We dropped of the cars, blew up the boats and then we were ready to get on the river.
A few weeks earlier, we had floated the same river from the same spot and had had a little bit of trouble when we were pulled into some trees. My arm got pretty scrapped up, but other than that we were fine. There was lots of laughter and paddling as we avoided being pulled into other dangerous looking places and had a great time.
This time it was a bit different. We loaded the cooler, food, and books into the boat, then it was our turn to put the boat into the water. First Nalley got in the boat and then I did. We got pushed off and we started to paddle down the river because when entering there, you have to paddle to the middle of the river, so you don’t hit said trees. (those same trees that scrapped me up last time.) Well, we didn’t do a very a good job. We ended up going around in circles and circles and into the first set of trees. Luckily, we made it out of the first set and thought we were making great head way until, we started spinning again.
This time, though, we spun right into a damn of trees and there was nothing we could do to get out. Our boat started filling with water and we couldn’t get the boat to move or us to move. The next thing I realized was that we were going under. I took a deep breath, prayed that I would come out the other side and under the water we both went. I wasn’t under for very long, thank goodness. I came up with the paddle in one hand and the boat right next to me. I grabbed the boat. Nalley also came up next to me with the other paddle. Yes! We had 2 paddles and a boat. Sadly the cooler, shoes, sunscreen, and alcohol went down the river.
The other part of our party launched their “raft” (they tied up 3 tubes together) and caught up to us shortly…well after I tried to stop the boat multiple times by standing up, but then the current would take us down river again. We moved the boat into the middle of their “raft” area and then held on to their rafts. They tried to help us in the boat, but there was no way we were getting in, so we just held on as they tried multiple times to get us over to the bank of the river.
I was totally fine floating along, but I was super worried about my friend. She kept hitting rocks. At one point I thought we would be able to get to one side of the river, so I let go, but much to my dismay, they didn’t make it, which meant I was left to floating the river. It wasn’t bad. It was a good thing I was a good swimmer and had trained for a triathlon last summer.
Finally we got helped over to a small island and everyone got out. Nalley wasn’t going back in the water or any of our boats we had. She was done! But being on an island meant, there was no way to get her to the car if we left her there. I didn’t want to leave her there, but I didn’t know what to do. Luckily a big boat came by and took her to the next get out point, where she called her dad and he took her down to where my car was.
The rest of us got back in the raft and tubes with two new floaters (they had also tipped, but were down an inner tube and car keys). We floated the rest of the river, sharing food, laughter and having a really good time, although I was worried about my friend, Nalley, the rest of the ride. When we got to the end, Nalley was there with her dad. Yeah! He was ready to take home the boat and Nalley was ready for food and drinks, just like everyone else.
I am so happy that we made it through this trip and have realized that water is bigger than you really think, so everyone should wear life jackets or vests, as to not die.
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