All of this area, I learned later, is the route that those famous explorers Lewis and Clark took in the early 1800’s.

The only thing is, that they were going the other direction— Upriver. Not sure how, or why they did that. But I can see that if you didn’t have a car, floating down one river to the next could be a great way to travel.

So, the last thing I had to do on this trip, before writing these notes, was to take a trip on my own. The counselors decide when you’re ready to do your solo. And everyone has to do a solo before the team can leave. Saving Layla’s life, and the two of us making it through the night without any supplies, made Nina and Mike pretty sure we were both ready to solo. The other kids had been approved to do their solos also.

Mike and Nina told us that we had all been promoted through levels one and two now, and that we would all be getting credit for the program if we finished our solos. But somehow getting credit didn’t seem so important anymore. I was just glad everyone was talking to me again, and thinking about my solo.