Day 4--The Great White Water Rafting Adventure

On Tuesday morning, bright and early, we woke up to an overcast day.  The kids have been waiting five years to return to Tennessee just so they can go water rafting. The first time we went, we could only raft the lower river because Courtney was only 3.  This year, however, Courtney turned 8.  The magic year. We can finally go on the upper river.

We set out early--7:00--and drove the hour long trip to Hartford. We were scheduled to take a guided hike up the Smokey Mountains first and then a guided water rafting trip down the mountain. When we got there, our tour guide, Dean, was waiting for us. He went over the route, gave us the information on what to do about the bears and if they attack, and introduced us to another family that was hiking with us that day.  We loved them instantly! They had a daughter that was Rachael's age and another that was Courtney's age.  He had just retired from the Navy after 20 years of service, and it was so interesting learning about their family and travel's and we soon became good friends.  In fact, we became real close when,as we were nearing the top of the hike, Tia spotted a bear and grabbed my hand! I don't know what she thought I was going to do, but we enjoyed a good laugh...and a quick run to make sure we were closer to the others. We had both lagged behind, taking pictures and talking.  We learned that we both enjoyed photography and because of it, had taken to scrapbooking as well.  It is amazing to me that you can meet someone, from Virginia in this case, and find so much in common.We had a great time hiking and fellowshipping.

After the two hour hike up the mountain, the kids were ready to raft down it again. We took a short lunch break, and Dean, our tour guide, asked Courtney if she could handle the wild and crazy rafting! She said she could, and off we went.  Right away, we encountered a HUGE rapid and at one point, we had to fall to the bottom of the raft which scared Courtney to death and just happened to be the moment that they took the pictures!

You can tell by the look on her face that this was not what she had bargained for. But pretty soon, she calmed down, and she enjoyed the rest of the rafting. 

We paddled....

and splashed....

We hit the waves going forward....

and at some points he had us turn around in the raft and go BACKWARDS.....

We even went through a rapid, turned around, and went back up it....

He had Allison move to the front of the raft, and a few of us moved around in the raft to make it more even.  Then, we went head first into the rapids which made the front of the raft go under water and the back of the raft go up in the air.  The kids LOVED it! We stayed that way for a few minutes, and he gave the command to lean right, which pulled us out of the current and luckily we stayed upright!

But the funniest part of the day came when we least expected it.  We had finally come to some flat water that happened to be only about a foot deep. He gave the command to "Forward 3" which told us to paddle three times in the forward direction.  Now we had made it through some rough waters without losing anyone, but at this particular time, when we all started to paddle, Allison made the comment that her paddle touched bottom.  I had just finished telling her that it was shallow and to not paddle as deep, when I heard a commotion and looked over to see Kirk on his way out of the raft. I looked just in time to see his butt as it was falling over the raft!  We immediately went into rescue mode.  I yelled at him to get his feet up because they had warned us not to stand.  The currents are so strong that if you take a step and get your foot lodged under a rock, it could drown you very quickly. Rachael and Leah both stuck their paddles out to try and retrieve him, but Dean yelled at him to get his paddle, so he had to give up the rescue to save the paddle. After he swam to the paddle and retrieved it, Dean yelled at us to get him in the boat.  Now, remember that we are a boat full of women and children that are rescuing him while Dean is sitting on his rear end! We rowed as close to him as we could, and I remembered the quick training we had on how to get people back in the boat from when Kirk and I went to Yellowstone last year. I grabbed hold of his vest, planted my feet on the side of the raft, and pulled! Thank goodness he doesn't weigh much! After we got him in the raft, we enjoyed teasing him and Dean proclaimed him the first person in his 30 years of rafting to fall out of the boat in calm water!

All in all, we had a great time! and the kids were ready to go again. If you ever even think about going, make sure to ask for Reverend Dean...you won't be sorry you did! We had the best ride of all the boats that were with us!

On that note, I am off to bed..still laughing about the great, white water rafting adventure, and praising God that it was not ME that went into that water!

Til next time....