We rafted with the company All Outdoors on a one-day trip of the South Fork of the American River.
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| (both rafting photos from All Outdoors site) |
I hadn't ever been rafting on the American River, but my dad used to be a river guide on the this same fork during his summers in college. He reminded me before our trip that water fights were one of the highlights of rafting, and I took his advice seriously. Needless to say, our boat "won" our trip; we conquered all the others, which was both fun and hilarious.
The trip covered several class II and III rapids, which had awesome names like "Hospital Run," "Satan's Cesspool," and "Highway to Hell." Our boat of 7 people in addition to our guide made a strong paddling team, and we handled the rapids very successfully--no flips or ejections. (We're already talking about a future trip involving class IV rapids to increase the thrill factor!)
The trip covered several class II and III rapids, which had awesome names like "Hospital Run," "Satan's Cesspool," and "Highway to Hell." Our boat of 7 people in addition to our guide made a strong paddling team, and we handled the rapids very successfully--no flips or ejections. (We're already talking about a future trip involving class IV rapids to increase the thrill factor!)
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After rafting, we joined our new friends at Pangaea Two Beers Cafe in Sacramento. This place serves coffee and snacks in the morning and then turns into a beer garden with excellent food at night. This meal not only hit the spot, but we were also able to order a particular beer I've never seen on tap, let alone tasted: Pliny the Elder (Double IPA, Russian River Brewing Company).
This beer wins national beer contests year after year, but it's hard to
come by (at least it was when we lived in North Carolina!); I had never
tried it before Saturday evening.
It lived up to the hype: Pliny the
Elder now tops my list of favorite beers.
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| Pliny the Elder |
In addition to an impressive list of beers on tap, Pangaea had a bottle shop next door with beers to take home or to enjoy in the cafe (there was a wall of refrigerators opposite this view with beers you could take to the bar to have opened.)
To end the evening, we enjoyed some excellent food, the highlight of which was the barbecue chicken sandwich with bacon and homemade beer-bbq sauce.
It's too bad Sacramento isn't a convenient distance from San Francisco to become our favorite dinner spot. But I have a feeling we'll be back here at some point--it's too good to pass up!
Looks like my kind of day!! Glad you were able to try Pliny the Elder -- I got to try it once and liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteSacramento has some hidden gems. Whitewater rafting, amazing beer, and there's even a place where you can shoot guns and throw tomahawks from horseback! We'll have to check that last one out some time in the future.
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