We woke up around 7:45 to get ready to go rafting.  We were supposed to pick up beers last night, but didn’t, and drank all that we had left.  Luckily in Montana you can buy beer just about anywhere and its dirt cheap.  So we picked up a few 30s for the rafting trip; they told us to bring some beers, so 60 beers for 6 of us might have been a little overkill, but we can always share…  If we get too drunk, we can always just walk back to the RV, or hitchhike, so we should be fine; as long as we don’t drown.  They provide us lunch, so at least we didn’t have to worry about that.

We used Wild West Rafting, and when we got there, we donned our wetsuits and got ready to go.  They asked if we brought any beverages, and they were shocked to see us with (2) 30s.  (Banquets of course!  BTW, that means Coors Original…)  They told us we couldn’t bring them on the first part of the trip because it was too technical, so we pregamed in the parking lot for a bit and got a little sauced up.  The water was really cold, so cold we had to wear wetsuits, so we needed a little something to keep us warm (Yes, Mom – I know it wont really keep me warm and will in fact make me prone to hypothermia).

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Tags: Chico,Drinking,Gardiner,Hot Springs,Montana,Rafting,White Water,Yellowstone
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I woke up around 5am and was freezing.  I couldn’t feel my legs and my arms were pretty numb.  My feet were effectively on top of snow, because the bedding we put down wasn’t under me.  I was ready to go.  Mark woke up around the same time, and we decided to go to the jeep; it had heat.  We wandered up the road to the visitor center where we’d parked.  He was carrying a pillow and I had a water bottle.  We joked about extreme camping.  The visitor center was closed, and wouldn’t open for a few hours.  We walked out by the lake, and it was amazing.  It was the bluest I’d ever seen a lake.  It really was amazing.  It was definitely worth risking hypothermia for.

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We ran the jeep engine and fell asleep.  The heat was on full, and we had the satellite radio on.  We woke up a few hours later and it was about 100 degrees in there.  We wandered out to the visitor center and got some breakfast.  We got bread bowls of clam chowder and some coffee.  It really hit the spot.  We hung out there for a bit and went to get Whit and Danielle.  We picked them up and they got some breakfast.  We decided to pack up the tent, and not camp for a second night.

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Tags: College,Crater Lake,Drinking,Eugene,Food,Football,Oregon
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We woke up around 9 and moved the RV to a parking lot.  We couldn’t stay in the spot, and we didn’t know how long it would take for us to hike, so a parking lot was the only choice we had.  (And it was in front of the General Store, so we could stock up on over priced supplies if we wanted.)  I wore gym shorts, my fly fishing hat, my hiking boots, and my backpack with lunch in it, my camera and knife attached, and a Nalgene bottle hanging from it.  I had already made my first mistake.  Mark and I drank a bit the night before, and were probably already dehydrated, and had not drunk any water before heading out on a hike in the desert.  I also didn’t take any ibuprofen which would later lead to my knees killing me on the stairs all the way up.)

We walked the trail of time around part of the rim, which gave us some good views.  We found a trail that was much less popular and further out than the Bright Angel Trail, and it went to a dripping spring (it was named the Dripping Spring Trail).  It was only about 3.75 miles each way, so we figured it was a good day hike.  There was a snack bar at the top, so we grabbed something to eat before heading out, I think I grabbed a breakfast Danish (sadly, it was not nearly as good as those in Copenhagen).

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Tags: Arizona,Dehydration,Drinking,Gambling,Grand Canyon,Las Vegas
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We woke up and went to get Coffee at the Cafe DuMonde.  I got a black coffee and split some French donuts.  They were both very good.  We wandered around the area, and I stepped in the Mighty Mississippi.  There were musicians everywhere, and it was nice.  The market by the water was cheesy, and everything around there was over priced, but that was what we expected.  Whitson got an alligator claw back scratcher.  We went to Mothers for lunch and got Po Boy sandwiches and Jambalaya.  The employees there were so lazy, and it can seat so many more people than they let in, but I guess that’s part of the atmosphere.  We wandered around a bit more, and passed the casino.  Mark wanted to spend the rest of the day there, but we hopped on a trolley and went back towards the car.  We decided to make a stop at the graveyard to see Walter, but when we got there, we couldn’t find him.  Larissa eventually asked someone if they knew where he was, and they said that he doesn’t really work here and is a bullshit artist.  So I guess he really was lying to us with his stories, but they were funny.  We still wanted his tour of the place, because we didn’t care about facts, we just wanted to be entertained, and that’s what he did last night.

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Tags: Drinking,New Orleans,RV,Texas,Walmart
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We woke up early and went to Walmart to use the bathrooms, and then I saw a McDonalds and got a breakfast there.  I haven’t been awake and near a McDonalds during breakfast hours since I was about 14.  I ate it in the RV, and then started mixing Jack and Cokes, to prepare for the awesomeness that is the Jack Daniels Distillery.  We arrived, and it was a really nice facility.  The visitor’s center was very informative, it showed the old stills and what makes a Tennessee Whiskey.  Our tour guide was possibly the biggest hick on the face of the earth.  He couldn’t have had any job other than a tour guide at “The Plant”.  I took a ton of pictures and was allowed to smell the fermenting corn mash.  It singed the nostrils!  It really did clear up my sinuses, and may be a magical elixir that has yet to be discovered.  It was an awesome place, and the people on our trip were funny.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures indoors, but that didn’t really discourage us from doing so.  In general the only way I can describe it was as a really beautiful location.

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Tags: Alabama,Drinking,Food,Gambling,Jack Daniels,New Orleans,Pulled Pork,RV
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