As recently seems to be the norm and not the exception I am catching up. Because of my lack of speed with regard to posting I will miss out on many of the great things that occurred. Oh well, so goes the life of a working father of three.

***If you are not into reading but like pictures make sure you scroll to the end of this article in order to see the many photos that were taken this year.***

This years river trip was tons of fun, I am not saying that just to encourage those we have invited to come next year it really was a blast. As always it began on Sunday and set up always starts it off. So all those that were there pitched in to set up the kitchen, the eating area, the lounging area and finally each personal tent. As everyone is excited to get going it does not seem to take very long and we soon look like we have lived in the wilderness for many years.

Throughout the first evening people continue to arrive and before you know it it is time for dinner. We all pitch in and enjoy the first of many wonderful meals. It is finally time to head off to bed and for the first time in years I was content putting the kids down and hitting the sack with them. Each night ended about the same this year as I must be getting old. I don’t think I was up to see the camp fire put out even once this year.

Monday would be the beginning of the great times on the river. Each morning starts off the same and we eat an amazing meal to the energy necessary to chase kids, run the river, then come back and do it again. I wanted to have the picture links available here but have not had the time to look for all our runs and therefore have nothing to offer.

The food was great, the river was phenomenal, and the company was reminiscent of times long ago. During the down time between runs or while we waited for dinner we could be seen chasing kids, throwing horse shoes or just sitting down and catching up on all that has changed in the previous year.

Our little city consisted of five (5) campsites for most of the week. One of the sites was the kitchen and gathering area and the other four were housing for the many runners that attended this year. To see all the wonderful areas that we set up, relaxation, sleeping, eating, hanging out, and more CLICK HERE for the photos. You will enjoy a peak inside our tent, notice how clean we kept it this year . . . yea Mom!

The food was stupendous this year with many hands helping to prepare it and many more helping to make sure that there was none left at the end of meal time. For the first time this year we took some pictures of the food in order to show off the great eats we have been bragging about for many years. To see the great food we devoured daily CLICK HERE.

The people were lots of fun also. Each year there are newcomers as the friends are brought and it is so much fun to get to know them all. Some are awfully strange, although I am sure they think the same of me, but each adds a great memory to tradition that is the river! To get a small sampling of the great characters that attended this year CLICK HERE,

Our own children are old enough now and have been enough to get to ride on the kids float trip. This is an opportunity to get them ready for what the real ride will be like when they are ready for it. It is also a very gratifying time for us to see how much fun they have in the boats and the water. This year we had many more people that wanted to ride the float trip so we took the boats instead of the duckies. The kids had wet suits this year and could not wait to get it. Check out the photos of the preparation and the few while we were on the river by CLICKING HERE.

Also as a tradition each year we take a trip into town and walk the streets of Jackson Hole. Prior to walking around we always visit the recreation center and swim in there pool as well as slide down the slides and sometimes we determine who the fastest man on the river is. There were no takers for that this year so I WIN!!! CLICK HERE for a few pictures from out trip to town.

Finally you can CLICK HERE for an inside look at out home away from home just after we have woken up. The kids really like bouncing on me so I do not get to sleep in very much, but if they are happy when they are bouncing I guess it could be worse.

*****If you have pictures from this years trip please email them to me or send them to me on a disk. I know there are more of the runs, the people, the fun and the food. GET THEM TO ME!*****

SEE YOU ALL NEXT YEAR!!