Thanks to Kathy we had stellar Saturday night dinners – oh those ribs.  Always soothing the wounded egos from the week.  A little play at the horse shoe pit helped to encourage a friendliness in competition. Steve spent many evenings casting in the Rio Grande, catching smallmouth bass and trout  and releasing them back again to the river.  Not much different than his days in the office sitting over the keyboard waiting for the tug on his line.  Reeling them in and then releasing them to the river.  And boy did they enjoy the ride.

Author of this blog. CJ

We have the photos to prove it.  In keeping up with the times, the counsel of elders surrendered to the “social network”  and we now have the means to woo the world through visual imagery.  They chose Britt for the task and he didn’t let them down.  The 2011 season has been visually and virtually documented and released to the world.  Reminds me of the velvet underground line “people take pictures of the summer to prove that it really existed.”  Which may be the case for those of us that know what we do.  But for those that don’t,  the vision was given to them and many said, I want to do that – once again affirming that our participation is required and when it comes to the Web, you must be present to win. Which brings me to Kathy – she stepped up to join the Dixon Volunteer Fire department.  We are grateful for our local fire department and now proud to say that one of our own is representing us. This incidentally coincided with the fact that collectively we gave up smoking cigarettes. Not a butt was sucked on, inhaled, or stomped on.  Now how many river companies can say that. Ultimately the deciding factor was the personal choice to honor the clean air act, inside and out.

The August Rio Chama trip was a personal achievement for Karen in that she and the crew Rhino and James pulled off a wilderness trip for members of a rehab center.  The hardest challenge was finding guides that could stay sober for 72 hours.   Orlando, who is known for his ability to think out of the box, became a Box guide this year.   Honorable mention goes out to James who not only built his own plane, but rowed the Box on several occasions.  We are especially thrilled that he made a safe landing in both instances. And how can we forget about Ben.  Yes, that quiet little warehouse mouse who works his magic and leaves all of us wondering how did this ever get done.  We are SO glad you are around.
What else you say?  You want more?  I can’t go on any longer. The clock is ticking and we are nearly done with the clean up.
In closing I’d like to say that on the surface it may appear that it was just another river season, same ole, same ole.  But I choose to look at New Wave as a place where we can discover talents and our dreams come true.  A Wilderness Therapist looking for a vehicle, a videographer/photographer, a massage therapist, artist, a father, student, a musician or courageous newbies that seek the happy-go-lucky river guide life.  It is the veteran guides that know that running rapids ain’t for sissys. After all, the river is here for everyone, but not everyone is meant for the river.

Thank God for New Wave (or Kathy and Steve).

James writes:

“In may of 2007 my dad (Jim Shinas) and I started building an experimental aircraft in our 2 car garage in White Rock. 4 years and 2400 hours later I flew it for the first time on July 22nd 2011. Here is a short video of the flight.”

The proper way to swim a rapid.

The Summer in Northern New Mexico is upon us here on the Rio Grande River. Not only do we raft the whitewater but we also swim it. These folks are just cooling off.