Wild and Wonderful, West Virginia! I can't even begin to write this post without a smile on my face. The adventure was top secret until we met up at my folks house at noon on Saturday. I was extremely excited to finally let everyone know we would be white water rafting for our first adventure. The weather could not be perfect and the group that has agreed to these adventures could not be more fun! I decided to write a Top Ten list for this trip so we can remember the most memorable moments of the trip! Feel free to comment, girls, if you have more to add!
Number 1o: The Reveal. The look of happiness on everyone's faces when I let them know where we would be heading! The look of nervousness on others. I knew it was a good choice. Out of the box, out of the comfort zone!
Number 9: 60 mph in a 65. My car was only a couple minutes behind the other car when we arrived and returned. To me, this is a glorious moment considering I may be the slowest driver in NOVA. I take great pride in that, even though Heather was screaming at me from the back to SPEED UP!
Number 8: The Rusty Shovel. Realizing that no, Lisa, was not planning on murdering us with that rusty shovel hitched to the top of her ride. I guess it was just for show?!?!
Number 7: THE SAFETY VIDEO! That freaking video was the worst. All we were thinking was how the heck are we supposed to remember when to ball ourselves up, keep feet straight ahead, flip on our bellies or swim hard to shore if we were to fall out. And with a smile and a wink the safety video lady stated at the end, "We do not assume any responsibility should you injure yourself or perish on the ride." What?!?!
Number 6: The Art of Entering the Wetsuit. Those bad boys were no picnic sliding into...I use the word sliding in a purely joking manner. Here are serious quotes from my girls.
"Do we keep our pants on?"
"Keep em on, really, keep em on."
"I'm taking mine off. "
"Did you wash these before handing them to us?"
"Are these on inside out?"
"Why, yes they are."
"Oh well, not changing it."
"These are like full body spanx. Sweet."
Number 5: Stacy did not vomit.
Number 4: "I've been doing this since I was 16!" Our guides beneath the grizzly beard and the missing teeth were actually quite attractive. The stories of West Virginia and our imminent death on the river were fascinating and frightening. I think some of the time we knew they were joking and some of the time I could hear the nervous laughter.
Number 3: Lemonade Pit-Stop. Lisa said it was really so we could pee. I am wondering did they want us pee near "copperhead rock" or "spider lagoon"? Regardless, that was some delicious lemonade and a beautiful waterfall.
Number 2: Strange Ambrosia as Stacy calls it. What a wonderful way to end the day. Thank you so much Tina for choosing such a wonderful restaurant. The service was excellent. Heathers fries were piping hot when we went to pay the bill and the ranch dressing was delicious. Tracy letting us know that "these were all valid requests, ladies" cracked me up. Can I be you when I grow up, Tracy? Kelly and I would have let them cut our hair and poison us before we spoke up. I hope the two of us learn to get a backbone one day.
Number 1: Rolling down the River. Everything about it was ridiculously fun. From the moment we sat "one cheek on, one cheek off" on the side of the raft to the moment we hiked up the steep trail to find our sweet, scary ride back to the parking lot was pure bliss. The "Screaming" raft (me, Tina, Patty and Suzy) listening in anticipation to the "giggling" raft ahead of us while they crossed the rapids. Tina saying "I don't think we should do this!" right before we hit the first rapid. Patty's first fall into the raft followed by 5 more falls with me on top of her and hearing poor Tina screaming "ATTACK, ATTACK." Patty and I realizing that it is impossible to get yourself back up while laughing and getting pounded by waves. Suzy's face as she realizes that turning around to talk to us before we went "surfing" was not the smartest move. Our guide letting us know after the fact that he did have an Uh-Oh moment with us shortly after the first rapid. Since I was not on the other boat "The Gigglers"...I asked Stacy to send me some observations of their time on the river. Here is Stacy's take on their raft: "Our raft was what I like to refer to as the "experienced" raft as opposed to the "virgin" raft. Our raft (Stacy, Heather, Tracy, Kelly and Lisa) has "been around the block" with the expert skills of Tracy, Kelly and Lisa. Ed was fantastic with his stories and the beard left a little bit to the imagination. :) In all seriousness we had a great time traveling down the Shenendoah and Potomac Rivers. I think we laughed the entire way! Bonus: The wetsuits contained the jigglies however, I could have done without the perpetual squishiness of the booties!"
Thanks again to my Hypo-Phobic Bad Girls for the most fabulous First Adventure!
