On July 14, 2009 seven brave souls set forth from a tiny Maupin port aboard a tiny ship. I wrote a blog post about the disaster at Oak Spring Hole. This video was shown on October 1, 2009 at the EMERGE: Post-Raft Trip Dinner as a testament to their survival of the oak springs hole. The Skipper, Professor, Maryann & Movie Star sang the lyrics below while the movie played before dinner.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this Maupin port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The oak spring would be lost,
the oak spring would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore
of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan
The Skipper too,
The Millionaire
and His Wife,
The Movie Star
The Professor and
Mary Ann,
Here on “Wim Wiewel’s Island”!!!

So this is the tale of the castaways,
They’re here for a long, long time,
The movie hunk lost his wedding ring
He’s in for some couch surfing time.

The first mate and the Skipper too,
Will do their very best,
To make the others comfortable,
Although there soaking wet.

No glasses, no hat, no wedding ring,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As bruised up as can be.

So join us here for dinner my friends,
You’re sure to get a smile,
From seven soaking Portlanders,
Here on “Wim Wiewel’s Island”

Apple Picking & Pie Baking 2009

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

This past weekend was our annual trip to Mt. Hood for fresh apples and the pie baking back at our place. Not as many apples on the trees as years past. We were a little early in the season. But we did get Elstars, Jonagolds and Granny Smiths to make 6 apples pies. Good time had by all!

Bill, Dede & Aaron in Pittsburgh, PA

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

A few weeks ago I went to Pittsburgh for work. Bill and Dede drove down to spend some time. We enjoyed a few meals together and toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water and Kentuck Knob. Looking forward to seeing them in again in a few weeks.

10th anniversary in Hood River, OR

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

We’ve know each other half our lives…. It’s been a lot of fun. Many adventures shared. New friends made together. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring but I know that with her by my side it will all be alright.

Rafting on the Deschutes

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

Last weekend we organized thirteen of our friends to head out to Maupin, Oregon for a day of white water rafting down the Deschutes River. The day started out around 8:00 with VooDoo Donuts thanks to Jeff and Jessica. To add to our sugar and caffein high we stopped at Joes Donuts in Sandy. We arrived in Maupin around 10:30 for a short bus ride up the river to our launch point. Larry and Linden were our guides for the day. Having two rafts in the 85 degree sun led to MANY high spirited water cannon fights. Around 1:00 we stopped at a river side park in Maupin for a great grilled burger lunch and some time in the sun to dry out. After lunch we jumped back in our rafts for more white water adrenaline. Along the way we stopped to jump in and float down a river shoot. It was a lot of fun to just float along in the white water. We ended at about 3:30, loaded back into the short bus and checked out all the professional photos at the ice cream shop. On our drive back to Portland we stopped for a drink and vista at Timberline lodge on Mt. Hood. It was a great day with friends and one of the many highlights to this past summer. Can’t wait to do it again.

Aaron, Rob, Nicora, Josh, Nicole, Mark,
Erika & Janna on the Fremont Bridge

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

I got up at 6:00AM today to join my good friends Rob, Nicora, Josh, Nicole, Mark, Erika & Janna for a morning ride with 20,000 other bike nuts to cross 8 bridges over 24 miles. Along the way we stopped at the top of many of the cities beautiful bridges to take a few photos. Here we all are on the Fremont Bridge. Jeff and Jessica volunteered to help guide riders. And we all met after the ride for Bloody Marys at Genies in SE Portland. Great time had by all! Also thanks to Josh and Amber for hosting such at great deck warming party last night.

Our New Red Sportwagen TDI

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

After 12 great years for driving our Passat it is time to find a new ride. We spent weeks researching, evaluating, test driving, negotiating, calculating and discussing options for our next car. We looked at MANY great cars that fit our criteria. First was we wanted a hatch back to haul, pack, organize and store our stuff. The second was total cost of owners ship. All wheel drive was high on the list but it needed to fit in the formula. My wife also needed to be able to sit comfortably behind me as I drove. Right now gas prices are relatively low but they will go up again so gas milage was important. The cars on our short list were Subaru wagon, Audi A4 & A6 Avant, VW Passat Wagon and VW Sportwagen. I put together a quick formula based on a 12 year car life and gas milage. New cars got more years of life so the purchase cost was divided over all 12 years. In the end the VW Sportwagen TDI had the over all lowest cost of ownership mostly due to the gas milage. If diesel & gas prices head up our cost savings delta will be even greater. We opted for a “Salsa Red” one with panoramic sun roof and winter package. It’s been fun to drive and the best part is the automatic transmission. I’m SO done driving stick, especially on my commute out to Hillsboro.

Oak Spring Hole – Before Going In

Originally uploaded by MediumTall

On Tuesday I took the day off to go white water rafting with the Portland Business Alliance Emerging Leaders Group.  Ninety of us met in downtown Portland and took two large busses out to Maupin, OR. We all broke up into groups of 7 people to a boat with a guide. My boat had the city’s economic development leader, the president of a local university, a lawyers, a small business owner and the marketing lead for the business alliance. It was a great cross section of the community and the conversation was VERY engaging. The morning was great we had buckets and squirt guns and the the heat of the sun made for some great water fights with the other rafts. We stopped for a big picnic lunch, dried off and re-sun screened.

After lunch the rapids got bigger and faster. When we got to the Oak Spring Hole we hit it a little to the left and the whole boat flipped over. We all went flying in every direction. When I came for air I just saw foaming water and could not hear our guide over the thunder of the falls. Once I came to my senses I quickly got my feat pointed down stream to buffer any rocks in my way and tried to pull together any oars, bags, bottles and super soakers I could see. Another raft eventually hauled me in like a wet rat after I floated into calmer waters. The adrenaline rush was amazing and I could not help but shout every word I though. Our guide got all of us back in our raft and we quickly dried off in the warm breeze and the hot sun. Great day had by all. Check out this AMAZING shot of us going into the water!

So for the past year I’ve been co-hosting an internet talk radio (and now video) podcast for my job. This past tuesday was show #38. We’ve recently done a few promotions. Most of them are strange but this one is pretty fun. If your interested in listening to a show or two you can check them out on my work blog.

Matt and I did a 23 miles ride last week in the 100 deg weather. I drank 2 bottles of water and slathered myself with 30 spf. Matt has a great little GPS system with him to track the ride. Here is a map of our ride.