This has been a tough week for the home team. Turns out those who will not be named get to hang the banner. The Badgers could have at least had the decency to close the deal, but no. Talk about Paradise Lost!
I guess it's appropriate, then, that a first term U.S. Senator with a medical degree from Duke would throw his hat into the Run for the Oval on the next day. This one and done thing is really getting out of hand.
I blame Obama.
Rand Paul is a Texan who went to Duke and represents Kentucky because the Kentucky Democratic party can't find a candidate who can beat a Texas Blue Devil. Being the son of the patron saint of the tin foil hat brigade didn't hurt, either.
Like most modern Republican politicians, he cleverly positioned himself for prominence by having the right daddy. And Lord knows, there's no one the working American likes to vote for more than someone who never had to.
But I don't want to be rough on Senator Poodle Do. He has been a practicing eye doctor in Kentucky since 1993. You know, the year after The Stomp. You're not still wearing your I Still Hate Laettner t-shirt, are you?
Enough of that.
The good news--and there's always good news--is that the redbuds are blazing. The colors of spring will soon overtake these dull brown mountain sides. It's just too darn nice out to be complaining. Our early Easter is giving away to several weeks of great outdoor stuff to do right here in town.
This weekend adventure racers from all over the country will be competing in the 15 and 30 hour Breakdown Adventure Races between Elkhorn and Haysi. These events are qualifiers for the United States Adventure Racing Association championships. The Breakdown races are team events and competitors dont' know where they'll be hiking, paddling, rapelling and swimming until they get their start packets with maps and GPS coordinates.
"It Ain't Supposed to be Easy..." is the motto of the Breakdown adventure races. That's the thing about the stuff we promote around here. From whitewater kayaking and rafting, to cross country hiking and biking, to rock climbing, to fishing the Breaks canyon, it's not easy. If it was easy it wouldn't be an adventure.
It's why the organizers of the Breakdown and next fall's Cloudsplitter trail races came here. Elkhorn City has been the adventure capital of Kentucky since before we called it adventure tourism. Folks in Pikeville can't find us, but kayakers from New Zealand and ultra-marathoners from Canada and cross-country bikers from Oregon sure can.
This spring brings new ways you can get your feet wet, so to speak. For the first time ever, a rafting company will be offering trips on the Russell Fork in April and May. Kentucky Whitewater will be offering fun runs, a swiftwater rescue training and basic whitewater kayak instruction. Combine this with the yearly spring Bluegrass Wildwater Association and Viking Canoe Club whitewater clinics in May and it's hard to keep arguing whitewater is a fall only activity.
We're an outdoor lover's dream down here. We might not be in the Promise Zone, but that sure doesn't mean we don't have promise.