In 1986, as Mark and I wandered around the U.S. Chinook and Canada in our small, we stopped in beautiful places, and sometimes spent the day hiking. When we discovered we were in Oregon rafting on the McKenzie River and enjoyed it very much, we went into a K-Mart and bought a "four men" Sevylor raft. When you say four, I think they really mean two adults. The adjustment in the shower folded raft of Chinook, along with some other expenses. We never use the shower because the water would have been too cold, we stopped in RV parks and a shower of 50 cents or a dollar.

That raft ended up paying for itself by the great number of adventures that led us to board it. We used to go fishing on Lake Siltcoos in Oregon, and a lagoon near Cascade Head, Oregon. We have up to 30 games on this stretch of white gouache in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, with some of the neighbors than a truck. Three or four of us would jump on the raft, and keep burning in water white, then into the river a mile where he had worldwide pile and the raft back into the truck and drive back to the "put in" the field, and do it all again. Apparently, (surprise, surprise), people first went to the brave (or foolish) enough to do so. Pioneers!

When we got to Saskatchewan, Canada, home of the magnificent surroundings of Jasper, we decided to take a turn in the Athabasca River. So we parked our Chinook in the where we want to land, and then hitchhiked to the raft where we want to put in Everyone in Canada has a truck, you know.

If you have not been rafting, you should try it before you leave this earth. It's fun. The water from the Athabasca fiercely cold, as mentioned above, and any that are of a dip in it for too long can suffer and even die from hypothermia. But still we have built in, along with a bottle of BV Cabernet. It was a very thing that Lewis and Clark done, as never before in this river, and there was nobody to take our hand and lead us. This was an adventure of pure adrenaline. At a time of division the river and we decided to go left, hoping it would not be the party that led to a great fall or drop something.

Then, at one point Mark started to shake our little raft. It really can be an elf, sometimes, and I remember the place where he plunged into the river was relatively shallow. Brrrrrrrrrrr! If that not occurred, had not done so great for adventure (and Mark knew it.)

Soon we reached the place where our caravan was parked. We leave the raft, dried it off, put it in our van, and then went to Sunwapta Lodge for a delicious gourmet dinner. I still remember the roasted garlic sourdough bread.

We were in our late 20's at once, and often find people told us: "You're doing the right thing to retire now, work later. "They were right. Too many people wait until they" retire "to go on adventures and then do it. The previous owner of our Chinook had wanted to go on a road trip when he retired. But he had a heart attack and never did. Instead, he had to sell his dream of a young couple, fearless.

Do not wait too long to realize their dreams. Now is the only time you have.

Patty Mooney has been writing since the age of 16. Her favorite topics include women’s issues, homelessness, homeless veterans, the arts, cinema, biographies, nature and video production. Her work has appeared in many publications around the world, including the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Reader, Create Magazine, Post Magazine, Women’s Sports & Fitness, Yoga Journal and others. You can read her blog, “A Diary Left Open” at http://www.sandiegovideoproduction.blogspot.com. Her business site is http://www.crystalpyramid.com.

Yukon River Canoe Trip