Hello,
During the last decade of my life I have spent most of or all of each summer working as a River Guide. Its a sweet gig, camp near the river, spend everyday running rapids, either kayaking with my friends or getting paid to guide rafts and cook meals for guests. As well as spend most of my free time either riding my skateboard or road tripping to new rivers and skate parks. It always seem too good to be true. And it sorta is because its a seasonal lifestyle. Once again Fall is here, the rafting season has ended, and such change annually affects several aspects of my life.
In the form of pros and cons it would look like this:
Cons: Pros:
Less work. ---> More time to visit friends and family.
Colder weather for camping. ---> More incentive for visiting friends and family
No water in the rivers makes for no kayaking. ---> I've been kayaking all summer and I'm looking for something else fun to do.
Less income. ---> A great reason for a hitchhiking road trip.
So with this list being the idea behind my next project; let me tell you a little more about my plans. Inevitably, each year, September arrives with the daunting question: What to do until the snow falls? 7 of the last 9 years I've taken the easy way out and made the trip out to West Virginia's Gauley River for another 6 to 8 weeks of Guiding and Kayaking. So basically, I've been there and done that. I'm looking for something off of my own beaten path and decided to pack up my sleeping bag, skateboard, and Nikon D70s and hit the road. I'll be leaving my car in Boise, Idaho and using my feet and thumbs (and a Sharpie marker) to get my self to Santa Barbara, CA and back to the City Of Trees.
I'm going to be leaving from Boise (hopefully by ride share on Craigslist) on Thursday Sept. 11th. headed for Truckee, CA. From there I plan to make stops in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara.
I'll try to keep this blog updated as often as possible as well as my calendar/itinerary. As you can see I only have a few things penciled in so far. Please let me know if you have a couch or yard where I can stay or if you know of any rides headed to where I'm going.
Cool. I'll be keeping ya'll posted.
->James
