Occasionally, our canoeing buddies would plan a big trip down some raging river and we’d gear up for that. Eventually, we bought our own canoe and stenciled a customized name on the side, “Crippled Eagle.” One trip down the Guadalupe stands out. It was during the springtime when there were lots of rain storms. They would come up out of nowhere and suddenly, a flash flood would take everything out on both sides of the river. It was dangerous, of course, but when you’re young, you don’t have enough sense to be afraid of things like that. There were about 6 canoe teams. We canoed all day till almost dusk before finding a camping spot and pulling the canoes up on the bank. We made a fire and roasted some hamburgers and hot dogs, then pitched our tents. Everyone was so exhausted. Around 9:00 p.m. it started raining. It rained hard for hours. No one was able to sleep. We were all very uneasy about the possibility of a flash flood. Me and Allen were huddled in our sleeping bags insid...