The first order of business was a whitewater rafting trip with Jasmine and John on the Arkansas River! It was too bad that Heather and Postie didn't arrive in time to join us. It would have been great to have them in our boat (especially as you will see later on). We had to leave home at 6:30am in order to make it to the river; not a problem for Jasmine and John since they get up at the crack of dawn with Ella and Tyler the human alarm clocks, but Dalmau and I were very sleepy. Ella and Tyler stayed at home with their Poo Poo and Gung Gung.
We weren't sure if wetsuits were going to be necessary, but boy were we glad we had them on once we got on the river. The water was still quite chilly and we would have been freezing without them.
We were paired with another family in our boat. Unfortunately, that family wasn't so athletically inclined. The whole idea is that the two people in the front are supposed to row together and set the pace for everyone else to row. Do you see the two people in front? One of these is not like the other. John, on the right side of the boat, is reaching out, digging his oar in the water and taking broad strokes in order to move the boat forward. His partner on the left side of the boat is catching a bunch of air. In both of these pictures.
His wife was equally as bad. She was in front of me and decided *not* to follow John. Or to even put her oar in the water. Not one bit. Not even a teensy bit. Which, unfortunately for her, meant that sometimes, wholly accidentally, she got an oar in her back because everyone else behind her (me) was following John. Ooops.
Here we are going over the rapids:
Here's Dalmau concentrating very hard on his rowing. You can see Jasmine behind him in the "ejector seat", who is following Dalmau's lead. Who is not following? Yup, you guessed it, the daughter of the other family! Why is her oar in the water and everyone else is out?!
It was a really thrilling experience. Thanks to John for organizing the trip!
