See, I'm not joking!!!
Only our Nature Man had been rafting before, with Cub Scouts,so we decided to take the three older kids on a day-trip rafting excursion!
The water was higher and faster than we had anticipated.Good thing we're getting stronger each day, doing our P90X!
The kids all took turns with paddles. And, thankfully, I was only hit in the head one time!
My Dad and Nature Man, right before Dad was hit by a branchand toppled off of the raft backwards.
He went completely underwater (way over his head,) and lost those glasses.
They were real glasses, by the way, not just sunglasses.
Bye, bye glasses.(This was very interesting to Dash,
who continued to ask his Poppy where the glasses were
and how he would possibly get them back again.)
Yes, I'm in pictures. Amazing. My hubby has been doing some good camera-handling. Be proud. :-) We stopped here and there, on banks, to snack and search for shells and fossils, and throw rocks. The kids found some amazingly huge feathers, too. We also spotted two turtles, and several herons and egrets. Nature Man and The Artist practiced their bird calls.
The cliffs are covered with wild berry vines and new little trees. I have a thing for cliffs.
The Artist sat on her perch on the side. She let her feet dangle off the edge and dip into the cool green water. All of my kids love water the way I do.
At the end of our trip, we caught the Redneck bus back to camp. I don't know if you can see the driver well, but let me assure you that he was quite the character. He truly was the epitome of a REDNECK. Don't get me wrong, he was as nice as all get out, but the guy had on a short T-shirt, short cut-off jeans and hiking boots, an old worn baseball cap over unwashed pony-tailed hair, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he spoke rather "rough" English. I guess he really was in perfect context, on those rocky back streets. In a strange sort of way, it made me want to move way out to nowhere. Enter banjo music. Never mind.
This was also my boys' first ever bus ride!!! Can you believe it? The bus journey ended up being a bit more terrifying for me than the rafting expedition!!
5 comments:
What a great trip you have captured entirely! Good job Wendy! Can you imagine how many glasses are at the bottom of that river or any lake for that matter. Such a bummer!!! I feel for your Dad on that one.
The water looks a tiny bit scary being so high. I like it when there are bits that are flowing and bits that the boat drags the ground. Safety first you know. ;)
What river is this? My boys have been wanting to do this for awhile now, especially my big boy. Jenny
Poor dad! I feel bad that that made me laugh really hard.
Your kids are soo adorable(as are you)! I loved the pics!
I'm glad you scoped it out for us. I've been asking forever if anyone had done this. Thank you Savages for giving my the skinny on it! I have a thing for cliffs too; as long as I'm not dangling off the side of one!
The boys got to ride a bus when we went to a hot air balloon festival a couple of years ago. We caught a bus from the parking...miles away!! They were THRILLED! It's the simple pleasures...
It looks so fun! I'm glad y'all made the trip. Sorry about your dad....poor guy! LOL (I love how he looks somewhat amused in the first couple pics, then wet and not-so-amused in the latter!)
The river is the Illinois River isn't it? This is what I grew up swimming in....NOT advised! (lots of snakes...LOTS!) My husband refuses to float the Illinois because of all the snakes and several deaths (remember, we've lived here all of our 32 years and both of us lived in Watts for a short time.....yes, we are rednecks and it's interesting to hear you describe one of us, LOL!). The only river(s) that my hubby will float is the Elk and White River, both north of here in Missourri. Just some info for those who are interested! I'll add this comment tho- I'm sure the majority of the deaths had more to do with how much drinking was going on during those float trips, and a few involved jumping off those beloved cliffs....which I did with my siblings many-a-time. :0)
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