Rafting Rapids

This past weekend, Ian and I decided to take a break from the stress of moving, packing, cleaning, and leaving...so we took a lot of our closest friends and had an epic rafting adventure! This was our 2nd annual rafting adventure, and 1st Annual Rafting Adventure was a hoot, so of course we had to go again. This year, we had a lot of fun, a slippery raft, a blue bailer that barely stayed with us, and a near death experience. And if you're wondering, I ended up with some gnarly bruises and am so sore still.

Our first trip down on Saturday was great! It was warm, and the water was cold, a perfect combination. We got to the famous rapids, the Big Kahuna and Lunch Counter, and things got interesting. We must have hit the beast at just the right angle because Brian went flying out, pulling his wife with him. We quickly pulled them both back in because the 2nd of the famous duo was up next. Sabel and Olivia went flying this time, along with the blue bailer. We pulled them both back in, and started floating down, trying to bail out two feet of water with flip flops and paddles. After about 10 minutes, the blue bailer popped up, so Ian dove out and snagged it. The rest of the first run was smooth sailing and we had a grand time laughing and hitting the rest of the rapids.

Remember the part about how the raft was super slippery? Hahaha

Ian was just loving it, and Alexis and I were giggling

The 2nd run was interesting to say the least. The intense part was before the two big rapids. This part of the river has rock cliffs on both sides, and the current/rapids run on the right side and quickly switch to the left side right along the cliffs. We hit the right side just fine, but we didn't line up right, and the left side didn't paddle strong enough so we ended up slamming hard into the rocks. All I remember is seeing the whole left side of the raft up in the air (with no one on it anymore) and then looking to the right and seeing white foaming water coming in. Then, I was in the water, panicking a little, and coming up gasping for air and searching for my husbands. I found him, saw some more heads, and then grabbed a paddle someone had let go of. Alexis had miraculously stayed in the raft throughout the crash, the taco-ing of the raft, and almost flip, and was heroically paddling to save everyone. Sabel someone flew into the raft, and helped saving people who had swam towards the raft. Everyone except for Ian plopped into the raft, and Ian got stuck outside of the current chasing a lost paddle. We pulled off to the side, and waited for Ian, who had hitched a ride with a nice rafting group. We breathed, calmed down, and emptied the three feet of water out of the raft. Somehow, the bailer and Brittany's flipflops survived, and no one had to chase them down. We all were fine through Big Kahuna and Lunch Counter this time, and Olivia and Neal slipped off in California Curls, but it was quite enjoyable.

the 2nd, victorious time through Big Kahuna and Lunch Counter

We loved the trip, and love that we can do such fun, adventurous, and cool things with our friends. It was a great last hoorah before our big move.