Day 4 - White Water Raftingt

Up early to another sunny Vail morning - we have been so lucky with the weather.  Art and I got our 'stuff' ready and had breakfast and, suddenly, realized that we'd not heard any sounds from the girls' room.  So....looked into the room to find it dark and two girls sleeping.  I asked, rather loudly if they wanted to go rafting.  The truth is - they CAN  move quite fast in the morning including dressing, eating breakfast and getting to the office where our transportation was meeting us 20 minutes early!  We were picked up in a small bus by a very cute and friendly guide named Ryan who in short order told a few less than funny jokes, introduced himself and the other guide, Paul, to the passengers, told us how many more stops we would make to pick up the final 27 who were going on this trip, etc.  Once all were on board we continued to the place on the Colorado River learned about the mountains, river, names of the rapids, and lots about the guides - all were cute, either college grades or still in college, in love with the active life of the mountains and very engaging.  We were assigned to a raft with a young family including 6, 8 and 10 year old children .and our guide Mike (who seemed to be the lead guide).

Art managed to slip on a rock and bruise his shin before even getting into the raft.  Mike asked the girls if they wanted to ride in front and get the most wet and paddle the hardest.  They declined the invitation.  So, we volunteered and Art and I became the lead paddlers!  According to Mike, Art was the oldest guest he'd taken on a rafting trip.  And we got lots of comments and compliments about our level of activity :)  The first 45 minutes or so were hectic.  One level 3 rapid after another with Mike telling us when and in which direction to paddle.  All of the passengers had paddles and helped out; we just got the most wet!!  When we got to calmer waters, Mike had each of the children paddling along, too.  The 6 year old had been a real trooper, chatting along every minute and being the spotter of each piece of rough water in front of us! Mike told us all sorts of stories about the mountains, rock formation, and beaver huts we passed along the way.  We arrived at a landing place in Glenwood Springs after sailing through the amazingly beautiful Glenwood Canyon, pulled the raft out of the water and carried it (Jana and Sally helped) to the trailer that would take it back for the next group.

David, the bus driver, doubled as the cook.  He had everything set up for a chicken fajita lunch, along with
 chips, salsa, and cookies for dessert.  We dried off over lunch, took some pictures of the mountain where the big fire of 1994 occurred with the loss of 14 firemen who were trapped in the fire (a simple but lovely memorial to them was in the park where we ate), boarded out bus and in short order - about 45 minute ride - David brought us back to the Marriott.

The hot tub was calling and since we already had bathing suits on, we went straight there, sunbathed for awhile until we heard nap time calling.  Relaxed until we went out for Chinese Food and early bed time....  A day of fun in the sun and on the water...wonderful!  Will add some pictures tomorrow....my bed is calling.