Day 2

We got going early in anticipation of our raft trip down the Arkansas river. I was nervous, Clark was excited. We checked in and got our gear (including helmet...which didn't help my nervousness). We loaded on an old school bus filled with very young people (Clark and I were some of the oldest and there weren't many over 50), the door shuts and the sound system starts with ozzie's Crazy train! We travelled up the river to the put in site, met our guide and fellow rafters, Kira and Oliver. We got our basic instructions: Forward, back, dig in and what to do if we fell in (yikes)...and off we went. It was fun! I don't think I'd enjoy anything greater than what we did (class 3) but Clark would love to go for something bigger. (Sandy he needs someone to go with :)) We saw a huge herd of bighorn sheep, Canada geese and a deer. But I wasn't looking much...I was paddlin' like a crazy fool! I enjoyed our oar high fives at the end of each rapid and finally was able to do the beaver slap at the end pretty loud!! We got wet but stayed in the boat..thank god! We really enjoyed our group and Jarod our guide invited us to his night job at a brewery for dinner. But first we had another adventure: the royal gorge train ride! We had fun again...cool train, we sat in the dome car. We had a nice booth and table with a white table cloth...fancy smancy! We enjoyed some ice tea (I know can you believe it, not a bloody mary) and took in the view. On the way back we ventured out into the open car and took photos of the rafters going down the gorge (class 4+) and the suspension bridge. I saw some cute little engineer outfits, perfect for a little grandbaby, but I controlled myself and got a pin for my collection. Later we went and had a drink and some wings where our guide work and then headed home for the night. The Host hotel, Canon city wasn't much but hey it was a room!