My brother, sister-in-law and nieces are here for a visit. So much to do! Well, tubing the river was a popular choice and we hooked up with the Mayfield family to enjoy a leisurely float down the Stillwater. (remember this: STILLwater). not.
Got the inner tubes pumped and drove up the road to put in just below the mine.
clue #1 that this might be an adventure: the water was f r eeeeeee zing.
clue #2: a long patch of white water before we hit "still" water
clue #3: the water was low enough that we could see all the rocks... which meant that any dragging fanny would hit rock.
undaunted, we launched amid shrieks of agony as the cold water hit... well, you know, the more temperature sensitve parts.
within 2 minutes, my tube wedged up against a rock, flipped and my special Wal-Mart sunglasses were lost to the ages. since the water was so fast, all I could do was hold on the to tube and ride the water.... banging against rocks. The current was pulling off my shorts which had the car keys in a zipped pocket so one hand held on to tube and the other my shorts. I would say that this was akin to being a human pinball in a machine of ice water. Let the record show that I have what appears to be an exceptionally large eggplant bruise on my arse. And numerous other bruises. If I were a child, DFACS would have been summoned immediately.
About halfway down the river, we spotted Debbie and her dog, Barty, on the bank with NUTTY BUDDIES!!! So, we pulled out for an ice cream social and set off again.
oh, and did I mention that my tube had a leak so I was holding a thumb over the leak as much as possible... a race against time to get to the take out point before I was completely out of air. This decompressing tube had the added feature of making me ride lower in the water (as in closer to the rocks).
A minor wreck at the end involved Maddy getting caught under a tree, losing her tube, Kristy trying to rescue her and getting stuck, Henry getting jammed against the bank, Shannon falling twice trying to get to them. But all ended well and we threw ourselves on the Mayfield deck ... happy, exhausted and ready for another day of adventure.
A minor wreck at the end involved Maddy getting caught under a tree, losing her tube, Kristy trying to rescue her and getting stuck, Henry getting jammed against the bank, Shannon falling twice trying to get to them. But all ended well and we threw ourselves on the Mayfield deck ... happy, exhausted and ready for another day of adventure.
and I am so tired, that I uploaded pictures in reverse order. oh well.
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