, two brothers, myself, and two other guys went to the New River and had a fantastic time. I had never done that before, and I can't wait to go again. It wasn't that expensive at about $120.00/person. That included two nights in a cabin, the actual river trip, and three meals the day of the trip. I don't think I've ever had as much fun on a family trip.

We all survived, but there was one frightening experience. We had an opportunity to climb up and jump off a rock that was 10-15 feet above the river. That itself wasn't too bad, but the water was about 50 degrees. My dad's 55 year-old body went into a kind of shock and he couldn't get enough breath to swim to the boat. My brother was able to help him back to the boat and we got him back in.

Nate, one of my brothers, went over the side backwards when we hit one of the rapids, but was held in by his feet till we could get him back. That wasn't particularly bad, except that if he had gone all the way over, he'd be swimming with the people-sized catfish. At least, that's what the river guide said. He also said the dogwoods were beautiful this time of year. They were redbud trees. One wonders how much he knew and how much he made up.

As I write this, I am sitting in a Burger King in Macclenny, FL. This may well be the oddest spur of the moment trip I've ever made. Bryan, my friend from Cincinnati, called me on Thursday last week and asked if I wanted to go to Florida. As it turns out, his sister had an interview at McDonald's this morning, and he wanted another driver. We left Cincinnati at 7:00am on Monday and got down here around 9:00pm last night. (Macclenny is just west of the Jacksonville area.) We got up this morning and Bryan and his sister, Andrea, went to the interview, and I found a wireless hotspot. This may well turn into the longest entry to date, if the interview goes well.

One of my favorite movies is "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar." Bryan and I watch it at least once every time we see each other. That movie is set around a road trip, so we have been quoting it at every possible moment. His sister doesn't know the movie, so that makes the quotes that much funnier. We even found a shoe and went thru the bar scene when "possibly dead Sherriff Dollard" is looking for the owner of the shoe.

(It's smoke break time. I will return.)

God, thats's good. Expensive habit, and I may quit. Don't hold your breath. Speaking of quitting, I'm five days short of five months clean. Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having being sober? I guarantee that I wouldn't be in Florida right now if I was still getting high.

On this 14 hour trip, I only drove for about 90 minutes. It's not my choice, but it appears I'm the only one of the three of us who can fit in the back seat of a Hyundai. The time I did drive, though, I shepherded us through Atlanta. What a kick! A lot of people would drive around such a city, but I went right through Downtown. I felt like I was playing Gran Turismo or something. We blew through there in about 20 minutes.

I was promised a stop in Atlanta on the way home later today to get a picture in front of the statehouse. I have a long term travel goal of having my picture taken on the steps of every statehouse in the nation. The icing would be the US Capitol Building. I have three states down. Forty-seven to go.

It appears that I will be travelling again next weekend. Jason is an uncle again, so he wants me to go see the little prune. Don't get me wrong, I like kids, but I like them when they are old enough to do dishes. When they are just born, they all look the same. Like prunes. I'm just busy all the time. I love it.

Sometime in the next 2 or 3 months, I will be travelling to New Jersey and possibly Illinois. Stay tuned for that. I think I'm gonna quit writing and see if I can find some trouble to get into. There's a guy sitting right over there that I would get in trouble with. Aww, he just left. Gotta Go!