A Little Whitewater Never Hurt Anybody

While the kiddos are getting spoiled rotten at G’ma and G’pa’s house, Hubby and I made impromptu plans to go whitewater rafting through the Royal Gorge with one of his work buddies who was here working. It was so fun to be able to make last-minute plans like that! We hadn’t been rafting in over 10 years.

The weather was beautiful, the river great, the Gorge was amazing, and the rafting was awesome!

*Note - this is probably the only time I will ever post pictures of myself in a swimming suit!

Ted, Me, and Hubby before we got in the raft. Note our VERY stylish river boots! Last time we went, they made us wear wet suits even though it was warm out, so we figured we’d be doing the same this time. Um, nope. But, you can’t raft barefoot, in flip flops, or in Crocs. We hadn’t brought anything but flip flops for our feet assuming we’d wear a wet suit and river boots. Well, we ended up with Boots and Suits I know - we’re irresistable!

Hubby and I enjoying the ride before we get to the bigger rapids. I just have to say, this rafting trip is awesome, even when you’re not working, because the views are AMAZING!

This helicopter buzzed us, literally, a few times on our journey. This tour guide is a MANIAC! Oh. My. Gawd! He would be so close to the water flying through the gorge and then he’d pull up and climb the huge walls on the side, turn and come back down. It made me want to throw up just WATCHING it! But I still wanna do it

Here we are heading into Sunshine Falls . . . the last rapids before the ones that go right by all the people below the Royal Gorge Bridge. We all look so relaxed, don’t we? I’m wondering if our guide knows something we don’t know!

Maybe this was what he was seeing come up. He was getting ready to bark some orders and put us to work! Tellin’ ya - loads and loads of fun!

Here we are after making it through The Gorge. Notice the Suspension Bridge above us . . . it was very cool. The bridge is just as cool from the top as it is from the bottom! Totally a vacation destination for all you out-of-staters

After the Gorge, there are a few more class 3s before you float the last 4 miles into town. We saw all kinds of fun stuff, including a few big horn sheep hangin’ out on shore. Pretty neat!

Ted - all I can say is “It’s hard to look smart in a helmet.”

Finally, kudos to our guide company, Raft Masters - http://www.raftmasters.com/. They ROCK! We’ve used them all 3 times we’ve gone rafting through The Gorge - they were just as great this time as they were 10 years ago. AND, they had quite a few of the same guides, which says a LOT about that company. They are professional, knowledgeable, safe, and a TON of fun. If you ever want to raft through the Royal Gorge, definitely check out Raft Masters in Canon City. (No, I don’t know anybody who works at this company - and I live more than an hour away - they are just that awesome that I wanted to give them kudos.)