Lots of things have happened in the past few days. I'll attempt to make a list:

- We now have lots of video boaters. One of them is Justin, a recent high school grad and relatively new paddler hired to split the Upper New trips with me. He tagged along on a couple of my runs, and I'm already starting to think of him like a little brother -- annoying, but fun anyway. Being around him has encouraged me to amp up the silly factor in my videos, which will make my job a lot more entertaining (and hopefully increase my DVD sales).

- A wannabe video boater named Jerry came on the Thursday trip with me and Justin. He can't roll, so he swam when he tried to surf at our first rapid. Then he had to hand-paddle through two pools and a little class 1 to get his paddle back, because he didn't grab it when he got out of the boat. It was a little unnerving at the time, but it's hilarious in retrospect. Especially since he also had to chase down his little green rubber duck.

- Sam is back on the river. Justin and I watched him take the stitches out of his foot while Owen filmed it. That and the OK Buffet (Chinese food) constituted the video crew's Friday night entertainment.

- Saturday was a long day -- at work by 7:45 for a presentation about a housing development we're partnering with, breakfast courtesy of the company, work, then a huge pig roast in celebration of the company still existing after all these years. At least there were 3 free meals and lots of fun people.

- My shoulders are sore, which is why I haven't run the gorge section yet. I took advantage of having today off to get an hour-long massage from the guy whose office is at out basecamp. It cost quite a bit, but it was amazing. I'm a lot less tense now. Hopefully if I don't push myself too hard, things will heal up pretty quickly. If it doesn't look that way, I've got the number of a lady from church who works with a physical therapy place in Beckley.

- I've ordered a throw bag and a new splash jacket from NRS. Soon, I'll be able to help rescue swimmers and get rid of the Horrible Yellow Splash Jacket, which makes me look like a bee and smells like an old beach ball. I bought it off eBay for the 2006 Winter Trip kayaking class, but I can afford a decent one now -- a blue one.

That's it for now. I could write more, but I'm too tired and this entry is long enough already.