Whitewater, take me away!

Shorty entry tonight.

Roomie Leslie heard about a man-made white-water facility in Charlotte, so on Saturday, several of us headed down to the US National Whitewater Center. Chris; my cousin, Jenny; two of Leslie's work friends, both named Debbie; and I piled into a rubber boat with helmets and flotation vests with a guide and two other tourists and spent two hours on rapids in classes 2-4. It was awesome! I was quite anxious about the whole affair, not knowing what to expect and wondering what I'd do if I went overboard. Fortunately, the facility gave us a good run-down of basic paddling techniques and safety procedures, so I felt fairly well prepared before I got in the boat. Our boat did tip twice, but my feet stayed wedged fast under the inflated cross-braces, so I stayed in, though the womon in front of me went for a dip. Our biggest mishap was arriving a few minutes late for our appointed time and having to wait for 90 minutes until they could squeeze us in. If you go, DO make a reservation and DO check-in at the training pavilions early! Leslie; Christopher; and another of Leslie's work friends, also named Debbie (I'm beginning to think that all of Leslie's work friends are named Debbie, even the guys.) went flat-water kayaking due to Christopher's age. Debbie's boyfriend elected to bring his bike and he enjoyed the several miles of trails that meander around the facility. We'd entertained notions of stopping at Northlake Mall or Concord Mills on the way home, but we were so beat that we headed directly home, stopping only after we arrived in Kernersville for a yummy dinner at Don Juan's.

Law school orientation starts Thursday, just 3.5 days from now. I'm excited, but I'm also a bit bummed because I've scarcely made a dent in the list of projects that I wanted to work on between leaving work and starting school. I'm going to Rockingham to visit Mamaw and Papaw for a few days this week, but I'd also like to visit Mum if only I had a bit more time. If I were to be realistic about it, I could lay out until Christmas and still not get everything done! You'll recall that I have to wear a suit to the first two days of orientation (the first day for photos and the second day to look presentable for big-wigs). Well, I had a look at the forecast for Thursday and it's calling for a high temperature of ONE HUNDRED degrees F (38 C)! Yikes! I guess it's all in a day's work. Er... :J