Home sunny home!

Back in California I have finally escaped the rain and dreariness of the northwest. During my screenings in Oregon and Washington I got some friendly debate about my claim that California has the best paddling in the world. While I readily admit (and was glad to experience) both those other states have some awesome paddling that is every bit as beautiful, challenging and dramatic as Cali (as this picture of Kilchis river on the Oregon coast shows). But I always had the trump card to through down - it's warm and sunny here for most of the year and the paddling is all the better for it. That was hard for anyone to argue with.

Last night was my final screening for the trip at Ft. Bragg. It was sponsored by Liquid Fusion Kayaking run by my friends Jeff and Cate. Before the screening they took me out for some kayak surfing which was small but fun. The show was at a nice restaurant/bar down by the water that Jeff occasionally works at - it was interesting to see the restaurant patrons curiously checking out what was happening on the other side of the bar. What was happening was about thirty local paddlers enjoying some good kayaking action.

And I got one of the best compliments so far at the Ft. Bragg screening. After the show a lady came up and introduced herself as Diane and asked if I could give her a receipt if she purchased a DVD. I said that I didn't really have the capability to print anything out and asked why she needed it. Well, turns out she's a fourth grade teacher here in California and thought the video would be great to show her class and if she had a receipt she could claim the cost as a job expense. So I quickly wrote her out a receipt by hand and I'm hoping my work may play a small roll in helping generate future generation of Cali paddlers.