Three summers ago, I went on a camping trip to Oregon with a company called Outward Bound.  They take people of all ages on outdoor adventures all over the Americas.  This particular trip lasted two weeks. The first week we rafted ninety-seven miles down the Deschutes River, and the second week we backpacked around the Three Sisters Mountains.
The journey to Oregon could be its own story.  I flew from LAX to Seattle WA, then from Seattle to Portland, Portland to Redmond, and Redmond to Eugene.  I flew solo, and felt quite adult as I enjoyed a bagel and coffee in the Seattle airport between flights.  Things went steadiy downhill from there.  I sat around for four hours at the Redmond airport because they were flying in a mechanic to fix an exterior light on our plane.  When I called my mom to check in and explain the situation, she asked to speak to the man at the gate and convinced him to give me a voucher for some free food. Score!  While there I met another boy who was also going on the trip. We arrived in Eugene, Oregon, at 6:30 pm but did not make it to our campsite until after midnight thanks to complications with other arrivals and lost luggage(not mine thankfully).
The real adventure began the next morning when the four of us who arrived late were introduced to the rest of our group. The first few days on the river were mainly for getting to know each other and learning rafting basics. Boy, were we diverse! The range of personalities extended from Jon, an ultra conservative Catholic boy scout from Scranton, Pennsylvania, to Teru, an anti-authoritarian ex-heroin-addict from Portland. We all fell between the ages of fourteen to sixteen. Our three counselors, Justin, Jason and Erik, were young but experienced raft guides.  They were to teach us how to function as an effective group.  As time progressed they would ‘phase-out’ of the group and eventually let us lead ourselves.
For three days we learned what ‘rafting’ meant.  The group occupied two rafts, and a third contained all of our gear.  Justin and Erik captained the two student rafts, and Jason had the gear boat.  As we became more confident, we began to have “tree parties.” Not to be confused with tea-parties, these stunts were very exciting and induced much laughing and yelling.  On the sides of the river in many places, trees would hang very low above the water.  When a good clump of trees was spotted, someone would call, “TREE PARTY!”  Our half of the group named our raft the Blue Beast, and this was our sort of battle cry.  Upon hearing those words we would all paddle violently, racing towards the trees.  When they were about three yards away, all paddling would stop and we’d duck down into the raft as branches zoomed inches above our heads. One particular time, I was too slow, and a tree limb plucked me up out of the boat and dropped me in the water! The guys were laughing so hard they could barely manage to help me back in.
At lunch on the third day, Justin told us that things were going to get really difficult on the next section of river.  “Why? Are we finally going to see some real rapids?” asked Brendan.
“You’ll see, just wait.” replied Justin.
“Are there big rocks in the water?” asked one boy.
“I bet it’s a waterfall,” explained another.
“No, its none of those,” Justin said slyly, “but I guarantee both boats will capsize.”
We anticipated something big, but the water on the river was smooth and calm.  As we continued down the river, Justin’s words were forgotten in a battle of water-splashing.  Right when we least expected it, Erik stood up in the other raft and called to Justin.
“Now!”
They sprang into action.  Justin stood up on one side of the vessel, hooked his paddle into the rope on the other side and leaned back; pulling with all his might.  Erik did the same on the other boat.  Before we could protest, both rafts were upside down and we found ourselves submerged in the cool water.  Jack and Erik simply swam over to the gear boat and hopped on.  The three counselors sat and laughed for a good fifteen minutes as we frantically tried to right the rafts.
From then on, on the river, we encountered intense rapids.  Somehow we never capsized again. It was an important lesson.  We were prepared to handle a potentially dangerous situation.  How ironic, that the only time we capsized, it was on purpose!