Day 3

(Continuing to share the story of our vacation)

We had to be at the rafting office at 8:00, so we got up and ate breakfast at the cabin, put on our sunscreen and swim suits, and drove over to the office.  When we arrived we had to sign the release waivers...I just "love: reading "this activity may cause injury or even death."  Really helps my  nervousness!  They gave us some water shoes and we got fitted for life jackets and helmets.  We all gathered at a picnic area and a leader gave us some safety warnings.  Like if the boat flips how to get out of it and if you fall out of the boat not to put your feet down because your foot could become trapped in some old junk on the river bottom and the current would push you over and other such warnings. 

We got on a bus and went down to the river spot where we met our guide, Eric.  He showed us how to paddle and what his commands would be to us.  We rode with another group of 4 adults plus the guide.  He put Caleb in the middle and gave him a rope to hold onto.  Caleb asked if he could paddle also.  The guide said it was great he had such enthusiasm to want to paddle too.  I felt so much better about the whole thing when he showed us how to place our feet to stay in the boat.  I hadn't thought about there being a place to secure my feet! I just knew I would fall out when we hit a rapid!  And Eric told me that the warnings the leader  gave at the beginning were really for the other group going to the Royal Gorge trip, not our group in the Bighorn Sheep Canyon.   

Arkansas River where we went rafting

We got in the river and began paddling.  As we hit the rapids the cold water felt refreshing in the heat.  It was a beautiful clear, sunny morning.  We saw some baby sheep in the canyon.  I totally enjoyed the excitement and fun of the rafting.  Caleb had a blast; he was fun to watch.  He'd say "Mr. Eric, can I paddle now?"  Eric let him paddle in some of the smoother areas of the river.  I appreciated that Caleb got to experience this and had such fun.

We all really enjoyed it and I'm so glad we went!  I had heard a Focus on the Family broadcast a while back and something that stuck out to me was how boys like adventure. The speaker said how she sometimes did things more adventuresome than what she'd choose to do because she had boys.  When we got the brochures about Colorado, they all had information about white-water rafting.  I thought it would be fun but not something I'd normally want to do.  But I decided I wanted to do it as something fun and adventurous we could do together.  I'm so glad we did!  It was such a great adventure and we all want to do it again! 

Near the end of the rafting trip my right eye started feeling funny.  I couldn't tell if it was due to getting splashed in the face with water, maybe messing up my contact or something else.  We got on the bus to go back to the office to return our supplies.  Then we went to our cabin to change.  I knew I needed to eat soon so we went to a restaurant and I drank lots of water with my lunch.  I could tell I was starting to feel better but didn't feel just right.  My eye was bothering him and head started hurting.  We came back to the cabin and I rested while the boys played on the jumping pillow.  Then they came back and my husband rubbed my head and my boy rubbed my feet, it was so sweet!  I relaxed and started feeling better, thankfully. 

Then we heard thunder and had a rain storm.  We sat in the cabin and played two games of Uno.  We heated up the burgers my husband cooked last night for our supper and then went to town to a couple souvenir shops.  One was called the Rock Shop.  It was fascinating to look at all the different rocks.  I forgot to take my camera! We ended our night with a trip to an ice cream shop and I had a hot fudge sundae. 

Tomorrow we are going to Colorado Springs!

Have a day of blessings!