

Hey, who let in all these elephants?
Did you know that elephants are made of elements?
Elephants are mostly made of four elements
And every living thing is mostly made of four elements
Plants, bugs, birds, fish, bacteria and men
Are mostly carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen
(From "Meet the Elements")
or...
Could it be an herbivore, crushing plants with rounded teeth
Or perhaps she's carnivore, moves so quickly on its feet
It's like pieces of a puzzle, that I love to try and solve
It's so fun to think about how a species has evolved
(From "I Am a Paleontologist")

I had never done a multi-day river trip. In fact, except fora few afternoons tubing the Boise River and one recent afternoon on another portion of the S almon R iver, I don't think I had been on a river since I was a kid floating the Beaverhead in southwest Montana in an aluminum boat with my Dad.
I must say my biggest anxiety before the trip was the bathroom situation. I learned right away that river-folk are pretty blunt about bodily functions and you mustcheck your modesty at the door when you go on a river trip. Simply put, you pee in the river and poo in a special toilet. No exceptions. (Sorry for the gory details, but I suspect that there are those of you curious about the bathroom situation, as I was.)
The good news is that no one cares about your particular bathroom needs and I quickly got used to wading in the river up to my waist and taking a wee in front of everyone. And, by the end of the trip, the morning bellow of “Anyone needto use the crapper before I pack it up?” didn’t make me wince.

