New Years Weekend

This was another long weekend! This one was much needed. I really didn't think I was going to make it through it! Thankfully, I did. Thursday was New Year's Eve and as city dwellers do, we went out and had a night on the town. A couple of friends, M & D joined me, to start the evening off, at Chief's. We had dinner and a few rounds of beers, then headed to another friend's house (K) where we ended up consuming 3 bottles of wine between 5 of us. The sober...est of us drove us back to my friend's home and we hung out there till Ashley could join us. Ashley had to close, but was off on New Year's Day. So about 11:30 pm we ended up going down-town to see the festivities there. We watched the balloon drop at the Hyatt and then went across the street to the blue Martini. We danced the night away and welcomed a new year with out anyone getting sick or arrested. We all made it home safe and in one piece about 3 am.

The next day was another story. I woke up with my first full-tilt hangover! I got up with the rum-shits, then the room spun for a while, then I dry-heaved, and followed all that with lots of Advil! This was all way before 9am. You see, I had to meet up with the same friends from the night before to go paddling. Nice thing is, I was not the only one messed up. I got feeling immediately better once I was in my boat and on the water. It just does something to me. The waves were just what my guts and head needed. M didn't fair so well and was miserable the entire time on the water.

Every year a group of kayakers meet and paddle a local river on New Year's Day and they call this a Hair of the Dog paddle. The name is a mystery to me, but I take part every year and assume I will continue the tradition. This year was the Tyger in Spartanburg, SC. We normally run the Green in Saluda, NC but Duke Power had the water off. The Tyger was at an ok level and gave us all some fun spots to play around. It is always a good day to be on the river. Here is a picture of M paddling through the first rapid.




So, we all had a blast and the next day, M & D invited me to join them for a Garage Sale @ REI in Asheville, NC. I had never been there and thought this would be a great opportunity o see the place. Wow! Lots of stuff and the people were great! The garage sale really drew a crowd. I am guessing about 600 or so people paraded through there.

After REI, we went down-town Asheville for a pizza and a beer. We ate at Mellow Mushroom and then got out plan together for a short hike to see some waterfalls. We went to Pisgah National Forest and hiked in to see Hooker and Triple Falls. Below are pictures of both. Notice the ice and snow on the ground! Air temp. was about 28!!!
Triple Falls


Hooker Falls

So Sunday is now upon us. Ashley is working days again today so I go do what any crazy person does. I go boating! The air temp is a blistering 17 when I wake up. The weather guy says it will be 35 by 3 pm so that means, lets go paddling!! D and I decided to paddle the Chattooga. I called a few friends who all too quickly said I was crazy and to be safe! One friend came through and was a trooper with us. We met at 12:30 and headed for the put in. The temp was climbing and it was nice and sunny. We put in and splashed around a little before deciding it was way too cold for playing. After about 20 minutes on the water I noticed it was getting harder to move around and then realized why. My PFD and drytop were coated in a thin layer of ice. Below is a few photos from the trip. We all made it without counting fish or swimming. Another successful run on the Chattooga.
Yes that is ice on a branch in the middle of the river!
D practicing his boof stroke!

I got home about 6:30 pm and I made dinner. We had a nice relaxing evening at the house. We have been dog sitting two beautiful labs since before Christmas and their owners came to get them about 9 pm. Ashley snapped this picture of them before their parents picked them up.

And that was my weekend. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. See you guys next week.