It has been awhile since I have had easy access to a computer. I have continued my ramblings around the World as you may have suspected. I would like to apologize in advance for any missed messages. I am still using hotmail, and they arbitrarily delete messages from my inbox because it gets overcrowded with spam. I am looking around for a new service, but don't look forward to the switch.

I am currently in St. Louis, Missouri managing a Christmas Tree Lot for St. Nick's Forest. I have sold trees in Chattanooga before but this is a totally alien environment for me! Lot's of traffic, a huge, flat, wide river with no play until the whitewater course is completed next summer and people everywhere I look. The work is as expected... unloading tractor trailers and carrying Christmas trees everywhere. It isn't glamourous work, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

I spent my fall living at Appalachian Wildwaters in Fayetville, WV. I paddled the Gauley River almost everyday and even got paid for filming rafts from my canoe. Last season I missed paddling the Gauley for the first time since I was about 15; but I made up for it this year. I saw one of my Costa Rican friends for a few days as he competed in the International Rafting competition. West Virginia is one of my favorite places in the World. It's hard to believe how little time I have had to spend there recently!

Eventually all good things come to an end. After running the river almost every day during Gauley season, the river shut down. Ben Edson (fellow WWC alumni and video-boater at AW) and I took a trip to Folley Beach in South Carolina. We paddled the Green Narrows on the way and drove Ben's VW campervan slowly and steadily towards the coast. We didn't arrive in time for the rodeo, but had an awesome couple days lounging and surfing our boats on the waves.

We returned to Asheville, North Carolina and I spent a week training for the Green Narrows Race. This year was the biggest ever and the weather was perfect. Two of my good friends, Bubba and Rachael, were getting married on the same day and I was the first racer and only canoe as I paddled my fastest time ever 8 minutes and 33 seconds. I was happy with my lines although I crashed at the bottom of Gorilla and rolled up full of water and on a slow line. I only waited to see the next two racers safely finish the course and then I raced the rest of the way down the river and back to the Warren Wilson chapel where I ran into a great reunion of old friends. I ended that night falling asleep by a campfire as the sun began to rise.

I arranged to meet O.J. Cote and Jimmy Leithauser (fellow tree-farming, boater bums like me) at Rock Island in Tennessee and left Asheville for the remainder of the year. I arrived a couple days early to spend some time with Rangers Danny and Joe. The TVA folks were as friendly as ever although their generation schedule forced me out of bed way earlier than I would ever choose (starting at 6 am and shutting off by 9 or 10). Within a couple days, Jimmy and OJ arrived and we set off on our Caravan. We had over ¾ of a million miles between our three cars; but our only incident was my muffler sparking on the interstate behind me. Fortunately, this was an easy repair and didn't impede our progress.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Cheers,

Eli