Friday, July 15, 2011

Right About Then...

I realized I had made a major mistake. It's day one.


Here I sit in a raft with my Katherine Hepburn hat trying to figure out if there is any possible way to get off this trip. My husband at the oars. My son fishing off the back. It looks so peaceful. 

226 Miles
12 Days
11 Nights

My husband has always had boats with motors. He has only rafted once before on a group day-trip. But as I am often reminded by him...he is a fighter pilot...the implication is therefore that he is capable of doing just about anything and surviving. (He would remind you of the Great Santini.) Just one problem...I'm there too! 

After 20-plus years of marriage I have gotten so much better at saying no and not finding myself in these situations...but I was lulled into a feeling of fun when I knew whom the others were that would be going on the trip. 

Big Sigh...

I felt like I was a character in a Jon Krakauer non-fiction novel about stupid naive people who place themselves in life-threatening positions. Too much like the young man in the book, "Into the Wild," who foolishly hiked off into the wilderness of Alaska with a bag of rice and a homemade sleeping bag. Or how about the amateur mountain climbers who paid a fortune to be guided on Everest..."Into Thin Air." They all paid with their lives for being so ill prepared for what they would face.

Debbie Bailey...soon to be written about by Jon Krakauer...homemaker, quilter, dog lover....what possible  preparation did she have for a private rafting trip...none...nada....zippo.

I had to dig deep and find my inner pioneer woman.

3 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

oh I am so sure this would not be a trip for me - I am not a water baby - would not want to fall over board, would not want to have to find a convenient bush on the shore for a potty break every 90 minutes or so for me - nope I think I will stick with my small motorhome :) hope you are having fun!!
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

Cathy said...

The scenery looks gorgeous. But I'm not sure I would have wanted to see it from quite that vantage point.

Kathy Schwartz said...

Sounds like quite the adventure, when will it be aired on TV and what network. Hope I can see it in Canada!
I have lived in the bush for 3 months at a time so know a bit about finding your 'inner pioneer woman' and then how good it is to come home!