Eric got to the house by 9 am, and we headed back to Gunpowder Falls State Park, so we could mingle with the locals. The drive took us just over an hour.   Ironically, we found parking rather easily, right next to the trail head, after a short walk to the crossing.  I say short because we were engrossed in conversation.  Eric sized up the river, deciding how to get across, while I plunged forward like I had the day before.  He carefully jumped from stone to stone as he crossed, all the while we chatted with other groups as we walked.  It was one large social event, a stark contrast from the day before. 

When we arrived, at the bank Eric had only one question. “How do we get across?” I replied simply, “One foot in front of the other”. This could be a bit tricky for him. I strode into the current as I had done many times before, testing each foot before taking another step.  In a few short moments, I was across.  Eric, on the other hand, was stumbling, but he wasn’t falling, which was great. He soon made it across, and we surveyed the area.  It looked right out of Grown Ups 2. All the young high school kids across the water, and everyone else on the other side. 

Eric and I hopped into the pool of water to relax, but no sooner did we do that, Eric got swept away by the current and taken down river. I thought to myself “Why not”, dove forward, and followed him.  This was awesome. I just did what I had been taught and rode the rapids down river.  It was like a water park ride, and the current was just taking me along.  As the rapids subsided, I looked for Eric. He stood up, saying he got swept away.  I couldn’t help but laugh and shout that it was awesome.  We ended up doing it once more, and just chilling in the water.  The next two hours went like this and then who appeared out of the woods?  Trina, the gorgeous sunbather from yesterday.  She was looking as lovely as ever.  She asked about the pups, and I bet her know they were resting at home, and introduced her to Eric. We chatted a bit before heading back to our area.  At this point, I convinced Eric to start much further upstream.  He was being difficult and with a quick retort, I threw the guy next to us under the bus by saying “Don’t be a pansy, Eric.  This guy is like 90, and he’s jumping in.”  And that’s how we met Gui. He was a cool dude. He was in his late 40’s and going through a divorce as well. We instantly hit it off.  Eric and I spent the rest of the afternoon swapping stories and riding the rapids.  He will be calling Gui to have him join us for more fun.