The Perfect Getaway

I'd like to say that I'm in the picture above, but even if I said I was, you'd be hard pressed to figure out who I was. Therefore I did not pay $24.00 for a picture of myself rafting down the Arkansas River. You'll just have to imagine me on the raft.

This weekend I headed to Denver to catch up with a friend and go white water rafting through the Royal Gorge on the Arkansas River. It was a great four hour trip with class four rapids. We had raft full of friends and we all made it through without going in the water or driving our guide to drink. The water was cold and the first splash definitely wakes you up. Surprisingly we did not wear wet suits as I did when I went down the Kicking Horse River in Alberta a few years ago. You did not want to end up in the water on either river. Brr.

The trip took us from Denver to just south of Colorado Springs. It's about a two hour drive from Denver, but we broke it up with eating both ways. The road trip was fun too, Jordan's friend Greg from Australia provided some entertainment when we said, "last night I went to the movies with two ducks." Ok, what he actually said was he went to the movies with two "Dougs", however with the accent it did not come out that way. Perhaps we had too much sun, but it was the funniest damn thing I had heard in a long time. Hats off to Greg for being a great sport and the kind of expat who is proud of his country but not afraid to laugh at the differences between us.

Denver is a nice city, but a big one. Commutes can last hours and it did take me nearly 50 minutes to get through security at the airport on my trip home to Austin. There is something to be said for living in a smaller city where it takes you less then ten minutes to get through inspection and to your gate. But the weather was mild and pleasant. Sunny and in the 80's, but cool at night. Sleeping with the window open again was awesome.

I'm still looking for that waterproof digital camera and you'll get more pics. My mom sent me a Ziplock bag, but that's not going to cut it. Nice try.