Huntington, West Virginia

Inland Navigation was the topic of the week while in Huntington, West Virginia. Huntington reminds me a lot of Little Rock. Seems to be a really neat town. We had a good week of learning about inland nav--something I can understand as we have some of that in Little Rock (the Arkansas River)!

Got to see some modeling (forecasts) and talk with folks from the Oak Ridge labs and TVA (that's the Tennessee Valley Authority). We also took a trip to Marmet lock and dam--under construction; a tug boat ride down the Kanawha River; and a visit to Winfield lock and dam. We visited with folks from Huntington District and the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division throughout the week.

Friday closed with a great presentation on the status of Upper Mississippi River Nav study followed by a field trip to a local fish hatchery and the Jenkins Plantation.

It was a great course and much was learned by all! Next up, Kansas City, MO/KS and Anchorage Alaska in July!

The New River Experience

The adventurous rafting crew! What a great time we had rafting down the New River in West Virginia! We had two different boats, with guides, and no one fell into the drink (well, some chose to float down the "swimmer's rapids").

There was some apprehension by the group, after all, we were going through Class I through V rapids (yikes!). But, everyone did great and it was truly a team effort to make it through to the end.

I highly recommend doing this and yes, I will be back to ride both the New and Gauley Rivers (hopefully with more of the paddling crew from Arkansas)!

For more information, visit www.raftmrt.com

The Streets of Philadelphia and side trip to Atlantic City

What a week! This week was Philadelphia, PA and the "Coastal Course". We spent the week learning about beaches (dunes and berms), beach erosion, inlets (and their effects on beaches), waves, currents, tides, storms (nor'easters and hurricanes!), and of course, Hurricane Storm Damage Reduction.

We spent Wednesday (in the rain no less) on a field trip that went from Cape May (NJ's southernmost point) up the NJ coast to Atlantic City. And what would a trip be without making a pit stop in Atlantic City?? So..... Jason, Alicia, Maria, and I opted to stay a bit longer than the rest of the crew. We didn't really win (Well, I think Jason broke even), but fun was had by all. We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe and ended up riding a Greyhound bus back to Philly--my first and probably last experience with that!

Thursday night we had a class dinner with everyone at McGillin's, the oldest Irish brew pub in Philly. If you're ever in town, I highly recommend it--it's off the beaten path somewhat, but we all had a great time!

We wrapped up this course with a panel session---lots of good interaction between the PAs, the course instructors, and the panelists.

Tomorrow, it's off to Oak Hill, West Virginia for some white water rafting on Sunday on the New River. Then, we're off to Huntington to start the Inland Navigation course. Phew! Is it September yet??

Keep reading and I'll keep posting!