Getting Ready for the Big Ditch

 

 

 

 

To run the classic of all classics takes preparation.  I first got invited on this Grand Canyon trip back in May, and tomorrow I am finally departing.  In one way or another I have been getting my S#%* together for about six months. I have stuffed everything a person could ever want on a month long river trip inside a HUGE Watershed Dry Bag.  Rubber boots, Carhartt overalls, it’s all in there (thank god for raft support).  I’ve got the new Z.One ready to go.  I think it’s going to the perfect Grand Canyon boat.

 

I am a committed kayaker, but I am also a committed teacher. The hardest part of the preparation for this trip has been trying to prepare someone else to do my job.  It has taken me months to create detailed lesson plans so that my substitute can do my job adequately.  Just getting approval to take a month leave of absense was a significant chore.

 

To add to the stress of preparing for a such a mission, last week, as a result of puking I developed, what I, and a healthcare professional, thought was a hernia.  Such an injury would have certainly sidelined me for this trip.  Yesterday, the most wonderful surgeon in the world determined that I in fact did not have a hernia, but a pulled groin.  Although I’m going to be in a bit of pain, I’m going. You couldn’t have a written a more dramatic script. 

 

See you in a month…