Colorful Colorado

With Joe's sisters in town, we have been quite active exploring Colorful Colorado.  Today we went White Water Rafting on Clear Creek!  We went on Class 4 rapids which are apparently beginner rapids.

The first challenge of the day was getting into a wet suit.  Thankfully, the rafting guides help to pick out what size we should be and warn us that it is hard to get on.  My wet suit was about a foot too long, and I was able to get it over my shoulders easily.  The challenge came when I had to zip it up.  I would get it zipped a little and POP! it would unzip just like that.  Finally, with the assistance of Natalie, I was able to get it fully zipped.

Once the wet suit was on, the wet jacket, life preserver, and helmet were fitted.  I was told that if I could breathe easily then it wasn't correct.  So my lack of breath was a good thing apparently.  After some instruction and boat placement, we were on the rapids.  I'm not going to lie...I was a little scared.  I had been rafting before, but it was 13 years ago and I was much lighter.  When I focused on the commands we were given, it helped me to not be scared.  I knew that if I paddled as hard as I could we would be safer than if I didn't paddle at all.  So I paddled as hard as I could and I was thankful for my strength training because I felt awesome paddling with all my might.

At the end of our run, we had a small window to get our boat to the side of the creek to get out and on the bus before we kept going down the creek to the Advanced rapids.  No thanks.  So when we missed the spot we were supposed to stop, Joe and I pushed our paddles hard in the water to slow our boat down so we could get caught by the other raft guides.  It was exhilarating and a little scary!  I did not want to go down the 10' drop that we were told laid beyond our exit site.

After the run, it was great to get that wet suit off and I think it was grateful to get off me because once I unzipped it, it fell right to my knees!  Before we left the rafting place, I decided to buy a tee shirt to commemorate the event.  I picked out an XL like normal and tried it on over my tank top.  Joe said that it looked too big!  I didn't believe him, but decided to try on the L and it fit!  I couldn't believe it!  I am excited to wear it tomorrow because it makes me feel awesome.  :0)