A few months ago, one of my really good friends, Natalie, came back to the U.S. from her mission in the Philippines. She lives in Virginia and came out to Utah in 2003 to go to Snow College where we were roommates and have been besties ever since :).
I decided to fly out to Virginia for a week with another one of our friends, Brian Shriver, who served his mission there. It was a pretty laid back vacation but at the beginning of our trip, 6 of us drove to West Virginia and went white water rafting on the Gauley River. I didn't think too much about rafting on this river because I'd been white water rafting several times and I love white water rafting! I got even more exciting when I heard the statistics of this river from the guides...a 23 mile "marathon", 8 class 5 rapids, and a 14 foot waterfall, not to mention all the other class 3 and 4 rapids to go through :). "The Beast of the East" they call it. It was such a blast but I'm not gonna lie, I got pretty nervous during some of the rapids and especially on the 14 foot water fall. We had a pretty go
od guide though and although several other rafts flipped, ours never did....on the first half at least. We pulled off the river right after the 14 foot drop and had a BBQ lunch while watching all the other rafts go down the water fall. After lunch, we all piled back in our raft and headed to the first class 5 rapid of the second half of the river. They called this rapid "Fluffy Box of Kittens". Sounds innocent, right? WRONG! I think we only saw one ra
ft go through this rapid and not flip. We were one of the first rafts and with a name like "Fluffy Box of Kittens", we thought it would be harmless. So we paddled straight for the fierce rapids with confidence and in a split second, the left side of the raft was straight up in the air! Everyone got dumped except the guide. A few of us even got stuck under the raft but they got out pretty fast. I must have been in the middle of the 16 ft boat though because it took me a little bit to find my way over to the edge. I usually ha
ve to plug my nose when I'm under water but everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time. I learned how to hold my breath really fast though! LOL. I panicked for a few seconds and then remembered the safety speech the guides gave about what to do if you get trapped under the raft. So I put my hands and feet up to the raft and moved like hell until I was out from under that thing. I came up coughing like mad! I looked around and saw everyone bobbing around in the river and saw some more rafts flip. It was a crazy adventure! That whole river trip was! We were all so exhausted by the time we got out of the river and back into the bus. We figured after 8 hours on the river, we would be able to sleep on the way back but I think the bus driver felt left out because he didn't get to go through the rapi
ds so he made his own little wild adventure bus ride to go along with it! Our group was in the back of the bus near the rear wheels and we were down in a deep holler so we were driving up a dirt road with huge tree roots and lots of winding switchbacks. When we weren't getting a foot of air between our butts and the seats, I swear, we were going to go off the edge. Especially when he would turn up one of the switchbacks! It was pretty funny though. The whole bus would moan whenever we went over roots or huge bumps. We were so sore from sitting on the raft all day that those bumps meant a sore arse for the rest of the week LOL.
od guide though and although several other rafts flipped, ours never did....on the first half at least. We pulled off the river right after the 14 foot drop and had a BBQ lunch while watching all the other rafts go down the water fall. After lunch, we all piled back in our raft and headed to the first class 5 rapid of the second half of the river. They called this rapid "Fluffy Box of Kittens". Sounds innocent, right? WRONG! I think we only saw one ra
ft go through this rapid and not flip. We were one of the first rafts and with a name like "Fluffy Box of Kittens", we thought it would be harmless. So we paddled straight for the fierce rapids with confidence and in a split second, the left side of the raft was straight up in the air! Everyone got dumped except the guide. A few of us even got stuck under the raft but they got out pretty fast. I must have been in the middle of the 16 ft boat though because it took me a little bit to find my way over to the edge. I usually ha
ve to plug my nose when I'm under water but everything happened so fast that I didn't even have time. I learned how to hold my breath really fast though! LOL. I panicked for a few seconds and then remembered the safety speech the guides gave about what to do if you get trapped under the raft. So I put my hands and feet up to the raft and moved like hell until I was out from under that thing. I came up coughing like mad! I looked around and saw everyone bobbing around in the river and saw some more rafts flip. It was a crazy adventure! That whole river trip was! We were all so exhausted by the time we got out of the river and back into the bus. We figured after 8 hours on the river, we would be able to sleep on the way back but I think the bus driver felt left out because he didn't get to go through the rapi
ds so he made his own little wild adventure bus ride to go along with it! Our group was in the back of the bus near the rear wheels and we were down in a deep holler so we were driving up a dirt road with huge tree roots and lots of winding switchbacks. When we weren't getting a foot of air between our butts and the seats, I swear, we were going to go off the edge. Especially when he would turn up one of the switchbacks! It was pretty funny though. The whole bus would moan whenever we went over roots or huge bumps. We were so sore from sitting on the raft all day that those bumps meant a sore arse for the rest of the week LOL.We did all kinds of random stuff in Virginia. We went to the Roanoke star one night, and to "mi
ni Graceland" where we became giants! They took me to the "millionaires club" and told me if we didn't dress up really nice, they might not seat us. I saw right through that though because they ended up taking me to this hole-in-the-wall burger place. hahaha! We even did some civil war site seeing. I LOVE learning the history behind the old town and buildings. It's humbling to know that such great leaders (and not so great ones) once stood in that very spot and changed the country!
ni Graceland" where we became giants! They took me to the "millionaires club" and told me if we didn't dress up really nice, they might not seat us. I saw right through that though because they ended up taking me to this hole-in-the-wall burger place. hahaha! We even did some civil war site seeing. I LOVE learning the history behind the old town and buildings. It's humbling to know that such great leaders (and not so great ones) once stood in that very spot and changed the country!Overall, Virginia was AWESOME! But I'm not going to lie. Utah is my home and it was s
o nice to fly into the Salt Lake valley and see the majestic mountains and Great Salt Lake. What a beautiful site! :) I would finallly get to see Bryant after 8 days too! That was by far the hardest part about this trip. Being deprived of my Love. :) Little did I know, he had a surprise in store for me.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
o nice to fly into the Salt Lake valley and see the majestic mountains and Great Salt Lake. What a beautiful site! :) I would finallly get to see Bryant after 8 days too! That was by far the hardest part about this trip. Being deprived of my Love. :) Little did I know, he had a surprise in store for me.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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