Young Women River Rafting Trip- Aug 2012

In August, Riana and I went on a River Rafting trip.  I was really excited to go… until I learned we would be staying the night at Ensign Ranch, which has horses.  (I thought about having Grant go with her instead, however decided I wasn’t going to let this stop me.  He always gets to go on fun adventures and this was my chance to have a fun, relaxing weekend away, and special time with Riana.)  My horse allergy has been getting worse, and has been causing wheezing and breathing issues.  This gave me an excuse to visit my Doctor and ask for an Epipen, just in case.  In addition to the EpiPen, he also hooked me up with prescription eye drops, nasal spray, an inhaler, and told me which allergy pills to get over the counter.  I felt very prepared.

Well, the drive was kind of long, as we went close to Wenatchee.  There were some crazy scary fires on the way (and they were worse on the way back.)  People were watching in cars from the hill overlooking the fires.  There were several homes in the way of the fire… it was really sad.

When we got to Ensign Ranch, most everyone went horseback riding.  Riana had a great time.  She never gets to go horseback riding, because of my allergy.  When they came back, I started having a reaction.  My eyes are usually the worst and they weren’t reacting at all, which was super awesome.  However, I started having tightness in my chest.  It felt like someone was stepping on my chest and I totally started regretting coming at all.  However, I took some puffs of my inhaler and left the cabin.  After sitting in the fresh air for like a half hour, I was doing much better.  Thank goodness!!  The rest of the night, we spent eating, visiting with one another, some of us fixed hair, some of us petted the horses, etc.  Riana and Heather realized that they had matching shirts.  How fun!

The next morning, we cleaned up and then had to drive another hour or so to the river.  When we got there, we had to wait a while… so we changed our clothes, ate our lunch, and just hung out.  I thought we were going to wear wet suits and didn’t think about the fact that it would be 100 degrees there.  They said they wouldn’t make their worst enemies wear wet suits in 100 degree weather.   I realized why they said that just from the boots we had to wear.  They were made out of the same material and my feet were roasting, when they weren’t soaked with water.  I decided to wear my clothes because I just didn’t feel comfortable running around in my bathing suit, for the world… no thanks!

We were each outfitted with shoes, a life jacket, and an oar.  Then we chose our groups.  We needed a group of 6 and 7.  Bishop, Savannah, and Ashlyn wanted to be together and I wanted to be with Riana, who wanted to be with Heather and Emily, so we ended up in a group.  Teresa and Dave, Bev and Christian, and Katelyn and Ali ended up together, with two other ladies.  I loved the guide that was chosen for us because he seemed conservative (like a real careful person) and nice.  Some of the other guides came across as show-offs.  I felt like we were in good hands.  I trusted his judgement. 

Right before we left, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing, until the head guide (which really seemed mean to me) started telling us all that we were going to die and that pretty much he didn’t care and all this other stuff.  The way he puts things was just rude.  I left that talk feeling insecure about the whole thing.

We left and it turned out to just be a whole lotta talk.  The river was not rough at all.  We had several places where it even got a bit boring.  However, to spice things up, our guide let the girls get out of the boat and swim around.  That was fun!  They loved that!  We practiced pulling each other back in by the lifejacket.  The parts of the river with big rapids were super fun.  I was surprised though that we had to work so hard during the rapids.  I don’t remember doing that on my last river rafting trip.  We had to row really hard in which ever direction our guide wanted us to.  Sometimes we were working hard and we still got stuck.  I think we got stuck more than any other boat.  I think it is because we had so many light weight girls in our boat.  The awesome thing though is that every time we became stuck, working together, we were able to get off the rocks that we were stuck on (usually a rock that wasn’t quite sticking out of the water, so we weren’t able to see it until it was too late.)  We were able to see some really awesome sights on the river—a huge bird’s nest in a cool tree, some beautiful houses, some writing on a rock wall, etc.

At one point in the river, our guide even let some of the girls ride on the bow of the boat through a smaller rapid.  They thought that was great fun!  Another time, we got into a water fight with the other boats our friends were on.  That was hilarious!!  (It was the only time I had to worry about my camera, which I tied around my wrist.  However, I tucked it in my armpit to keep it dry and it was fine.  I brought our cheapest camera, in case it got ruined.  I was actually pleasantly surprised at how the pictures turned out ...pretty good!  I was glad I brought it because otherwise I wouldn't have any pictures.  I don't think anyone else took any pictures.)  Probably the funniest moment was when the other guide told Katelyn and Ali to hook oars and hang out on the sides of the boat.  When they were leaning out, he tapped the oars and they both fell in.  It was pretty funny!  The best part of the river was definitely the last 1/4 of the river… it had the biggest rapids and was awesome!!  Afterwards, we each had to pull our boats out of the river and up a hill.  I watched the other groups struggle a bit with theirs and worried since they all had mostly adults in their boat.  However, our girls were tougher than they looked and even though we only had 3 adults, our girls worked their tails off and we didn’t struggle at all with our boat.  It was super awesome!!

On the way home, we stopped at Dairy Queen and ate some dinner and ice cream.  (They had statistics about the fires at Dairy Queen and it was sad to see how many acres and houses and such were burned.)  We had a great time on our river rafting trip and I am so glad that Riana and I could share this fun time together, along with her young women friends, leaders, and priesthood leaders.

Riana later gave her first talk ever in Sacrament Meeting and she was asked to speak about this trip and how it relates to faith.  She gave several really awesome analogies about the two.  Here is part of her talk...  "Some parts were easy and we could relax and we could even get out and swim around...  Some parts were hard and even though we paddled hard sometimes, we still got stuck and were passed by others while we tried to get unstuck.  After struggling, we would always get through...  The river is like Life—it’s always moving.  The rocks are like our trials on which we can get stuck.   The people rowing, are like family and friends, help us to stay safe or get back into the boat when we fall out.   The Guide is like our Savior who helps us reach the end safely and who taught us the right way to get there—guiding us and paddling with us along the way...  The physical action of rowing was how we showed our faith.  When we got stuck, we always had hope that with correct technique and hard work, we could get unstuck.  So we rowed and rowed; and rowed some more!  Our faith paid off because we made it home safely!  ...The End!!!!! Riana’s Awesome!"  Riana, you really are awesome!!  You gave an amazing first talk!!  Great job!!  :)