This adventure was off the hook fun. A batch of us from michigan joined up with a batch of friends from South Carolina and our new friends from Cleveland Ohio.

Rob, Scott and I rolled through the back roads all the way to West Virginia avoiding any Imperial Resistance along the way. Scott isn't happy driving anything less than mach 3 so it didn't take but a blink to get there.

We hit a couple of room just short of our destination for night one to stay out of the tourist pricing near the river. We filled up big on Mexican and Margaritas before settling in to the room.

Scott brought along a new toy. A shiny four blade remote control drone to tryout in the parking lot. While Rob and I cracked open the ice cold Yuengling Scott switched the bird on and stepped back in anticipation. This is where the thing shot like a bullet straight up completely oblivious to Scott's panicked attempt to stop it. It blasted up into a tiny dot in the sky before tumbling back to earth. Even the family of deer by the parking lot laughed at the show. I wish we had mounted my GoPro on her before launch.

Come morning we hit the river and loaded our gear in provided waterproof bags onto the gear raft before grabbing inflatable kayaks for the first day's trip. Day one involved class 2 and 3s rapids and way to much paddling. As soon as you get any real momentum the yaks wanted to naturally spin around backwards making for extra work. I definitely appreciate my sea kayaks allot more now.

Day one was rain start to finish but the beautiful scenery and wet rapids made us not really mind too much. reid and our other guide whose name escapes me put together a great lunch on the river bank along the way. Eventually not a mile too soon we hit a sand bar between the rail road tracks following the river and the water. We unloaded the gear raft and went to work setting up camp still in the constant drizzle while our guide set out to make dinner.

We ate like kings sitting in the rain on logs. The alcohol ban on the water was no longer an issue and we soon had a fire going and booze flowing. About two beers into the evening after dinner the rain broke and sporting fresh dry clothes our spirits soared. We had a blast out there in the middle of nowhere at the bottom of that gorge. We all staggered back to our tents. A seemingly endless stream of Coal Trains rumbled past us a hundred feet away between the canyon wall and camp shaking us all night. Even that couldn't stop us from sleeping like logs.

Morning came early and reid and crew kicked it off with a great breakfast. We packed up leaving the tents behind for a crew paddling in that night and hit the water. A mile or two down river we rounded a curve to find a beehive of activity and civilization. Here we used the first bathrooms we saw since the trip started and traded our yaks for rafts. Day two was a blast with class 4 and 5 rapids. Class 6 rapids are considered unsurvivable. We piled into one big ass raft and set out with the cattle call of people arriving in a steady flow of busses from several different rafting companies.

We choose the only non corporate local outfit. Not out of some well intentioned effort to support the locals but because it was the cheapest. Our equipment didn't all match and covered every color possible. We later learned the guys had forgot to load paddles, helmets and vests and had to beg up any extras they could get from the fancy companies.

We were definitely the ragtag crew out there which we reveled in gladly and wore like a badge of honor. We were the only people that had been on the river for days in the rain and shitting against trees vs the fresh from the hotel showers and Bob Evans tourists in every other raft. The other groups with their matching gear, contrived rally calls and paddle high fives were pretty dorky.

I pointed out that the day was right out of every summer camp movie in the 80s. We were the poor kids from the run down camp across the lake surrounded by the rich snotty kid camps and our camp counselor would be Bill Murray. Should we ever do this again we all agreed we would use the same outfit.

We hit the river hard. reid our guide got allot of props from the other guides for getting us up into the hydraulic you see in the video. Apparently it's unheard of in a raft as loaded down as ours. The big rapids were a blast. I had to laugh at myself more than once as we set up for a string of rapids planning our course. You would look at the drop off and water flying everywhere and think nervously "holy shit". Then as your pulse quickens and your grip on the paddle tightens you look over at the raft next to you at the mom and her two grade school aged kids laughing without a care in the world waiting to hit the same waterfall.

We slid under the rusty rainbow bridge to end the day. I think everyone has seen video clips of bungee and base jumpers diving off this bridge. We were all exhausted I don't remember anyone wishing there was more. The South Carolina crew packed up and headed south. Scott, Rob and I headed to our hotel we reserved for the night bringing with us Dwaine and his lovely bride Crystal who hung with the guys like a rock star. It's not always easy being the only girl on a gritty guy weekend in the backwoods.

My old friend from Detroit now living in Virginia Kenny AKA "Mr. Asshole" drove the hour over and hit a room also. The guys rallied after cleaning up and soaked our sore asses in the pool and Jacuzzi before we hit the hotel bar. The bar there is the hot spot of town and all the drunks were there making for a good time. We had way to much fun at the local boys expense and eventually had to escape drinks in hand as the rednecks were getting in my face ugly.

Damn good trip. Took a week to regain my strength. Two weeks to lose my grin.