XPost: misc.rural   
   From: jackball@phs.con   
      
   Larry Caldwell wrote:   
      
   > I went on the Hellgate Dinner Cruise on the Rogue River out of Grants   
   > Pass this afternoon.  Initially, I thought the $50 price tag was pretty   
   > steep, but it turned out to be an incredible bargain.   
      
   Sounds really good.  I took some kind of jet boat ride   
   down the Rogue River from Grants Pass back around 1970   
   or so.  I don't remember it well - I was 17 - but for   
   some reason it sticks in my mind as a great experience.   
      
      
      
   >   
   > We loaded up about 3:30 in the afternoon, on jet sleds that seated about   
   > 60 to 80 people, depending on the size of the boat.  We ran downstream   
   > for about an hour, stopping to watch fishermen pull in fall Chinook.  I   
   > saw one that was at least 40 lbs., and several successful catches.  It   
   > looks like a good fall run.  We squirreled around a little, saw lots of   
   > osprey nests, spotted a couple bald eagles, eagle nests, and the   
   > Hellgate rock formation.   
   >   
   > Then we stopped at the OK Corral (0wned by Hellgate Tours), where they   
   > put on a BBQ pork and chicken meal for 300.  It was actually a pretty   
   > good meal.  It included all the beer and wine you could drink, lemonade,   
   > water and coffee for non-alcoholic sorts, vegetables, some really tasty   
   > scalloped potatoes and a berry tart for desert.   
   >   
   > Then we piled back onto the boats for the run back up the river to   
   > Grants Pass.  The boats played leapfrog across each other's wakes, cut   
   > cookies, and did everything they could to soak the passengers.  The   
   > temperature was in the 80s and the humidity was low, so nobody stayed   
   > wet for long.  The boats run at a top speed of about 45 knots, so it was   
   > a pretty exciting ride.  Total time for the whole trip was about 4   
   > hours.  counting the meal and booze, it was a real bargain.   
   >   
   > I've decided I need to do the Hell's Canyon by jetboat on the Snake.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)