Friday morning we fixed breakfast at Diamond, packed a picnic lunch and headed to Buena Vista for our Rafting Adventure on the Arkansas River. We were so excited!
Nathan was too small to go, so he and Grandpa had their own adventure together. They found an ice cream store and then went to a fish hatchery. Nathan was happy to get to feed the fish!
Our time on the river was so much fun! We had a great guide who amazingly enough is from Andover! We told him about our little canoe/kayak business and he knew right where we lived from last years sign! Crazy!
When we started hitting the rapids, the guide, Zach, asked Caleb is he wanted to ride the bull. That meant, Caleb would sit up front with his legs hanging over, holding onto a rope. He did and had a great time! Then Jacob wanted to try. He didn't have a good hold on the rope,and soon went overboard! Bri pulled him back in, everyone laughing! Towards the end, all of the boats beached at a certain spot and those who wanted to, climbed up Jump Rock, 10-12 feet above the water, and you guessed it, jumped off into the frigid cold water below. We all jumped. Even cautious me! I knew if I didn't I would always regret it. Luke and Caleb even jumped twice. At the very end was called swimmers rapid. those who wanted could body surf over the rapids then get pulled back into the boat. Luke, Jacob and Bri did it. It was a little too bumpy for them, but they survived. All in all it was an amazing time!
During our rafting, the guide told us about a small ghost town nearby,and thought the boys would get a kick out of it, so we headed that way once we returned from rafting.
It is a little town called St. Elmo. It was originally a mining town right on the river up in the mountains. It is basically a one street town of old buildings and boardwalks. There is an open gift shop and they are renovating a building into a bed and breakfast. Four wheelers love to drive in and go through the town. What makes it especially fun is the chipmunks! You can buy a bag of seeds and literally feed them from your hand. Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I don't have pictures. :( But we ate our picnic on the board walk
and roamed up and down.
That day was also Grandpa's birthday, so back in town we took him out for Chinese and an ice cream cone for dessert.
1 comment:
I love these rafting pictures. You are all smiling and laughing! What great family fun! So happy for you all.
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