2001-07-21 - 10:25 p.m.

Back from whitewater rafting on the Ocoee. The experience was significantly tamer than I had expected, although it did get quite interesting when the boat hit "Humongous" (one of the rapids) and flung one of the guys in front of me into the current (which chewed him up a bit before we finally caught up with him and hauled him back on board).

Afterwards, the BYM and I hopped back onto the Concours and rode to Chattanooga, where we ate antipasti and fettucini at Tony's, and then played a game of bocce ball with a sweet middle-aged Italian-American couple named Buddy and Madeline who were practicing for next week's tournament. Then we refreshed ourselves with iced coffee (him) and lemon Italian soda (me) and the screamingly funny conversations of the teenagers in Rembrandt's Cafe.

Then the BYM dropped his wallet in the middle of a six-lane divided highway. Oy. (Wallet retrieved without harm to BYM or bike after much swearing.) The ride back was otherwise uneventful - I saw a bunch of yellow diamond signs warning "Travel At Your Own Risk" as we flew down the bumpy blue highway, but I'll take that over loose gravel on a mountain road any day.

And now I'm massively sleepy from such doses of water, sun, and wind, so it's off to bed for me...