Day Five of Road Trip 2015

Today, the older two girls and I headed out for white water rafting. We left Blake with Aunt Louise until Mimi and Pops could pick her up for the day. We had to drive about 45 miles for the trip. About 20 minutes into the drive, it started pouring down rain. My initial thought was, 'We are going to get wet either way, so rain doesn't matter.'  After about 20 minutes of rain so hard that I could barely see the road, the girls and I were discussing if the trip would still be fun. We continued on our way.

Upon arrival at USARaft, we were quickly greeted and informed of the day's activities. We had to read and sign some papers. You know the really comforting ones that describes the rock bottom river, chance of death, etc?  Yes, we blindly agreed to all of the possibilities of problems and dangers. 

We each purchased water shoes so that we would still have dry tennis shoes for the remainder of the trip.

 

We then had about 25 minutes to sit and wait. We watched the guys and girls load up the rafts on the top of an old school bus. The building was actually an old school. It was neat. As we waited, a self-proclaimed hippy came over and began talking to us about our experience (we had a total of none other than myself a few canoeing trips) and our expectations.  Larry, with dreadlocks to his waist, asked if we would be interested in upgrading to the extreme trip. It's the exact same trip, but in a much smaller raft. I explained that I wasn't sure because of our inexperience. Kennedy was already a nice shade of pasty-white from fear. She quickly said, 'No, Mom!'  Taylor was clueless and said, 'Sure!'  After a bit more conversation with Larry, we decided to go big or go home. Actually, we decided to go small because the small boats have the big fun.  

Each of us was fitted with a pfd, helmet, and padde. We were given instructions on what to do in the event that we were thrown from the raft, etc. Larry explained and demonstrated various techniques to get someone back on the raft, catch the thrown rope, etc. Finally, it was time to get on the bus and head up river. (No pictures of all this fun because they assured us that anything not physically attached to our body would end up at the bottom of the river.)

On the ride, the guides were very jovial and entertaining. They were quite excited about the height and speed of the river due to the extreme rainfall the previous night and that morning. They made jokes. Kennedy almost passed out when he said that the put-in point is adjacent to the North Carolina Prison and they are all in the work release program. He said, 'Your fun is our freedom!'  Kennedy looked at me and said, 'He is joking right?'  

We sat on the bus while all of the rafts were unloaded. Finally, each guide called the names of the people in his/her boat. Larry smiled really big and said, Dickerson!'  There was another couple in our raft as well. They were experienced kayakers, but had never rafted.
 

Larry delegated the seating arrangements and assured me that he was a master guide with tons of experience and he would take care of Taylor. The minimum weight for this experience is 70 pounds. Taylor weighed 70.5 pounds.  I was nervous because she was behind me, and I knew I wouldn't see her if she came out of the raft. 

Finally, in the river! We practiced rowing commands for a few minutes and then headed down stream. In less than 15 seconds, we were in the midst of the first class III rapid.

It was so much fun.  We celebrated with a Tennessee high five.  The Tennessee high five was all paddles touching together in the air followed by a big 'yee-haw'!  The best part was watching Kennedy realize that she could be successful and it would be fun even if she ended up in the river. 

The water was cold. It had quit raining, but it was still partly cloudy. Taylor was purple and had chill bumps all over her body. 

After the first rapid, Larry began talking about our options for the rest of the trip. There were several places where we could be conservative or 'go big'.  As a group, we all decided that big was the only option. We were even able to paddle upstream in a few places and surf. 

We worked well as a group. Within the first half of the trip, we rocked our way through a rapid and turned around just in time to see another raft flip completely upside down.  We were so thankful that it didn't happen to us.  

By this point, the sun was shining. We were slowly drifting down stream admiring the mountains, natural waterfalls along the banks, and a beautiful blue sky.   Kennedy and Taylor were so exited. They both kept saying how much fun they were having and that they were so glad we went in the extreme boat. They could definitely see the difference in the adrenaline flowing in our raft versus the larger, smoother rafts. 

Somewhere along the way, we encountered the first class IV rapid. I remember the boat going up

and down and then looking down to realize it was completely full of water and Kennedy was basically in my lap.

We all giggled and celebrated with a Tennessee high five.  

After many more rapids, giggles, Tennessee high fives, and a near loss of Taylor, we made it to the 'jumping rock'.

 

Kennedy, Taylor, and I each took a turn jumping from the rock into the river.  

After jumping, we swam back around to get back into the raft. Larry explained that we could jump again and swim down river where he would pick us up. Kennedy and I opted to get in the boat. Taylor, the fearless child, opted to jump from the rock again and meet us in the middle of the river. Larry snatched Taylor up by the pfd just as they had explained. She was on cloud nine!

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. Back at the outpost, we showered, bought tshirts, and visited with Larry a little more. We noticed that all of the men had painted toe nails. Taylor had to ask why. We learned that nail polish is a barrier to reduce the chances of foot and nail fungi from being wet so often. 

The white water rafting was definitely one of the most memorable things I've done with my older girls.  If you ever have the opportunity to raft the Upper Pigeon look up Larry at USARaft!

 

On the way 'home' we made a stop at a place that we had stumbled upon in the pouring rain this morning. It was the Bush's Baked Beans Museum and General Store.  

It was a totally random vacation spot, but very interesting.  We took pictures with Duke and saw several clips and memorabilia from the 'Roll that beautiful bean footage!' commercials. 

We each learned how much we weigh in beans.

I'll think twice before saying, 'I could eat my weight in baked beans'. 

After a quick tour of the museum and general store, we headed back to Mimi and Pops's camper to get BADkid. On the way, we kept hearing about tornado warnings and taking cover. It was a little unnerving since we weren't familiar with the counties and towns. We finally made it back and went to the main office in the RV park to watch the weather. Fortunately, it missed us and Aunt Louise. 

We ended the awesome day with Cracker Barrel and a fierce game of checkers.