I love kayaking and being on rivers for 3 big reasons.

• I love the challenge of improving my technical paddling ability, paddling harder whitewater with ease.
• I love the people that I meet on the river, the smiles I share with my friends and the great times we all cherish with every ounce of our hearts.
• I love the beautiful places I travel to, many of which I wouldn’t ever see without a paddle in my hands.

And really, it’s the last 2 reasons that have kept me enjoying the sport for nearly 17 years.

In July I had an amazing three-day  trip on the Deschutes River in Central Oregon. Granted I wasn’t being all hardcore.  It wasn’t deathly dangerous or super extreme.  I won’t get on the Today Show paddling the Deschutes.  But man do I LOVE this river.  And this is what real, everyday people do on their weekends.  They paddle wonderful class 3 rivers flowing through the most beautiful parts of the world.  They laugh and smile and forget about work and flip over and smile some more.

I had an absolute blast kayaking with Patty, Reina, Rob and Brian.  Sean, who rowed our gear, mocked me endlessly and couldn’t keep me from laughing.  We had an Oreo throwing contest(I dominated Sean).  We had some flips and some swims. The chill waters of the Deschutes couldn’t have relieved the arid desert heat any better.  I can’t believe this is my job.