The Gauley

In 18 days I will be flying down the gauley in a 14' raft in Summersville, WV. The total trip will take 9+ hours and cover no less than 23 miles and 100 rapids! If you check out the map you'll see the variety of rapids - including many class V+. I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little nervous, but mostly I'm incredibly excited! I hear that if you fall out of the boat, you may end up "swimming" the rest of the way down the river...which, depending on where you fall out, could be a loooong swim. Check out this video for a taste of the what the gauley is like. Granted, those are the "extreme" cases, so hopefully I will not be experiencing it the same way...but then again, you just never know!

Before I get to that crazy water (and camping!), I'm off to NYC for a long weekend. I'm still working on getting Yankees tickets (it's their last season in Yankees stadium, and this is the last month of the season...so obviously they are in high demand), but my uncle was gracious enough to give us his brand new loft in Chelsea for the weekend...so I'm pretty dang excited about it! We may see if we can squeeze in a show between our Yankees game and Mets game, but not a big deal if it doesn't happen this time. I just want to enjoy the city and am looking forward to some Dean & Deluca and Canal Street "secret rooms" :).

Well, I suppose I should blog about my Labor Day weekend too...rather than what is still 2+ weeks ahead! :) It was great. Sooo relaxing and exactly what I needed. I had a flight booked for a weekend in FL, but last minute just didn't feel right about going, so ended up cancelling it. I think it was for the best with all the things coming up...gave me some really good down time.

Saturday Julie made some killer nachos and Katie came over to chow & watch the USC vs. UVA game. Gotta love a little football with the girls :). After the game, we piled in the car and headed to the movies - where I realized I didn't have my debit card and had a minute of panic. Thankfully Katie remembered me using it at the restaurant the night before, so I called and sure 'nuff, they had it. Phew. I've never done that before and hope it doesn't happen again. We stopped by and picked it up after the movie, then Julie & I stayed up watching Bones on dvd (while lying on the fort, of course :)).

Sunday Katie & I went to church and enjoyed a little outdoor ambiance at Mellow Mushroom afterwards. Any visit to downtown Franklin is not complete without a stop at Bink's Outfitters (previously mentioned many times as one of my favorite stores!). It's always a HUGE feat when I leave without a purchase in hand :). After lunch we headed to the salon for some long-overdue pedicures and then said our goodbye's. I had an embarrassing moment not too long afterward that I spent the next several hours laughing hysterically over (sorry, can't share on my blog :)), and then spent the remainder of my evening piecing together my trip to WV and finishing it out once again with another Bones marathon.

Monday I slept in (sooooglorious!) and took my time getting ready. Julie & I headed to the mall for some shopping, but I just wasn't in the mood, so after hitting a few stores and not finding much, we decided to head out for some lunch. In the midst of lunch I got soooo sleepy! So, we went back home and took naps - and let me tell you, that was the BEST nap I've had in a LONG time! I was out for a good 2-3 hours (anyone who knows me knows I have a hard time napping but REALLY enjoy it when I do!). After that I just did laundry, cleaned, watched a little tv and got ready for the week ahead before crashing.

So, there you have it! Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend whether it was full of great activities or doing absolutely nothing :).