It seems I have been given the honor of writing the second student report which I have no problem with at all. It has been such an exciting jam packed couple of weeks. So, I have a pretty fun and easy job because I get to talk about all the cool things we’ve done in these past few weeks.

Well, first off, leaving the Ottawa River sure brought a tear to everyone’s eye;  all those amazing play spots and our own little village. But, we didn’t despair for long becauseeee……..we were going to visit the world famous Niagara Falls! The whole group was certainly excited for this and that 7 hour car ride was just helping build up our anticipation. The whole van was chattering away at the first sighting of the Niagara Falls exit on the highway. As we entered the city all our eyes were glued to the window and we probably looked like a bunch of kids in a candy shop oogling at everything. The Canadian streets were lined with every touristy shop and museum you could think of. According to Matt Hill, our resident Canadian, Niagara Falls is like our Las Vegas. After we reached the lovely hotel we would be staying at, Dave gave us our curfew and then we were set free. While he, Melina, Tino and Tracy went to go have dinner with a family whose daughter might be attending NRA next semester, everyone else wandered down to the falls. Oh, they were a sight to behold! They were absolutely magical. You can definitely tell we were kayakers though. While everyone there was having there photos taken we were talking about what line would be the best to take off the falls. Afterwards, we went back up to the main street and started wandering around looking at all the places, discussing which one would be the best to explore. It seemed we could never decide because when we made one decision an even cooler place to go look at would pop up and start the whole process over again. When it was about time for our curfew we all meandered back and just collapsed, tired from the driving and eventful evening.

The next day we were able to visit the place where they give helicopter rides over Niagara. Apparently the company is owned by the parents of Jessica, the girl who will hopefully be able to be with us the second semester. How cool! It was like every little boy’s dream being that close up to those big machines. Her family also was so kind to us, they even made it possible for us all as a school group to visit many of the museums, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not.  Leaving there that day, we all breathed a sigh of contentment, all worn out and ready to make the last leg of  the journey back to our home base. The drive back wasn’t that bad, everyone in the car had at least one school assignment they needed to get done for the next school day.

The next week of school consisted of 1 hour and 30 minute classes. I know, I know sounds like a lot of school but do not fear- it was for good reason. The extra long classes enabled us to have time to paddle the Gauley River where the famous “Gauley Fest” is held every year. So sticking out that difficult bit of school for some of the week would allow us have an amazing weekend filled with big water.

Our week ended with us having Friday off to paddle the Gauley River. We had Matt Smink and Dave as our trusty guides showing us down the safe, fun lines. The Gauley has to be one of my favorite rivers to paddle because it has one of my favorite things in whitewater kayaking, big waves! So many people threw or attempted kickflips, wave wheels, and macho moves off these monstrous beauties. Everyone had the time of their lives and there was not one frowning face by the end of the day, or even the whole weekend I might add. Probably because those trips to “Fat Eddys” at the end of our river runs also had something to do with it. I mean who could keep a frown when your slurping up one of West Virginia’s finest milkshakes.

So as you can see quite an eventful couple of weeks. Everyone is still working hard, first as students, then as paddlers. We still have a little bit more to go until our first break, and I’m definitely excited to see what these next few weeks will hold.