Rafting the New River

Rafting the New River
Originally uploaded by jbgreer

This is one of my favorite pictures. Like all good pictures, there is a story behind it:

As I was finishing up my undergraduate degree I started working in the experimental psychology department in preparation for my next degree (or so I thought, but that's another story). That, in turn, put me in touch with many of the pych grad student population including a woman who befriended me, Marie L. Unfortunately for me, Marie ended up changing schools and moving to Louisville, KY fairly soon thereafter. So either in the 80's or very early 90's (my memory is a bit fuzzy as to exactly when) I took a Greyhound bus to visit her.

I don't recall much of the bus trip - the great Mackheath/Greer trip to Oregon stands out as a better travel adventure (another time, another tale), but I do recall that she picked me up at the bus station, took me by her place, and then announced that we were going to help a friend of her's move. Riiiiight. It wasn't so bad as it sounds, really, as the two friends were going on a trip with us. In fact, there were six people involved, so the moving was easy, and shortly afterwards we jumped into two cars and drove to a campsite near the New River in West Virginia.

After resting a bit, we made our way over to some outfitter company, got our life jackets, helmets, and paddles, and then hopped aboard the raft you see in the picture. The fella in back was our guide; I think his name was Mike.
The woman next in line is Janine R., who, as I recall it, later moved to NY state. That's me in the camo shirt with mountain man beard in full effect. Of the two next people, the one further away is Marie, who was wearing an actual wetsuit. (Marie was the kind of person who always prepared). Sadly, I can't recall the names of the others, though I think the other womans' nickname was Nee-nee?

That day was filled with fun. We rowed and learned our paces and then were fed a picnic lunch. Afterwards we rafted a rapids-filled section of the river, including a couple of class Vs. That night we had a huge party around a campfire with other rafters.