A small mix of business and pleasure. First visit to San Fran in nearly 20 years. Before meeting with the folks at Business Objects in San Jose, got to see a bit of the bay area and Silicon valley. Was amazed at how quickly you get into nature. A quick look at the city...
Monday, May 26, 2008
Kayaking? ...Nahe.
We've got nothin' on nature. After a strong performance on the Altmuhl last year, we were utterly humbled by the shallow and rocky waters of the River Nahe, about 60 km West Southwest of Mainz. We tallied a total of three instances of capsizing - the water wasn't exactly thermal-spring fed either.
Met a Samaritan after the second close encounter with the water. We all disembarked, and he drove us (and our kayaks) a ways to a better campground (I don't know where we would have staid that night if we hadn't met him out on the water). He even brought us blankets, a dry sleeping bag, a hot plate of steaming noodles and tomato sauce, and a bottle of wine later on that evening. We sat with him late into the night, watching him smoke cigars and talk about dirt bikes and wasted tax euros.
We are already scheduling our rematch with the River Nahe for next year...we'll make sure to call our Samaritan in advance.
