“Everyone pile in the Jeep!” he said after we loaded up the cooler. It was the summer between freshman and sophomore year, and a good group of friends and I were going to float the Illinois. It was my first time to float it actually, and I was excited to experience it. We had everything we needed; Cooler full of beer that someone’s big brother bought, smokes, sunscreen that no one wore and a water-proof radio so we could jam to some Nirvana.<br /> After we rolled into the starting area we got our tubes and cooler in the water and Charlie handed me an ice cold Coors. I settled into my tube and we started down the mighty Illinois. I cracked the Coors and took my first (of many) sips of beer. It was SO good on a hot Oklahoma day on the river. I obviously didn’t know my limits at that age and pounded 3 more during the next half hour.<br /> By the end of the float trip I was Hammered. I probably hurled 5 times in to the river, much to the dismay of the other group behind us, and definitely had the spins. At one point I had to hold onto a tree trunk to keep from falling off the Earth. It was an awesome trip! I eventually learned to handle my beers after that…I’m a professional now!