Date: 2006-07-22
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Miles today: 0.0

When we woke up today we started heading towards the trail. It was a dreary day. As we were heading to the trail we saw a river outfitter. We talked about how nice it would be to be on the river. After several deliberations we started thinking of the options of taking an aqua blaze. Since the trail followed the Housatonic River we decided to do a little canoeing. And we figured since it was raining we were going to get wet anyways and it would be better to be in the water. When we got to the canoe place we talked to them about renting canoes. The price was a little high but it was really cheap to rent tubes. That was what we wanted. Right up our ally. Since there were 5 of us I figured we needed 6 tubes. One for the beer of course. But this company was on top of that. They had a special cooler tube that you just tied onto your tube and it kept the beers cold. I would like to meet the guy who invented that and shake his hand. It was amazing to be on the water. Since pretty much every summer of my life has revolved around water, whether it¢s rafting rivers or tearing up the lake on a Waverunner. We floated down the river soaking our feet which was defiantly needed. Once we got done we piled in the car and took Moon Beam to meet her relatives. After dropping her off, we tried to find a place to stay. Since it was raining we thought about getting a hotel. We went to every hotel with in a 50 mile radius. If they weren¢t sold out they were really expensive. So we started looking for the cheapest looking hotel. When we found the sleaziest one we could find. It was my turn to go in and try to negotiate. I went in and asked the guy if they had any room at the inn. He said they had a room. I asked how much. He said $140. My jaw hit the ground. I blurt out ¢You¢ve got to be kidding me.¢ He informs me it was not a joke. At this point we I was very frustrated. ¢No, honestly how much is a room¢ I asked again. ¢$140¢. This is when I lost it and said, ¢A crack head wouldn¢t even stay here. Where do the crack heads stay?¢ He informs me we were in Connecticut and there were no crack heads. I honestly find it hard to believe there are no crack heads in Connecticut. The conversation gets very heated about whether or not there are crack heads around. At this point FDR had seen be in there in a major argument with the guy so he comes in and drags me out back to the truck. As we leave and were trying to figure out what to do Rain Maker mentions that he has some friends at U Mass. It was only about a little less than an hour away and the guess would be less than $140 so we went for it. When we got there we showered then went to one of their friend¢s house for a party. Now if you thought I felt at home on the water, being at a college party really made me feel at home. When I was in college I went to a few parties. When we walked in we headed down to the basement where there were some people playing beer pong and hanging out. When we walked down the first thing we noticed was that they had a washer and dryer. We jumped on it dropping hints that we needed to use it but im sure they could already tell. After getting all our clothes we kept partying. The funny part was that we had huge beards and looked out of place. After showing the Zoo Mass kids how we played beer pong back at Wittenberg and running the table the biggest culture shock came. When I was in college we played games that revolved around drinking. Two of the guys started playing punch for punch. Which simply is they just take turns hitting each other in the arm till one backs out. It seemed like the worst party game ever. Not because you didn¢t have to drink but because it looked like it hurt really bad.   After our clothes were dry we headed back to Rain Makers friends house to crash. Every one crashed out except FDR and me. He asked if I wanted a beer and I said no I was good. The only response he had to that was, ¢You know it¢s sad when the old man is the only one up still drinking on a college campus.¢ And if you know me I didn¢t let that fly. We had a couple more and retired for the night.