I grew up running rivers. Sometimes it was a quick trip down the Kern, the Kings, or the Merced, and other times it was longer, on the Salmon, or the Bruneau, or San Juan. A lot of these trips were led by my dad or my uncle, but when I was around 16 or 17 years old I started planning my own. We would go for weeks, sometimes, living out of cars and just kayaking almost every day. At the time, a lot of this for me was about the whitewater- the adrenaline and managing emotions and calculating risk and losing yourself in the flash of a moment. Man, just writing about it brings me back to those days. 

But when I really spend time trying to conjure up specific memories- anything more than an overall vibe- there aren't many individual rapids that stand out to me. Sure, there are a few. But mostly, it is the moments in between the action. The swimming. The stories. The camping and beaches and just goofing around and being free in a halcyon world that seemed to run parallel to, but apart from normal life. The river world, where appropriately, things just seemed to flow. 

When it comes to the first bit- the adrenaline and reflex-driven action, skiing has largely replaced the river for me. But the other, more peaceful part- I have missed that. The pace is slower. The world seems warmer. There really is no good substitute for a day on the river, and I have had precious few of them in the past several years.

I have a feeling that's going to change though.

This week was a big deal for me, but I'm finding it hard to fully articulate exactly why. We spent three days on the water and camped in between. All the things I remember from what seems like a past life came rushing back to me. Even little things, like setting up a camp kitchen and doing dishes. Or packing a drybag. Falling asleep to the gentle lapping of water, or seeing the boats all lined up at the end of the day on a sandy shoreline. Nostalgia was strong- that is for sure.

What a weekend!

Most of the river flowed through this steep canyon with limestone cliffs on either side. 

A lot of just relaxing at camp

This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, and it would be worth clicking on to see in full resolution. Once at camp, the kids would explore surrounding areas, and there was always at least one of them taking the role of the "water taxi." When someone needed a ride, they would have to hold a stick over their head, do a little dance, and sing out "oh Water Taxi," and the summoned ride would come. That is what you can see Maren doing on the left. Everything about this makes my heart smile. The simple game. The setting. The exploration and independence and cooperation. And check out that sunset! This was perfect.

Later, at this same camp, I would wake up early and watch 3 river otters playing in the water about 10 feet in front of me. They would spin and dive, and then resurface over and over again. That was a pretty neat experience too.

This river had water-access only campsites along the way with picnic tables, bear boxes, and open-air pit toilets. We saw other people on the river, but never had to share a site, which was really nice. It made the camping part pretty easy.

That is a frisbee. Thanks, Peach Orthodontics, for being a part of our trip.

If you want cliff jumping, this is the river to do. You could go as big as you want. For our family, we preferred little baby cliffs. Still plenty of fun though! 

Some of us are more graceful than others :)

This was a tiny waterfall set back in a cove that the river had carved into the bank.

This is also one of those pictures that bring me unreasonable amounts of joy. Because, believe it or not, kids don't always get along super well. There is almost always some bickering or hurt feelings or some other petty complaint going on. In this moment though, everyone was just playing in the water and seemed to be the best friends in the world. I hope that our kids remember moments like this. Being outside doing things seems to make this a more frequent occurrence.

Also, notice that Evelyn is not in the picture. She didn't come. She had to work. She did her own trip instead, which I'll include at the bottom, but we definitely missed her. In fact, we played charades one night and "Evelyn" was one of the people we had to act out. On the river, in private, I had at least 3 of the kids tell me how much they missed her and how weird the family felt without her. I think everyone is aware that she is graduating high school next year, and that she is already making plans to move away from home at the end of next summer. The time seems soooo short and we all feel it.

Everyone helped with camp set up and cooking and dishes and stuff. It was nice. This is Lindsey making dinner and testing the noodles.

This was a quick photo at a moment when we were all together, but I kind of love it. I think it captures the mood well. Fun and chill.

More cliffs. It was hard not to consider the opportunities for climbing.

This was kind of a neat cave thing. The river is dam-controlled, and at lower flows you can bring your kayak, canoe, or raft all the way in. At high flows, it was even cooler though, because you had to squeeze under this super low spot, but then it opens into a pretty good sized cavern. Big enough to stand up in, and could fit several boats. It probably went back about 30 feet or so into the bank.

The falls is a nice feature that signals that the take-out is about a mile away

Just a few more to show the scope of the scenery. This one and the next would be worth clicking on just to get a feel for how beautiful the area is. Wow!

I'm a sucker for sunrises and sunsets. Every time. They never get old.

*****

The river was the main event of the week. As mentioned above, Evelyn was unable to come with us due to her work schedule. She did take a day to hike to Steven's lake- a popular overnight destination for our family. She did it alone as a day-hike, and packed her book and a lunch. Appropriately, she finished reading "Into the Wild" while sitting by the lake. 

*****

Also, Rach and I went and saw Grease at a local theater. Here is that photo. One of these days I should make a collage or something with all these playbill photos- there's got to be about a hundred of them by now. 

Crazy eyes!

Have a good week!

Yesterday I woke up on an island, peacefully overlooking a lake from my tent.

Yesterday, Rachel woke up in Nashville, after a week-long deep-dive into performance interpreting.

Yesterday afternoon we all went huckleberry picking together.

Today, I am sitting at my desk at work, about to walk into a procedure.

What a crazy, astonishing, wonderful world we live in. And what a time to be alive!

*****

The main focus of the week is Rachel's trip to Nashville. This is where she is going to take over the blog for the week. When she got back, we all sat around as a family and watched videos of some of the performances she got to be a part of. It was really, really cool. 

*****

BSL Nashville is an incredible experience every time! I have done one abbreviated course during Covid, and one full course last year. I am at a loss for words to explain what has happened for the last seven days. A bulleted list seems like a good idea, so I will go with it!

• 7 full days that typically begin at 7 am and end around 2 am
• 35 hours of classroom instruction during the day
• Evening musical and comedy performances around Nashville for all certified participants
• Constant evening events to interpret, or attend and provide feedback for other interpreters
• Friday night party in my room!
• Saturday is spent touring around Nashville on the Redneck Comedy Tour bus, then exploring the Grand Ole Opry Hotel.
• Final song performance and celebration with friends, family, and each other

I flew to Nashville on Sunday morning, and the action did not stop until the following Sunday when I flew home. I enjoyed every minute, and I made a few lifelong friends along the way. 

During the 35 hours of instruction, we had a myriad of invited speakers. We had a makeup artist come and show us some great tips on how to get spotlight ready, a tour manager come and talk about tech design for shows, we visited a dance studio with an incredible woman who personally provided dance instruction to some of the greats (including Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and Selena Gomez). and a professional photographer who took shots of all of us. 

I need to mention that Mama Sam and Kim both run this crazy weeklong adventure, and they are truly gifted at creating an atmosphere of family, love, and acceptance. Last years' group still has a weekly active chat, and I have talked to, or zoomed with most of them over the past year. 

I will let the pictures do the talking now:

On Sunday night we headed to the Hard Rock Café to reunite with old friends and meet new ones!

Our classroom space used to be a recording studio here in Nashville. This epic guitar tower is definitely a fun perk!

I had the pleasure of performing "Satisfied", in costume, with Demi (my awesome roommate) and Devon

Here are a few actions shots for my evening performance at the FirstBank Amphitheater. I interpreted 10 songs by Parker McCollum (I found out who he is on Sunday morning, apparently, he was won ACM's New Male Artist of the Year award). 

On Monday, Terry and I interpreted a musical comedy improv show. Any one of those words is enough to be a lot, but all together it was crazy! Terry and I had a fun time, and I think it went off pretty well. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures. Oh well. 

Before concert time

The dream team! Terry, Keeley, Demi, and I interpreted at the amphitheater together 

Party in my room! We all came together to do our final performance songs and give each other feedback. Watching final performances is fun because we can see everyone's improvement. 

Did you know that Nashville has a replica of the Parthenon?

Group photo of the whole group at the Music Hall of Fame and Museum with the Redneck Comedy  Tour comedian

We took pictures around the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. This place is beautiful and massive, boasting over 3.3 million square feet!

I became Eliza one last time for my final performance of "Burn"

Goodbye, friends!

So long, Nashville. Until next time!

*****

Okay- I'm back. While Rachel was doing all that fun stuff, we were mostly holding it together back at home. Nobody went to the hospital and the house is still standing, so I count it as a win. Over the weekend we paddled out to Popcorn Island and camped. It was a chance to get out of the house and also to test out our recently-acquired canoe and its gear-carrying capacity. Things went great, and we are already planning more paddle-camping trips as a family for the near future.

Here's some photos:

These last two are of when we went huckleberry picking after Rachel got home. We are all very glad that she is with us again.

Have a good week!