Sowers Family Vacation, 2013 - Part 3 (White water rafting)

The day had come! I was so... not ready. Let me just say, I was nervous. I like new experiences, but I also like knowing every single detail of how things were going to work. Ummmm... Yeah, that didn't happen. The rafting company we were going with was about an hour and 15 minutes away. We were supposed to be there an hour before the start time. That meant we got to leave at 6:45am. Okay, it's not that I'm not a morning person, because I am if I have to be. I can be chipper. But, left to my own devices I would not wake up early. Oh, well, it was worth it. =) 

Jennifer, Sarah, and I waiting to leave. I'm eating cereal ;)

Just getting there turned out to be an adventure. I was the navigator, but the directions ended up being wrong and we had to call the place. Did they say an hour early? We got there 20 min early, whoops! Turns out though it was for the best because we didn't even do anything for that 20 min. It was chilly and rainy; mom wanted to postpone for better weather, but they said no. Kind of glad, it would have been a pain. 

At 9:00, when we were supposed to leave, we were all directed to get our paddles, life jackets (excuse me, I meant PFD's ;) ) and helmets. 

Sarah, Me, Dad, and Jennifer (We went on the intermediate trip)

Katheryn and Mom. (They were going on the family fun trip and left 15 min. after we did)

Then we, plus about 40 other people got into a bus to ride out to the river. 

The drive wasn't bad except the lady in front of me opened her window and because it was raining I got a little wet. I guess I was about to get a lot wet, but still. =P One of the guides was on the bus with us and went over a few things before we got there. Like PFD's. Apparently if you think "Ooohhh, this is niiiiccce, I can breathe!" It's too loose! 

We finally reached the river! One of the worst parts was there was only port-a-potties, oh well, my traveling experience had prepared me. ;)

This was when we got to find out who our guide was and who else would be on our boat. I have to say, we got the best guide ever. Her name was Samantha, or Sam. She was super friendly, fun, but not obnoxious. We also got a great group of people put with us. They were another family, a Dad (Harvey), a Mom (Kathy), a son (Harvey; yes, another one and not a JR), and a daughter (Alicia). They were also super nice. It was fun getting to know all of them. We went around and did introductions and she had us push the boat out and decide where to sit. We shoved off and she explained how to sit (not the most comfortable position. Your hips are supposed to face forward, but your feet are wedged the opposite way), how to paddle (not just with your arms, your whole body!) and a few commands to start off with (like forward with a number, take a break, left/right back to turn, back it up). We learned so much! I felt like a pro. ;) 

Starting out! (That's Alicia back there =) )

Jennifer said I looked like an angel =P

So, I was the official photographer. Although I got much encouragement from my raft mates, I was unable to snap a picture during the actually rapids. I was waaaaay too focused on paddling! But, I hope you still enjoy the pictures of the river. =) 

This is Kathy =) We never got a picture of the Dad Harvey...

Jennifer and the younger Harvey. I think we just came out of rapids.

Rapids, here we come!

This rapid was called a swimmers rapid. We could actually get out and swim through it if we wanted. Sarah took the plunge out of our group, but Jennifer and I wanted to reach our goal of staying in the boat. ;)

Going through the swimmers rapid!

We went 16 miles on the river over a lot of rapids. I forgot the number... The first 8 miles were supposed to warm us up and the next had a lot of the bigger rapids. We went through class two rapids, all the way up to class 5 rapids. It was exhilarating! Sam said we were pretty bad at first, but that we got the hang of everything. She kept warning us to paddle together so we didn't look like a drunken spider! She also laughed because on our first class 5, we were way better than the last class 3. She said it must have been because she told us after the class 5 was the "meat grinder". Lots and lots of underwater rocks that will do some damage. 

All the rapids had names and most had stories behind them. Also, all along the river were old mining towns. Some that weren't there anymore. Lots of cool history. Like a poker game that went on for two weeks. The last hand, the owner of the hotel, bet his hotel and lost it. Surprisingly, the next day it burned to the ground. Imagine that! ;) 

The second to last rapid was another class 5. Sam gave us the option to go through a huge wave or go around us. Brave adventurers that we are, we all said to go through it. Boy, she was not kidding when she said it was huge! We all were supposed to yell bonsai as we went over, but 4 of us barely got it out before falling into the water. Three of the four sitting across from me fell off. (Harvey, Harvey, and Alicia). Well, the rest of us scrambled to try and get them back in. But we were still going through the rapids and it was kind of chaotic. We tried to do it the way Sam had taught us. Then, as I looked behind me, I realized that Dad had fallen over too. I freaked out, slightly. Okay, a lot. I saw his bright green shirt bobbing along, go under the boat and then finally come back up. Finally Sam pulled him out. He was a little disoriented and exhausted from it. It was a good thing we only had a class 3 left! Dad last his paddle on that one and almost fell out trying to grab it. Sam told him that we liked him more than his paddle as she pulled him back in.

All in all, even with the fall, we had a blast! At the end, we helped pack up the raft and headed back to the main building where we met Katheryn and mom. They had fun too. =)

All done and in dry clothes, headed back to the lodge.

I would definitely go again! Have you ever been? Would you like to?? 

{Click here if you missed Part 1, Part 2, or to see part 4}

Until next time...