River Rafting Adventures

On June 16th, 2011 5 friends and I made our way to RiverRun Rafting for a day on the Ottawa River.  We squeezed our bodies into sausage casings aka wetsuits, signed our lives away on the waiver forms, listened to the guide tell us that we paid for a day of working out(we were going to paddle like mad), and again listened to the risks of the day, put our lifejackets on, strapped on our helmets and grabbed a paddle. Our guides led us through some warm up exercises and yoga while we waited for the bus.

Mighty Andy.

Bill was my hero.

Andy was our guide and Bill was the second guide on our raft.  He was learning the Ottawa River aka The Drink.  There were a total of 3 rafts in our group, 2 with 12(we were in one of the 12 person rafts with some people we did not know but they helped us paddle so we decided to keep them anyway) and one with 6, we also were accompanied by a guide in a kayak.  At each of the rapids there were photographers who were also guides who could help out if anyone left the raft and went into The Drink.

See Andy in the green helmet? I am the second white helmet behind him.

The first rapids we went through knocked me right out of my seat.  I crashed into the person behind me and landed on top of the woman on the other side of the raft.  The man who was sitting at the very front of the raft went into the drink.  He was pleased as punch.  I was unimpressed with my unseating and proceeded to question my decision to go water rafting.  We went through a couple more rapids which were very fun!  Kind of like being on a roller coaster without a seatbelt.

We enjoyed a tasty lunch with lots of beverages to stay hydrated.  The six man raft had enjoyed a complete tip over.  They were quite happy about it too!

DOWN!!!!

We got to surf too. This is when you paddle UP the river INTO the rapids. The rapids suck you in then spit you out. Freaky and fabulous. The first time we went surfing the four of us in front did not hear the GET DOWN!!! order.  We stayed up and paddled.  The guy fell out of the raft, Andy was not impressed with us for not listening.  So the four of us in front had to go sit in the back and yell Andy's orders.  lol. I liked it better in the back. Shh.... don't tell anyone.

Surfing!

Just before our raft made its run for the most dangerous rapids of the day, we made a little pitstop where Andy went over the safety plan.  I had a panic attack.  Bill was very helpful and checked my life jacket to make sure it was secure.  My hero! Then we paddled like mad! When we made it to the other side I wondered what all the hype was about.  LOL. :) What fun! 

Going for a dip.

We also went for a swim. Ahhh. It was a glorious day. You should try it!