July 1st Tribute

Last night I participated in an Annual Event for Mark Klein, my friend and boss Bob Klein's brother, who passed away shortly after flipping his boat while running Pine View, the largest rapid on the Poudre River. There were a large number of fellow and current Wanderlust guides (around 20 of us) who hopped into some rafts, duckies, and kayaks and ran the rapid in his memory. At the bottom we pulled into a spot that is not commonly visited by boaters and held a moment of silence below a stone plaque with Mark's name, the word "Adventurer", and his timeline engraved into it.

Bob thanked us all for coming and after that we, well, played around in the water. People took turns jumping off of the top of Flip Rock, some doing aerials, front and back flips, or whatever suited them (I just did a whirly bird and then a jackknife). A couple of guides took a boat back up the river a bit and intentionally flipped it on Flip Rock (Bob jumped on top of it in order to steer it through Pine Box..which was quite a show with a couple guides riding it upside down), while the remainder of us took the other raft down upright. A couple of the guides in the second boat tried to stand up through the rapid the whole time (Robin, Joe, and Brian I beleive, fairly successfully I might at). Afterwards we all went to Bob and Paula's house and had some beer, braghts and burgers and commenced to talk about the river, our upcoming baby, and various other life-moments. It rained a bit around 10 and people started to scatter, but the good vibes continue to ressonate.

Mark, we hope you enjoyed the show.

RANDOM: Soccer

I saw that the UEFA Championship game was on today via ESPN.com and wondered what some of the best goals in soccer have been. I quickly found this video and decided to post it here for reference/to share with others.

It is a lengthy video for certain, but well worth a gander...even if to skip through a couple of the athletic maneuvers these players exhibit. Enjoy..

Little Miss Watne

Feel the little girl;

Kicking, shifting, actively

Making herself known.

Poudre River

Oh river rafting,

The joy of floating along;

The summer is here.

Laundry List

Anomie for me.

So many things to finish,

But where do I start?

SLC Rendezvous

To Salt Lake City

Our journey takes us today.

Good times to be had.

Winds of change finally arrive...

Simply notes from the Inauguration:

Michelle's loud and nice dress. I was so excited to see her, I did not think that would happen by the mere sight of her

Bush’s awkward hand slap and smile at the lady on the video at the door while walking through the hallway leading out of the Capital. Smile was one of mischief, and the hand slap showed his awkwardness (in so many ways).

Silence from the crowd when Bush was announced. (wonder what people were actually yelling in D.C.? I am sure there were some interesting words thrown out.)

Adorable little girls, who were taking pictures like kids will do, even during the inauguration.

Obama’s stoic look, very strong and yet cognizant of the time/moment.

The MILLIONS of people watching/listening. Billions?

Elite Politician said when he exited the Capital to presumably another politician, "I decided to stay. It is like Groundhog Day." Then he laughed. This is what is wrong with politics.

The spirited speech by the the pastor.

The waving flags in the background...looked like a movie.

John Williams is amazing. Interesting to see a musical number, especially classic music, to be played mixed with a soulful, but not very clear, Aretha Franklin. What a powerful and true song.

I actually teared up a bit...did not expect that.

Supreme Court Justice John Roberts seemed to try to mess him up twice in assisting . Wonder how their relationship is/will be?

The grey hair of all the ex-Presidents. Wonder what Obama will look like in a couple years?

Obama on the t-shirts and hats of people, "O-BAM-A" chants coming from the crowd. Such a following, will be interesting to see how Tour de-Fate will be? Will he be re-elected?

Showed an Army cadet and he looked like a sleeping lamb...odd.

Obama's speech was very good, especially liked the connection to George Washington's message.

Can't believe this time has actually come.

Felt so good to see George W. get on the helicopter and fly far, far away.

Giddy Up!

P.S. - Well done Cadillac. Nice coverage/advertisement with Obama's new limo.