Into the Raging Water

(Quilters...bare with me...I'm using my blog to journal about my rafting trip...I promise the saga will end soon. All entries about the trip will now have a water title...I understand if you can do without the drama!)

The night before departure. I'm in the orange shirt, my son's head behind me, hubby next to me in the red board shorts.

How do you like the title for Jon Krakauer's upcoming book?..."Into the Raging Water."

It's still day one. 

We encountered a few rapids which were mild...though my husband got stuck on a rock at the top of one rapid and I was thinking we were going to be the first boat ever to flip in the first five miles of the trip. It left me feeling even more worried about the major rapids to come...

The big event of day one...it was my team's turn to cook for 15 very hungry people. (I just need to mention here that when I agreed to this trip in March I was told I would not have to do anything...no camp chores...I'm just saying.) We used a river outfitter who packed all our meals for us along with menus and recipes. But first everything had to get unloaded from all the boats. It was just like Martha Stewart's kitchen. A lovely 6-burner propane cooktop. On the menu...Appetizer - chips to dip in onion soup mixed with sour cream. Entree - Scallops and Shrimp with Linguine Alfredo, Green Salad, Garlic Bread. Dessert - Pound cake with sliced peaches and whipped cream. 

It was hot. It was sandy. Somehow the meal came out pretty good. Then it was time to clean up. When all was said and done it was 10 o'clock and I finally got to hit my comfy mattress...nope that's not right. I got to flop on an inch-thick air mattress and braise in our three-person tent.

July and August on the Colorado River are monsoon season. It was very hot and very humid...I did not expect humidity.

I laid in the dark wondering how we would ever make it through this trip. Could we helicopter in a rescuer? Seemed unlikely. 

I woke up on day two, excited and ready to go...no...that's not quite how I felt at all...