RV Sabbatical Adventure

Happy Sunday! Catching up the blog today after an incredible week with family in Colorado! I hope you enjoy the photos and update.

Day 25 was the much anticipated white water rafting down the Poudre river. Thanks Ed for setting it up and it was definitely a great time. Also know better place to be than on the cool river when it is a 100 degree day. Only bummer was Carlos not being able to join due to still recovering from his surgery.

We started the white water adventure getting our safety briefing on the do’s and don’ts on the river. The funny moment was when the back of Cole’s seat broke off during the briefing. He fell straight back and his feet went straight up in the air. Cole jumps up and apologizes right away for the interruption and breaking the chair. It provided a great laugh for everyone and a moment of embarrassment for Cole. So this was the start to many fun moments on the river.

We got all geared up and loaded on the bus to head to the river next. The bus ride provided a view of the level 3 and 4 rapids. We would be navigating these rapids for 8 miles down the river. We were all excited to get in the rafts and head down the river. So we had Roxie, Lucy, Ken, Grace, Theresa and me in one raft. The rest of our group was in the other raft. Our river guides gave us another briefing in the raft. They instructed us on how to stay safe and not go for a swim on the river. Our river guide was Kaeden. I am not sure he was confident in our choice for Ken and me to be in the front. We hoped to help us navigate safely down the river.

So we started off getting into our routine of obeying instructions from Kaeden on when to paddle. It became clear from the start that Ken can’t hear Kaeden very well. I attempted to repeat the instructions. That way, Ken would know what to do. We navigated the first set of rapids successfully and it appeared that our system was working. We were way too confident. As we headed into the gantlet of the level 3 and 4 rapids, it became clear. We were making Kaeden very nervous. On a separate note, our fellow rafters thought it would be fun to have a water fight. Apparently the paddles work well for throwing water on each other. As we weren’t getting wet enough from the river rapids!

As we headed into the level 4 rapids, we learned quickly from Kaeden’s reaction. We were in for some excitement! We were told during the safety briefing if your river guide gets concerned you should as well. I don’t believe that is a good plan as what good comes from everyone getting freaked out! So our first clue that Keaden was concerned when he started to say “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit”. The next thing that happened was the raft crashed backwards into a giant rock. All of us became friendly with our fellow rafters by flying backwards into their laps. I was sure we would all be swimming in the river next. We were stuck on the rock in the middle of the rapids. Kaeden was yelling for us to get back into our original positions on the raft. So easier said than done as Ken and I looked like turtles on our backs. Roxie quickly pushed me back up. Ken needed help from all of us to get him into position. Kaeden navigated us off the rock and we safely exited the incredible level 4 rapids. This next part was not so fun. Keaden fired Ken and I from the navigation position. He replaced us with Grace and Lucy. I believe this was a result of Keaden needing to change his shorts after the near death experience!

The change was made and we safely navigated the rest of the rapids without any excitement. I highly recommend white water rafting. It is an amazing time. You get an incredible view of Colorado while having a blast.

We finished off the day having another great steak dinner compliments of the chef and our host Ed. Also Theresa and Roxie fixed great sides to go with the steaks. Thanks guys for an amazing dinner!

Enjoy the photos below from the white water adventure. I will provide the update for the remainder of the week shortly.