Throwback Thursday # 20: Row Row Row Your Boat...

“Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming ... WOW! What a ride!” ~ Unknown

I'm going totally out of order here. But I think this is one of my favorite summer stories, if not one of my favorite days of my life. Picture it, Sonoma County, June 2008.

The firm took us on a KILLER wine tasting weekend (don't worry...blog on that coming soon!) in Sonoma. We stayed at the beautiful Sonoma Lodge, where everyone got their own room, or their own cottage if they had brought a date along. Because I hate being dateless to anything, my best friend ever in life, BFF, came to join me!
The last day of the retreat was a free day, so we could do whatever we wanted. Some people went to the spa, some slept in, some went home early. The fun people went kayaking/canoeing. And thus, the story begins.

My fellow summer associate and good friend and her husband had called around and booked kayaks for the day. When they asked if anyone else wanted to come along, they got quite a contingent---in all there were 9 of us up for the challenge. We loaded into vehicles and headed out. We stopped at Subway to get lunch that we would stop an eat along the river (this will be important later). Off we headed to navigate the Russian River.
When we got there, we had three kayaks and three canoes. The kayaks were one person and the canoes were for two. So BFF and I ended up in a canoe. You need to realize, canoes are much harder than kayaks. Now, I've never used a kayak, but I am sure this is true. Had BFF not have been there and I would have had a kayak to myself, I'm sure none of the disasters you are about to read of would have occurred.

We're canoeing along. Everything is fine. Then it happens. Our canoe tips over. For the life of me I don't know how it happened. But here we are, in the middle of the Russian River, canoe turned over, trying to swim to the shore, stuff (including sandwiches, shoes, etc.) floating right on down the river. Yea. Well after we gathered everything back up, and managed to save one sandwich that was somehow tied in an airtight bag, we flip the canoe over and get in again. This couldn't have been more than 20 minutes into the trip, so I figured it was common and everyone would flip at some point in our journey.

So we continue along. I am in the front, BFF is in the back. We somehow end up on the bank about to run right under a tree. Seeing this I yell "Duck!" and lean to the left. My dear BFF also leans to the left. You can guess the result. Yes, flip flops and surviving sandwich bag go floating down the river again. By this point BFF and I are screaming our heads off at each other about how stupid the other one is. Everyone else has gotten pretty good at fetching shoes and sunscreen as they float by. So, we're back in the canoe and we go again. Mind you, we've flipped twice. No one else has had any issue. (We gave our stupid sandwich to my friends Hawaii and Gonzaga at this point, because they looked to be a much safer choice!).

Then my married friends manage to get sort of caught on a tree that had collapsed in the river. The husband was so nice to the wife, saying things like "oh it's okay honey, just paddle a little. Lean to the right a bit, we'll get it." They did. In the mean time, BFF and I are literally screaming at the top of our lungs about common sense and who is supposed to be steering. We weren't mad, it's just how we communicate. :)

We continue down the river and at one point there's a big rock on the middle. Now, this was literally THE ONLY ROCK sticking up out of the river. We probably could not have hit that rock head on if we tried. But, because we were not trying, we hit it. No tip over this time, but it did make for a hilarious scene and story for my friends Hawaii and Gonazaga, who saw the whole situation, to tell for the rest of the summer.
Well, to wind this up, we ended up flipping over one more time. I don't remember how this one happened, but we were pretty good by now at getting things back under control. No one else ever flipped. Not at all. Go figure.


I think our canoe was defective. Or maybe it was because we were from the desert and had never seen much water before. Regardless, it was a great day and one I will never forget. Notice we have no pictures while canoeing. Luckily, we did not take the camera. Good call there.


In the end, BFF remained my best friend despite the yelling. After this, I've pretty much decided that when I apply for the Amazing Race, I have my partner already picked out. We'll be a dream for CBS' ratings!