Labor Day Weekend!

Ahhh, we need some vitamin I.... What a weekend. Just thought we would share our past weekend with everyone in hopes that you'll share yours too!

On Friday Julie and I were happy to be off work and decided to take in a little local High School football. The reigning 2A state champs from Alcoa were playing the reigning 4A state champs from Maryville. These towns are right next to each other and draw a crowd of about 10,000. It was impressive and a great HS football atmosphere. We really enjoyed the game and the level at which these two schools played. Very impressive.

Saturday was a split for us. Julie headed off to school to get some work done and I headed to the Cheoah. I ran this river back in July and was excited that another release was already here. I met up with a ton of Arkies and had a ball. In our group we had Jason, Scott H., Dru, Heath, Bobby, Ronnie, Ray S., and myself. A load of accomplished boaters and I was impressed by their skill the entire day. I had the pleasure of loosing my paddle after getting stuck in a hole but I flushed out and managed to hand paddle down to the eddie where the guys had my missing gear. We made one full run down, then loaded up and ran the bottom section again. Great river for sure with highly technical rapids and a ton of must make moves. Once we got down after the second run the studs in the group ran it again. I opted out and headed home to watch the game.

On the way home I got updates from Julie on ND and listened to the Mizzou game on the radio. Julie was having a ball watching college football again and we really enjoyed watching the Sooners dominate North Texas. This coming weekend should be a real treat.

Sunday Julie and I headed out early to meet everyone at the Ocoee. We had a huge group and had a great day on the river. Some of us got two runs in while others worked on skills at the lake. It's always a ball for us to show others down the Ocoee and Saturday was no exception. Good people and good times for sure. That night we camped with all the Arkies and shared some laughs. Dru's story about his visitor Saturday night is one that will be retold a number of times and makes me laugh every time I think about it.

Monday we were up early packed and ready to hit the Ocoee. Due to timing in the morning we ended up running the river with just Dru and Kaylin. We had a blast and that is where we fell in love with our new boats... Post below... This hobby will break us at some point!

All-in-all, a very memorable weekend. Our muscles ache, we are bruised and battered, and yet it was a weekend to remember. Thank you all for coming out and those that didn't.... you better make your plans now!!

SYOTR,
rt