In our last installment of Summer Vacation 2010, I recounted our tale of sheer rock cliffs (at 4000 ft) and rattlesnakes. Not wanting to lose any momentum (but TOTALLY willing to lose a limb), our next adventure was white water rafting down the Shenandoah river.
I'm usually on pretty high-alert for any possibility for accidental death and dismemberment, but for some reason, kids + white water + made-in-China raft didn't raise any concerns until we actually got there. I'm not sure what set me off first. Maybe it was the safety waivers. Or maybe it was the conversation we had with the very helpful man sitting next to us for the safety video:
With a nice WV twang: "So, ya'll going to do some tubing today"
"Nope, we're going rafting"
"Oh -- flat-water rafting. The kids will love that"
"Oh, no -- we're going white-water rafting"
"WHAT? You're taking your KIDS white-water rafting!! Why would you do that?"
At this point I excused myself to go back inside and asked how often people fell out of the rafts (and INTO the rocky river). I was expecting to be reassured that it had never happened, but, instead, I was told that there was a pretty strong possibility that one of us would get dumped.
So, yeah. Now I was worried.
Next came the very helpful safety video. The video started off by reminding us that white-water rafting was a risky activity and that by getting in the raft we were assuming those risks. The we watched 10-minutes of disaster clips, outlining all the most dangerous situations that might arise on the river. The best part was the descriptions of the near-acrobatic maneuvers required to avoid "rock entrapment". Rock entrapment is what happens if you get thrown out of the raft and your foot get stuck in between rocks, trapping you under a rush of river water. GULP.
I was twitching by the time the video was over and actually considered grabbing the kids and making a run for it. I might have actually left if we hadn't already paid a (non-refundable) small fortune for the trip. I sucked it up though, we all got fitted for our life-jackets and helmets, and got on the bus headed for the launching area. The bus was driven by a spaced-out looking guy named "Tigger", which, in retrospect, should have worried me more than rock entrapment.
To cut to the chase ('cause I know you're all in such suspense), we wound up having a great time! The first part of the trip was flat-water (which required us to paddle -- and by us, I mean Rich and I because the kids crapped out on us after half a mile). After a bit of paddling, we got to the white water portion and made it through class I, II, and even a few class III rapids. I almost fell out once -- probably because I was yelling at the kids to "brace" while forgetting to do so myself. It was certainly not without risk, but the kids did way better than I ever would have imagined (even if Rich and I had to do all the paddling). Our guide was great and struck the perfect balance between letting us know the risks, but helping us feel comfortable with them. It helped that he told us he was the local swift-water rescue instructor...
I wish I had gotten some pictures -- but we forgot to bring a waterproof camera (plus, I was too busy paddling and/or holding on for dear life to have a free hand for taking pictures).
The trip back (on the Tigger-driven bus) ended with some AWESOME West Virginia jokes (courtesy of our WV-native guide) that the kids are repeating, but not actually understanding. Tee-hee.
