Yakima River

A few of us headed over to Ellensburg for Keith's birthday.
our goal: to float down the Yakima River in innertubes.
we started out basically at the intersection of the road following the river (Canyon Rd), and that east-west running road on down to just before that last big right-bending bend in the river at that small green patch of land that leaves some room between the road and the river.

so we lashed 5 tubes around a 6th center tube containing a cooler full of beer.
we set out on a 4-hour ride just floating the river.
once in a while i'd hop off to attempt some underwater shots, but the view wasn't all that good. the best thing out there was lea's ass hanging through the innertube.
not that i'm complaining, but it got old after one picture.
i took shots of everyone else's ass too, but saved you all the distress of having to see them.

so the ride was pretty cool. there were a few other friendly passer-byers as we made our way.
maybe two-thirds down the river, we came to a point where we could jump about 20 feet down into the water. good times.

there were a few bumpy moments, nothing too bad. the worst parts were being tossed into the low-hanging branches at the edge of the river.
for the most part i acted as the motor (i was the only one with fins) to guide the make-shift raft away from the edge and other obstacles.

toward the end, chris realized that his car key had dissappeared on one of his dips into the river, so when we got to our preappointed destination, we had no way of getting back to keith's place.

so keith hitch hiked back to his car four hours of floating up the river and eventually came back with his car. i guess his ride was mexicans who spoke little english. i wish i could have been there.

instead the rest of us were left to explore the area.
walking up to the main road we came upon a snake.
with the small amount of research online, i can't really distinguish what kind of snake it was, but i know it wasn't a rattler. no rattle.
but it was mostly brown with triangular, symetrical, black stripes that start wide at the center of the body and taper as they flared back toward the tail.
it was probably about 4 feet long when fully extended.
i think it was lazily enjoying the heat from the pavement as we walked up.
for some reason, being fearless at the time i felt like touching it.
so i did.
it's head was a good 2 feet away from its tail, so i just pet the last couple inches of tail.
it started to move. nothing very offensive, it just headed for the nearest area of grass closest to the pavement.
we parted ways with neither party too pissed or scared with each other.

up at the road we scared away a bunch of cows.
after a while, with the sun hiding behind the hills, and having nothing but shorts on, we decided to build a fire. it took one of those large gas lighters, but we got one going.
just as it was about to bloom, keith showed up, so we spread it out and killed it.
we made it back to keith's place, but still without clothes and wallets.
but we got pizza and borrowed clothes, so it was nearly all good.
drinking and more firebuilding ensued throughout the night.
claire eventually showed up from kirkland with the spare and got us all our stuff.
she promptly left back for kirkland an hour later.
poor claire. such is the married life...

the morning after, keith triaged the scene and found himself, air, and randy to be in need of some good ol' fashioned IVs. apparently it's the miracle hangover cure. from what i've heard scuba diving does a body good too. must be the oxygen levels introduced into the bloodstream.

so they got their saline groove on while i played with the dogs.
i missed stu, and i'm pretty sure he missed me, with all the humping and the licking.
i'm his bitch, and i'm perfectly fine with that.
someday i need a dog like his clever ass.

oh. it was good to see keith too.
it had been a while.
maybe times between visits will change here shortly.