Friday, August 26, 2016

40 Years Later

Today my husband, Kenny, and six of his high school friends left on a 3 day rafting trip down the Green River near Vernal, Utah.  About forty years ago, these guys started canoeing together when they were juniors in high school in Spring, Texas(a suburb outside of Houston).

They were known as the "Texas River Runners" and their favorite river to canoe down was the Pecos River.  These trips consisted of them sleeping on hard rocky grounds, eating pork n'beans out of the can and drinking beer.

I have always been impressed with these guy's friendship.  They all came from strong families.  None of them were from divorced homes.   The majority of their fathers had worked for oil companies. With their fathers being in the oil industry, they had moved around a lot in their younger years.

The strong bond that these guys developed during their high school years is what has kept their relationship together.

When they graduated from high school, they all left for college.  Their freshmen year in college, five of them went to the same college.  After their first year, they began to scatter in different directions. Some attended other colleges and one of them decided to join the Police Academy in Houston.

For many years, they were not able to get together due to getting married, having families and establishing themselves in their careers.

About 10 years ago, my husband decided that the guys needed to get back together and take a rafting trip.  Kenny called everyone and they all said "when do we leave".  He wanted an outfitter that would take just their group.  After making many calls, he finally found an outfitter in Idaho that would take them down the Salmon River.

The trip on the Salmon River was a little different than their first trip down the Pecos River.  The outfitters took care of everything.  They brought the tents and set them up.  They cooked all the meals which included gourmet cooking and various wines.

Since that trip, they have gotten together every two years and have had different experiences with each rafting trip.

As I type, I just imagine them sitting around the bonfire talking about life 40 years ago, as well as life now; fishing during the day; rafting the rapids and sleeping under the stars.

A wonderful treasure to have such great friends!


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Old friends are the best friends!!

steppingoutshiningthrough said...

Old friends are the best! You don't have to repeat your story.

Rick Watson said...

Great story Denise.

steppingoutshiningthrough said...

Thanks, Rick!

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

How great hope they all had a wonderful time