In the throes of trying to tie up all the loose ends in our lives before hitting the road for the
Office Odyssey (storing all our stuff, moving out of our apartment, finding temporary homes
for our cats (sniff, sniff), preparing Otto Van Auto for the road), we decided the most
prudent thing for us to do would be to chuck our responsibilities and go whitewater rafting with friends.
It's a natural, right?
Our friends Bennett and Robin (that's them there at the right -- try clicking on Robin's head for a secret message!) decided they wanted to brave the terrors of the Methow River while it was still flush with the spring runoff. Being the bareknuckled thrillseekers that we are, we eagerly hied off for the wonders of the Okanogan area of Washington State.
We wanted a dry run for the upcoming
Odyssey. What we got...well, that was a wet run. We wanted Eastern Washington,
and everything that means -- warm weather, dry breezes, the smell of sagebrush. We got soggy processed
American cheesefood product, the symptoms of hypothermia, and five hours of whitewater river rafting in the rain.
Here you can see the brave, stoic, and noble Kristanne weathering the storm. Is it any wonder I love her so?
Otto Van Auto fared better than the weather. Unfortunately, Otto didn't come with a manual, so we have learned what we can from experience, friends, and what little common sense we can muster. This was our fourth weekend trip with Otto in preparation for the Odyssey and at this point we can safely operate pretty much everything -- the furnace, the stove, the sink, the pop-top, the beds, even the rear sprayer :).
Even so, we still
discovered something new -- our awning doesn't require tent pegs and ropes to stand as we had previously thought.
Although this picture doesn't show it, the awning stands all by itself. Good thing, too, since we had ample need for an
awning on this trip. Bennett and Robin, in their technologically-challenged bus had to come over and sample the
good life in Otto. Notice those thumbs up from Robin and Bennett in the picture? It's as if they're saying, "Yes,
Sid and Kristanne, we do kneel in obeisance to Otto. Thank you for allowing us to revel in his warmth." It's
either that or, "Mmmmm...dry....goooood." You be the judge.
It was a great trip -- good to recharge our batteries for the hectic pace of the next week before the Odyssey begins in earnest! Make sure to check back here daily starting 6/1/97, as we begin to file our dispatches from afar. Get the straight dope on Extreme Telecommuting and find out whether an Office Odyssey might not be right for you, too.