General Zhao's Chicken vs. Chow Mein

My new purpose in life is to go whitewater rafting as often as possible.  I've been looking forward to this past weekend ever since last year's trip down the New River.  We returned to West Virginia on Friday, eager to conquer our next challenge, the Gauley River.

Saturday was spent on the Lower Gauley.  The weather was a perfect 85 degrees and sunny, we had a very cute (albeit somewhat inexperienced) raft guide, and our trip was just harrowing enough without putting our lives in actual danger.  Well, Chrissy may disagree with that last point.  The only downer of the day was that not only was there a Zhao party, but there was also a Chow party.  Ultimately there must be a battle between the two, because There Can Be Only One.  Also, both of our groups showed up late.  Ugh, way to feed into the chronically tardy Asian stereotype!

Unfortunately, this weekend's excitement is punctuated with sadness.  Our trip on the Upper Gauley today was canceled because the Army Corps of Engineers had to shut down the dam in order to help rescue teams search for a University of Illinois student who went missing after her raft tipped.  Her body was found pinned in the rocks over seven hours later.  I can't even begin to imagine how I would feel if this had happened to one of the members of our group.  Please keep the woman's family and friends (especially those who were on the trip with her) in your prayers.