Rafting through the Royal Gorge

Here we are, getting ready to go rafting! We drove out in the morning expecting to do some little class 3 rapids, but when we got to the "Lost Paddle" we decided to truly make the most of every opportunity and upgrade to the Royal Gorge and take on those class 5 & 6 rapids, and it was worth it! We almost didn't get wetsuits, but after thinking about it, we decided to go for it, and it's a good thing we did! The water was somewhere in the 50's and the wetsuits definitely shielded us from the cold : )

To the left is Crystal, me, and Leah.


Here we all are (Leah, Parker, Crystal, Jim, me, Heidi and Sara), suited up in our sexy wetsuits and ready to go! Our guide, Jim, was fantastic! He was a ton of fun and we knew that he was in this buisiness because he loves it. So, we hit some really great rapids, and on one, I literally felt like I was about to pop out of the boat, which would have been fun, but I'm glad I didn't! We had beautiful weather, too, and we couldn't have asked for a better day!

After the rapids, we had a bit of drifting time, and Jim said if we wanted, we could jump in and float down the river! We would never pass up an opportunity like that, so in we went!!! The water cold, but so nice and refreshing, too! We floated down the river for a little bit until Jim called us back and dragged us back into the boat. After he pulled us up, he, literally, piled us on top of each other and something about that was so funny to me and I was laughing so hard I couldn't move! I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard-what a great day!





So we had had a great morning rafting and now we were
hungry! So we asked Jim what was good in Canon City and he directed us to this great little family Mexican restaurant for lunch and it was delicious! We ended our meal sharing some yummy fried ice cream. Mmmmm! Parker and Heidi were a little more excited than the rest of us ; )




After lunch, we wanted to find a good place to swim, or at least jump in the river so we went for a walk down the riverwalk, I think it was called, but didn't really find anything mostly because the current was too strong for us to enjoy it. So after a nice leisurely walk, we jumped back in the car to drive to another spot and this one was perfect! Nice and shallow and the current was fairly calm. I put my feet in the water, and swiftly decided that I would not be getting back in the water! It was cooooold!! Leah and Parker, however, were brave enough to jump in while I remained dry on the beach taking pictures : )