Tuesday, July 27, 2010
I had hoped to write something each evening, but WOW, Monday was full and exhausting.
We were up before 5am, showered, packed (separating things for our rafting trip from our Las Vegas stuff), and went to the hotel dining room for breakfast. Got on the tour's bus, went to the small airport, then rode a prop plane to a dude ranch. Got into a helicopter that took us to the river. Wheeeeeee! My oldest son got to ride in the front with the pilot.
After everyone was there, they did the "boat briefing", then with life jackets on our bodies (and slatherd with SPF 100 sunscreen) , we climbed aboard. My boys wanted to be on the lower pontoons, so we all sat down there, getting splashed by muddy 50 degree water ... it was a blast. Lunch ... soooooo hungry! Then more unrated rapids. We got to our camp site well before dark, pitched our tents (boys wanted to sleep inside, but it was to hot) and after a delicious dinner of spaghetti, we slept in our cots like the dead. i was asleep before desert was even announced.
Tuesday morning, we had bacon and eggs for breakfast, loaded up the boat, and rode the river. Oven-hot breezes mixed with cool-water breezes, making us boil and cool off nicely. It was an interesting day. By lunch, i realized that SPF 100 was not enough for me ... my legs were burning. i put on my plastic rain pants, but my ankles were exposed ... eventually, they started to swell and burn. Even my feet through the shoes burned.
But the canyon was awesome. Some of the exposed rocks we saw were 2 billion years old. When dinosaurs roamed the earth, this was flat terrain ... since then, this entire plateau has raised up and been cut down, erasing all evidence of the dinosaurs locally. In places, its more than a mile up from the river to the rim ... most of the time, we can't even see the rim.
We saw goats and lizards. Cicadas have been our constant companions. My boys tried to kill every ant they saw. They played in the sand when we stopped, or skipped rocks. They charmed most of the rafters.
There are two pontoons going down the river on this tour; 2 guides per boat, plus 14 passengers. Fun people, including a cute young woman, Lacey, who claimed to be a princess, but was having a marvelous time getting soaked in the cold water. i'll admit, i'm not very fond of showering in 50 degree water, but there are some things that are just NECESSARY.
Today, Tuesday, we went down our one "rated" rapid, a level 7. My youngest has been focused on it since we got on the boat ... i think he was terrified of it, but we put him on top of the luggage with some of the others and he got much braver. i heard a lot of "yee-has" and "whoopies" from him after that. Our older son had a quieter time, but just as much fun. If he had smiled any more than that, we would have had to surgically remove the corners of his mouth from his ears.
Tonight, we had trout and steak for dinner. Delicious! The boys struggled through dinner, but gobbled up the cake. (They claimed it was AJ's birthday, and let him blow out the candles.)
At least this time, i lasted until the desert, although i didn't have any. i collapsed into bed, but slept poorly since there were no cool breezes this time. i was grateful when the full moon disappeared behind the cliff walls.
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