We just got back from our second rafting trip. This time we went through the Royal Gorge part of the Arkansas River where the rapids are much bigger. We had such a good time! I wish we would have bought some of the pictures because I wanted to post one, but for ONE, it was $27.95. We were not going to give in to that kind of extortion. Besides, there was only one good picture since we went through that particular rapid backwards.
Well I do have some interesting stories to tell about this trip. First of all, I want to make it known that I did NOT fall in the river. Apparently, I only do that in the tame sections. On this trip, we opted to paddle, so we had to learn some commands to get through the rapids. The group of people we rafted with were not the best. The three in front were drunk (I know this because I could smell alcohol the entire time on their breath), the guy behind me was chewing tobacco and the guy behind Matt was French and didn't really know what was going on. We went through a rapid called Sunshine Falls, where you drop straight down about four feet into more rapids. Well, the guy in front of me started falling out of the boat. He was a big guy too, but as he fell, he started reaching out to grab whatever he could hold on to, which was me. Luckily, I had my feet firmly in the boat so I was able to pull him in a little, but I was not happy that he decided to try to pull me in the river with him.
Anyway, this guy was supposed to be our paddle leader so we could all row at the same time. He had no idea what any of the guide's commands were even though we practiced many times before we got to the rapids. So by the time he realized what we were supposed to be doing, he was way late and everyone else had already finished the stroke.
About halfway down the river, a bottle of brown liquid floated into my foot space. Soon i realized it was from the guy behind me who was chewing. Since I hate that particular habit quite a bit, I was not thrilled to look at his leftovers. I handed the bottle back to him and his girlfriend said "Oh, don't drink that!"
But overall, the trip was great fun despite the other rafters. Our guide was really good and very nice and the rapids were amazing! We even saw a big horn sheep right at the river edge drinking water! They don't look like I imagined, but are amazing just the same. There were also lots of people jumping in the river off of bridges and rope swings. This was all in the tame water as we were floating back into Canon City and was entertaining to watch.
Speaking of entertaining, we went to trivia night at the Pearl Street Grill on Wednesday night with Dave and Mary, some of our friends from KU. I learned this: the "E" in Chuck E. Cheese stands for Entertainment. Weird. And the funny thing is, we guessed it right!
Yesterday, the most eventful things that happened were that Matt took his Colorado pharmacy law test and we had a late lunch with my cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Sarah. We also met Sarah's twin sister and her fiancee. We had a fun time talking and the food was good. The place we ate at was called Great Britain Fish'n Chips.
I can't believe the weekend is almost over! We did quite a bit considering we were in Colorado Springs on Friday evening as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how Matt likes his job and not looking forward to when he finishes his training and starts working nights. It'll be strange not having him home in the evenings, but I'm sure we'll adjust. We're going to try to join the local gym when we start getting paychecks again. I certainly need to start on a workout routine soon. I'm scared to see how hard running is here (with the altitude), but it's my favorite workout to do.
And lastly, Matt speaks of posting on here tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back to see if he does!
Well I do have some interesting stories to tell about this trip. First of all, I want to make it known that I did NOT fall in the river. Apparently, I only do that in the tame sections. On this trip, we opted to paddle, so we had to learn some commands to get through the rapids. The group of people we rafted with were not the best. The three in front were drunk (I know this because I could smell alcohol the entire time on their breath), the guy behind me was chewing tobacco and the guy behind Matt was French and didn't really know what was going on. We went through a rapid called Sunshine Falls, where you drop straight down about four feet into more rapids. Well, the guy in front of me started falling out of the boat. He was a big guy too, but as he fell, he started reaching out to grab whatever he could hold on to, which was me. Luckily, I had my feet firmly in the boat so I was able to pull him in a little, but I was not happy that he decided to try to pull me in the river with him.
Anyway, this guy was supposed to be our paddle leader so we could all row at the same time. He had no idea what any of the guide's commands were even though we practiced many times before we got to the rapids. So by the time he realized what we were supposed to be doing, he was way late and everyone else had already finished the stroke.
About halfway down the river, a bottle of brown liquid floated into my foot space. Soon i realized it was from the guy behind me who was chewing. Since I hate that particular habit quite a bit, I was not thrilled to look at his leftovers. I handed the bottle back to him and his girlfriend said "Oh, don't drink that!"
But overall, the trip was great fun despite the other rafters. Our guide was really good and very nice and the rapids were amazing! We even saw a big horn sheep right at the river edge drinking water! They don't look like I imagined, but are amazing just the same. There were also lots of people jumping in the river off of bridges and rope swings. This was all in the tame water as we were floating back into Canon City and was entertaining to watch.
Speaking of entertaining, we went to trivia night at the Pearl Street Grill on Wednesday night with Dave and Mary, some of our friends from KU. I learned this: the "E" in Chuck E. Cheese stands for Entertainment. Weird. And the funny thing is, we guessed it right!
Yesterday, the most eventful things that happened were that Matt took his Colorado pharmacy law test and we had a late lunch with my cousin Andrew and his girlfriend Sarah. We also met Sarah's twin sister and her fiancee. We had a fun time talking and the food was good. The place we ate at was called Great Britain Fish'n Chips.
I can't believe the weekend is almost over! We did quite a bit considering we were in Colorado Springs on Friday evening as well. I'm looking forward to seeing how Matt likes his job and not looking forward to when he finishes his training and starts working nights. It'll be strange not having him home in the evenings, but I'm sure we'll adjust. We're going to try to join the local gym when we start getting paychecks again. I certainly need to start on a workout routine soon. I'm scared to see how hard running is here (with the altitude), but it's my favorite workout to do.
And lastly, Matt speaks of posting on here tomorrow morning, so be sure to check back to see if he does!
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