# 3 White water rafting

White water rafting is something on my bucket list that I have had the opportunity of completing more than once (4 times to be exact). Each time was a very different experience and a lot of fun. The first year I did it was maybe the most memorable because it was the first time I was white water rafting and everything was a surprise (this also happened to be the same year that I went bungee jumping).

The following photos are group shots of each year that I went white water rafting. Except, however, for the 2^nd year, where we spent most of our time partying and almost getting evicted from the ranch house we rented. I assume they don’t like it when people try riding their donkeys and take their antique carriages out for a spin… needless to say, we never got around to taking group photos.

This was year 2
 A few hours later I woke up to him peeing on my buddies pillow!

 

Year 1

Year 2
This sign was hanging at the end of our gravel driveway leading to the barn.

Year 3

Year 4

The third year that I went we experienced, by far, the best white water I have ever rafted on. One of the rapids we hit was through the main channel of the river called “The Bus Eater”, and it was pretty insane! Here are some pictures of us hitting this wall of water head on. I am in the second row, on the right side.

White water rafting is something that I will definitely do again. However, I would love to do it somewhere that is a tad more risky and heart pounding. Zambezi river anyone?

For more information on white water rafting in Ottawa please visit Wilderness Tours or check out National Geographic’s top 10 white water rafting destinations.

#3 White water rafting

# 91 Grow a beard for a month

This week was a pretty cool father son event that involved shaving our sexy beards! Oops… Looks like I gave away # 91 Grow a beard for a month.

For years I have wondered what it would look like to grow some facial hair on this baby face of mine. I thought it would be interesting to attempt to let it grow for a little while and see what happened. My goal was a month…

Here are the results!

After Week 1

After Week 2

After Week 3

After Week 4

One Month!!!

 After a month of growing out this beast, it was now time to shave it! My dad decided he would join me and shave his beard that he has been growing for one whole week (makes me look pathetic).

Maybe I want this another month?

But then I wouldn't have anything to blog about!

Showing me up after only one week!

I'm darker though! Thank you Just For Men...

In order to learn French, I must look French...

Unfortunately it's Movember...

Grow a mo, save a bro

Even if your mo looks like that ^

# 91 Grow a beard for a month.

#23 Eat Something Really Weird

This week I attempted something that was very different… Although it was very funny at times, it also tested my gag reflex a ton. This week I can cross off #23 Eat Something Really Weird (although this dish could be considered popular cuisine around the world).

I decided I would grab 2lbs of chicken feet (that’s right, chicken feet) from my local Asian supermarket and look up a customary way of cooking them. I stumbled upon a bunch of spicy recipes traditionally done in the Philippines. The pictures looked like something I could handle and decided I would give it a try.

First I had to make sure I had the following ingredients…

- 2 lbs chicken feet

- 2 tbsp oyster sauce

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- ¼ cup green onions, chopped finely

- 2 tbsp cornstarch (diluted in 1/2 cup water)

- 1 thumb ginger, cut into strips

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- 2 tbsp Chinese black beans

- 1 tbsp garlic, minced

- Chili (or crushed red pepper)

- 3 cups water

- 1 cup cooking oil

            Next I had to clean the chicken feet and remove the claws.

Removing them from the package took some motivation

Boiled for 5 minutes

Then washed with cold water

Placed on the cutting board to be cleaned and declawed

Talk about a pedicure!

            After the feet were declawed and boiled for 5 minutes, it was time to sauté the minced garlic and chopped ginger in the pot. At the same time I was supposed to add 1 cup of cooking oil (I neglected to read the recipe correctly however, and only put in a little oil, as if I were frying an egg). After realizing the bonehead move, I removed half of the chicken (1lb) to try to redeem my mistake. Because I only cooked half of the recipe I should have also put that into consideration in the next steps… I didn’t though (Jack Astor’s should forever keep me out of the kitchen).

6 feet instead of 12 now...

            At this point it was time to mix the rest of the ingredients and eventually the sauce would thicken (once again… Not the case).

Yummy!

            Although I completely messed up the recipe, I figured I still had to give them a try. This is how it went…

Dad, am I really about to do this?

Why am I here right now?

hmmmm...

My dad convinced me to put the whole foot in my mouth.

Why did I do that?

Enough is enough!

In the garbage...

Rinsed my plate...

And in the dishwasher!

            I also left out the part where I found a video on how to cook this recipe in Spanish… Unfortunately me no speaky! If I decide to try this dish again, I will most definitely leave it up to someone who knows what they’re doing.

            #23 Eat Something Really Weird

#2 Bungee Jumping

So unfortunately this week I was unable to complete something from my list. I had an idea that I pretty much “chickened” out of doing, and so I ran out of time (this will make more sense after reading next weeks post). So for this week I am posting about a bucket list item I did in the past that was an exhilarating experience!

This was a weekend that will be hard to forget. It was my first real road trip and we were headed off to Ottawa River. We succeeded in going white water rafting and drinking lots of wobbly pops but we had another idea in mind as well. The other plan we were playing around with was bungee jumping.  And so July 29^th 2005 eventually became the day that either gravity would send me to the hospital or a big rubber band attached to my ankles would stop me before that point and send me soaring back up in the sky

I remember it being the Friday of a long weekend that we arrived and everyone was slowly starting to pour into the resort. A bunch of us were standing around watching this girl attempt her first ever bungee jump. At this point we were still trying to decide if we were going to jump or not. The bungee operator at the top of the tower told the girl that he was going to count down from 3 and then she would jump. “3-2-1…” she didn’t budge. So he yelled it louder so that more people would flock over and cheer her on. “3-2-1…” still nothing. This girl was absolutely freaking out but unfortunately there are only two ways down. Either you climb down 150ft crane or you jump. There is no elevator option! Finally after about 6 attempts and a bunch of us yelling at her to jump, she finally went. The scary part that had me holding my breath was that she decided she would jump feet first. I anticipated the whiplash that happened as her head swung down below her feet at the bottom… However, I didn’t expect her body to look like such a rag doll through the air. After watching that, we were all trying to talk each other into jumping… in the end I think 10 out of the 12 of us did it!

A view from the river

In order for us to complete the bungee jump there was a ton of paperwork to fill out and typical safety procedures to follow. Then came time to climb the tower. The tower was a 150ft crane positioned over the river and I was climbing it with nothing attached to me!  I was climbing that tower one white knuckle-clenching fist at a time. At one point I made the mistake of looking down and every next step after that felt much more intense. At one point I thought to myself, “I’ve got to be there by now, if I fall, I’m doomed” but I looked up and realized I was only half way. Going up the last section of the crane I had to weasel around some ladders which was very tricky. I remember thinking to myself “I’m 140ft up in the air, still not attached to anything, shouldn’t this be the easiest part”? When I finally reached the top of the crane the look on my face must have been priceless! When it was my turn to go, I had to walk to the end of the crane to meet the guys who would fix me up with the harness and bungee cord. The walk over was just as intense as the climb. It was a good 150ft and I was holding onto the sides of the railings as the crane slowly swayed back and forth. By the time I had finally made it to the end I had committed myself to jumping because there was no way I would be climbing back down that tower. I felt safer hurling my body towards the water with a bungee cord attached to me! After some quick small talk from the guys and some last minute adjustments, it was time to jump. All I could think about was how that girl couldn’t go on her 3 count and I didn’t want to do the same thing. The last thing I remember is the guy pointing out to an old dock and saying something like “jump out and try and land on it”. He announced my name, and then screamed “3-2-1!” Before I knew it my hands and face had hit the water and I was being sprung up again. This continued a few times until a boat arrived below me waiting to bring me down. The adrenaline was just pumping through me. As I got into the boat and drove away I couldn’t help but think “AGAIN! AGAIN!”

Yaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

Click here for more information on Wilderness Tours Adventures

#2 Bungee Jump

#70 Fly a kite

This week I had a surprise from a friend of mine who decided she would help me knock off one of the things from my bucket list.  Together we tackled #70 Fly a kite! Yes, I realize it may seem weird that I never flew a kite in my childhood, but I have for sure been told to do so more than once.

The first thing we did was build the kite together, instead of buying one. Of course, she was well prepared and had purchased all the materials needed before surprising me with this idea (so anyone thinking of helping me with something on my bucket list, please take notes)!

The first step in building our very own kite was to determine what style we were going to construct. My friend had already researched the idea so she pretty much told me how we were going to do it, which made it much easier to get down to business. A diamond shaped kite that was going to be not too big, and not too small!

Next we had to connect two 10-inch skewers together making one full-length 20-inch rod.  We then had to repeat this step for an equal 20-inch rod in order to make a cross.

The next step was to carve notches into the skewers so we could tie our string to the outer edges of the skewers creating a diamond shape around them.

Once we had our diamond shaped frame, we then placed it on a garbage bag and cut out our shape.

Next we folded the bag over the string and taped it on.

The final steps were to add some fabric for the tail and, of course, some fishing string to fly the kite. Voilà!

At this point it was time to try and fly the kite, even though the winds were not all that great. The first attempt went like this…

Following that we were in hysterics, absolutely crying at our epic fail of an attempt. I think we both had anticipated it miserably failing to begin with, so it made this run much more funny than expected.

After that my friend decided she was going to give it a shot and teach me a thing or two. She started by concentrating really hard… then went for it!

Because her attempt was successful, I needed to have a decent run at it, to be able to say I flew a kite too. After all, how hard could this really be? We figured closer to the water might help, as it was much windier the closer we got.

With a brief gust of wind, I gave it a go, and away she went!

We did it! We flew a kite and crossed off another item from my bucket list!

#70 Fly a kite