Sounding Off:

I have a great wife.

I will admit that I was disappointed six months ago when the Angels let Rex Hudler and myself go as their radio and television broadcasters. I loved talking about Mike Scioscia’s team.

Despite my discouragement, Stacey, my wife of 25 years, greeted me at the front door with a big hug and exclaimed: “What cool new adventure is ahead for us!”

It’s great to have a partner who is so supportive and encouraging in challenging times.

Stacey, though, always takes the support a step further. My wife said to me that day in November: “I want you to do all the things you have not been able to do after broadcasting for 26 Major League seasons.”

Stacey knows that I love the outdoors. She knows I love hiking and rafting in our beautiful Golden State. Despite broadcasting almost every day from April until October for the Angels, I would always find a day or two to whitewater California’s great rivers.

I have rafted the Yuba, American, Stanislaus, Merced, Tuolomne, Kings and Kern rivers. Even when our son Kevin was going through those difficult teenage years, we always had the common bond of the river. I’ll never forget the day on a Class 4 rapid on the Kern when I was swept from our raft and into the whitewater. He was actually worried for my safety.

I love to hike this incredible state. I’ve been to Yosemite 15 times in my 23 years of living in California and never tire of the park’s breathtaking majesty. I’ve trekked the national park’s three major hikes, Glacier Point, Yosemite Falls and the 17-mile round-trip journey up and down Half-Dome. My wife and I hiked the Dome with friends over baseball’s All-Star break last July. Hauling yourself up the cables on the side of that mountain was a major rush.

Why do I tell you about my past excursions? Because since I was 10 I have wanted to whitewater the Colorado River down the Grand Canyon. I read a book in the fifth grade about John Wesley Powell’s first voyage in 1869, and knew I had to raft that river.

Powell was an amazing explorer. Just 35 years old at the time of his enterprise, he was a geologist, teacher, environmentalist and one-armed veteran of the Civil War. Powell lost his right arm in the Battle of Shiloh and still made it down one of the world’s most challenging rivers.

An upcoming trip will take me down the Upper Grand Canyon at Lee’s Ferry to the Phantom Ranch, a weeklong, 88-mile venture through some of the most remarkable wilderness in our country. My rafting and hiking companion will be a dear friend, Bruce Falls, a Texas Longhorn and electric car engineer who is just as fired-up as I am to make this trip.

Sometimes you have to turn that negative in your life, like the loss of a job, and change it into an opportunity. As my ultra-optimistic wife might say: “The rainbows always follow the storm.”

This old sports-broadcaster is off to chase rainbows and the Grand Canyon this week.

My next column will come from my first day on the Colorado River.

STEVE PHYSIOC is a professional radio and television broadcaster and Orange County resident.