An Adventure Down River

Well, I am back to blogging, finally, after a really long super fun Labor Day weekend spent with my family and my boyfriend. This past Sunday my dad, uncle, aunt, cousin, boyfriend and I headed up to the mountains and went White Water Rafting.

I had never been White Water Rafting before...so this was all a first for me.

When we finally got to the White Water Rafting place we waited around for the guides to show up (our group name was called and we were told that our guide's name was Boomer), and then we grabbed some PFD's and some paddles and then we had to stick around and listen to them tell us some tips and safety precautions for when we got on the rapids. I was struggling with putting my life jacket on and was trying to loosen it when all of a sudden this young woman comes up behind me grabs the back of the straps on the life jacket and starts pulling the cords uber tight. She was tightening the thing so much around me that I thought my ribs were gonna crack open! I am telling you I know how girl's felt in the Victorian era with all of those corsets being tightened to the extreme....sheesh!

After we heard the speech...ahem I mean helpful tips...we loaded ourselves onto a big old clunker of a bus. I walked down the aisle of the bus and quickly grabbed a seat, but before I slid in the seat I made sure I let Jared slide by me so he could sit by the window. Everything that the guide had said about all of the safety hazards flashed through my mind....."Somer Teeth.....if you don't grab a hold of the T-handle on the end of your paddle at all times you are gonna knock someone's teeth out...some are here....somerthere..." 

My stomach was in knots and I couldn't catch my breath...worrying had started to take over and I started to feel like I was gonna lose my wits, and or lunch. Jared told me to breathe in slowly and not too deeply, to relax and then he reached for my hand. As the bus made it's way through the curvy intertwining roads of the mountains I tried to keep calm....knowing that I could do it. I was gonna be okay and maybe I'd have fun too along the way. Jared was by my side....daddy was by my side... 

We arrived at the point of no return....stepping off of the bus with Jared closely at my side (because I wouldn't let go of his hand to save my life) we awaited our group's name to be called. They called our family and we went and stood over by boat number 25 while our guide, named Boomer, talked it up for a few moments with us....found out that he is a lefty just like Jared and my cousin Christian....and then we figured out where each of us would sit at. We grabbed the boat up off of the ground and took it down to the water....Jodi and I slipped into the front of the boat, Daddy and Ray behind us, and Christian and Jared in the back seat with Boomer right behind them. We told Boomer about our deal....we had made the mistake of making a 'meal deal'....the first person to fall out of the boat was to buy dinner...and we told that to our guide!!! It probably wasn't the smartest thing to tell a guide that whoever gets thrown overboard first and gets really good and wet is going to have to buy dinner....because in Boomer's mind his mission became MISSION 

WASH US AWAY.

As we began our rapids river journey along with Boomer I knew we were in for a treat.......and perhaps a good soaking too. Boomer was quite comical (slapping the water with the paddle loudly behind the boat and yelling out "BeaverShark!"), quite talkative and seemed like a pretty easy going daredevil. Hmmm...not sure how the words easy going and daredevil can be used to describe someone but that was how Boomer was. Boomer made it his personal mission to have us steer our boat towards ANY and EVERY  rock in the river that is for sure.

The waters eventually started to seem to calm down about an hour after being out there on the beautiful blue green waters that were white capped. At one point we hooked our boat together with about 8 or 9 other boats (something that the other guides hadn't tried yet but had wanted to) and we were all in for a 'splashing good time.' After the row of boats were hooked together and facing the rapids in one combined our guide suddenly jumped up and out of our boat and jumped from boat to boat to boat....then all of the other guides started jumping boats too....it was pretty tense and exciting for me all at the same time.

When we finally reached The Falls (seen in the above picture) I wasn't sure what to expect honestly. I wasn't disappointed....it was exhilarating and scary all at the same time, and I would definitely go White Water Rafting again! I love the picture above because here's what I think we are all saying in our minds: "Boomer: Well, he's buying dinner. Christian: What!? Jared: Haha. I am so glad it's you Mr. H and NOT ME!! Ray: OH MY GOSH! Jodi: What a crack up...Mark's falling out. Sarah: Oh my gosh I am gonna fall out too! Hang on tight spider monkey!"

...and we made it! I had a great day out in the beautiful mountain rapids with my love and my family....honestly I cannot wait to brave the rapids again!

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday weekend too,

P.S. Thanks ladies (Alaythea, Nikki, Lynette and Laurel) for the sweet comments on my last blog entry! Also, what do you all think of my new blog template/layout/background? Is there anything that you all miss about the old one...or is there anything about the new one that you don't care for in particular? I really like the new look...but just maybe I'm not done tweaking it all yet! So let me know what you think...please! :)