Day 13: Wednesday, May 23rd- Rafting down the Colorado River

We woke up to overcast skies and chilly temperatures. I admit I was a bit concerned about us freezing on our raft trip. About an hour before we were supposed to leave for rafting, I realized Luke had no shoes to wear in the water. I threw his cruddy sneakers in the trash after our hike in the Narrows because the soles literally tore off his shoe. Mark, Luke, and I quickly ran out to the local Walmart and purchased him a pair of water shoes. Then the rest of us piled in the van and arrived at Blue Sky Adventures a few minutes later. Thankfully, the ‘experts’ fitted us all with water resistant gear (it was not quite cold enough for wet suits), life jackets, and unexpectedly, neoprene boots (Luke chose to wear his spiffy new water shoes instead.) After snapping a quick picture on Curtis’ ipod we were joined by another family of 4 with 2 small boys, and we piled into a 15 seat van (our gang felt right at home!) I learned that this family had moved from Florida to Nebraska to help plant a church and they homeschooled for a year while they transitioned to their new surroundings. During the drive upriver, our guide, Tim, informed us of the potential dangers in the river, taught us the universal, “I’m okay” sign (a tap on the head), and reviewed what to do in the event that we flipped or were thrown overboard.-Yikes! He did reassure us that this is highly unlikely-phew! We arrived at a launching point where the younger family decided they would opt for the less adventurous ride (I think they made the right decision!) –they would go with their guide to a spot further down the river to avoid the class 3 rapids and we would join them there. Our guide wore only his life jacket, a pair of swim trunks,short sleeved shirt, and sandals…he told Mark and I he thinks all the ‘wet gear’ cheapens the experience and feeling the river is part of the thrill…to each his own!! I was so grateful to not be freezing cold! Before we embarked, I asked what we should hold onto when we hit the rapids, he jokingly said ,” Your kids and your paddle!”…I was seriously hoping for some sort of a rope or handle to hang onto for dear life! Then he showed us how to wedge our legs under the inflated bench in front of us…I would later learn that surprisingly, this really works! We decided that Mark and Philip would initially ride up front since that would be the wettest and scariest position. I opted for the last row with Luke and Tim was behind us. He was an outstanding guide and though young,(just graduated from college), he was very knowledgeable about the Colorado River, the local geography, and history of the area we were traveling through. He was also very adept at handling the raft and giving ‘orders’ when needed. Everyone really enjoyed the plunge through the rapids and I was shocked that no one panicked or gave in to fear. In fact, after our first few rapids during a calm spell, he let us jockey positions and even suggested that the kids take turns ‘riding the bull’. I was quite surprised(and a little concerned) when Luke volunteered to do it first. So, he climbed on top the raft, grabbed the bag hanging there between his legs and dangled his feet over the front as we rode through some milder rapids. The only instruction was to lean back and fall into the boat should he lose his balance. He had a blast-laughing the entire time-my only regret is that I could not record this on my camera! Eventually, each family member (except for me!) took their turn up front in this position. For Curtis, Tim had the left side of the raft paddle backward while the right side paddled forward so that we’d be doing 360’s as we hit the rapids causing Curtis to get really soaked as the waves hit him. It was a blast :) Tim had total control of the raft and there really was no sense of fear at all. The water temperature was a brisk 50 degrees so we were all pretty chilled after the 1^st wall of water hit us. We were very much looking forward to the promised stop off at the hot springs along the river bank near the end of our trip. In the end, most of us just decided to just get our hands and feet warm since we’d have to strip off all the wet gear …it stunk like sulfur so we could not immerse the borrowed wet gear in the hot water. It was a welcome break from the cold. Towards the end of our time in the river, we headed under a bridge which housed a water conduit with 2 streams of water being released. Odesco made a comment about wanting to go under it so Tim steered the boat soaking Odesco only…it was pretty funny as I don’t think Odesco actually wanted to get wet nor did he think Tim would actually steer the boat into the falling water. Thankfully we were soon on dry land, the rafts and paddles were loaded on the trailer, and we were brought back to our van. We peeled off the wet water gear and headed over to the office where pictures of our trip were displayed on a large computer screen. Throughout the trip, one of the guys from Blue Sky positioned himself along the foot path next to the river and took photos as we paddled through the rapids. Our expressions were pretty hysterical! The photographer had a bicycle and would ride ahead to the next vantage point. They were selling the entire disc of pictures for $45 but we couldn’t justify the expense and decided the memories and Curtis’ one ipod picture would suffice.** Upon returning to the hotel, all the kids and Mark warmed up in the hot tub across the street…I opted for a HOT shower. We relaxed for a brief time, did more laundry, ran out to restock on groceries, and then went to Qdoba for dinner. This was a real treat since everyone was a little tired of Wendy’s for dinner~ I forgot to mention that soon after we finished rafting, the skies grew grayer and the rains came. Once again the Lord graciously showed us favor as He held off the rains for our rafting adventure!

**edited on 6/20/12...see this post for the pictures of our whitewater adventure:)

All suited up and ready for the Colorado River...