Down The River

so i go out to price inflateable kayaks yesterday. me and the illustrious thorin bounce from store to store looking for the holy-grail of inflateables...the unpuncturable! finally, our last stop, downtown rei--expensive nice boats only. just as we are ready to pack it in, i hear someone call my name. it is my old buddy, steve, who is now an employee of rei. long story short, we find ourselves in the back room looking at horribly nice rigs that have been returned for some reason or another...like the $600 white-water rig that has a broken zipper. after further inspection, we come to the conclusion that the zipper is not actually broken, simply off track and we fix it...thus walking out with this not-really-used-too-much $150 rig that freaking rules. i will be on the upper santiam river tomorrow shooting rapids and smiling like someone who got away with a crime!

what a good day!