Carmel Water Rafting

There has been big talk in the Trapnell family for many years about taking a trip together. I never actually thought it would happen. Partly because we couldn't even plan a girl's weekend away (our girl's trips always turned into lunch, shopping and a movie. All the festivities were finished in a few short hours). And partly because I thought the boys would rather take their trips without us.

But this time around, Jeff's mom got involved. In October, she told the boys that we wanted to go on a trip with them. And we wanted to do a RIVER trip with them. And they planned it. AND everyone committed, except Jeff's oldest brother, who had already planned a trip to Africa. Secretly, inside, I thought it would never actually happen. But it did.

The Friday before Memorial Day, we crept out of the house at 4:45 am, loaded everything up, and made the drive to Moab where we met Al, a friend our husband's had met on the Grand Canyon last year, and our 30 foot raft. We had some trepidation about actually stepping aboard the "boat," as it appeared that it was headed swiftly to retirement, but the boys assured us it was indestructible, and proceeded to demonstrate by jumping up and down on the outer tubes to prove it.

In the picture above, you can see the beautiful raft I mentioned. All of our gear is under those tarps, which the men would secure every morning for us. We spent three and a half days lounging around on top of the gear (and anywhere we could find a free space, actually) as we maneuvered the Colorado River in Cataract Canyon. At the bottom of the picture, you can see a couple of brown bags of water. Those are the solar showers. They were filled with that crystal clear river water (cough, cough) and left to bake all day in the sun. When we got to camp at night, the water was a toasty 115 degrees, and those who were brave could take a warm shower. We lost them one day, after a particularly treacherous rapid, but they were all recovered floating in the river.

When we felt that we had reached the appropriate number of miles, we made camp. The men promised us that they would take care of everything, which may have been the reason Jeff's mom actually made the trip. They did an amazing job. The first night, they cooked salmon. The second night, steaks. And burritos the third night. Everything tasted great!

You can see the dinner crew here. Jeff isn't pictured (in fact, he isn't in any of the pictures. I'm not sure where he was...), and neither is his dad. But these are the rest of the men. Al, Ryan (soon to be brother in law),Dr Garner (a family friend), and Jeff's brothers, Chris, Russ and Greg. This was our first camp, salmon night. We also had a port-a-potty at this camp, something none of us appreciated until day 2.

And here are the ladies, waiting to be served. Nancy and Noel, Cheryl Garner, Julie, Laurie, Sheri and me. Don't ask why everyone looks better than me. I have no answer for that.

Besides eating, we had plenty of time to chat, read US Weekly, play a fun game called The Oatmeal Guy, and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

We didn't come upon any rapids at all until the end of day 2. This was probably the most disappointing thing about the entire trip. I had thought we would be having rapids every day, with only periods of flat water. But that wasn't the case. We spent most of our days floating along like Tom Sawyer, albeit in better company (and with a motorized raft). If you scroll back up to the first picture, you can see all of us in our rain gear. This was the third day, right before we took on the biggest rapid of the trip. We pulled over so the men could scout it out, making sure we took the best possible course so as not to flip the raft. We all waited nervously, decked out like we were on our way to the Arctic. I must admit, though, the rapids were awesome. "High adventure," as we called it. I just wish there had been more. Besides a one or two hour period on day 3, we had no other rapids.

But we did have plenty of time for lounging and enjoying the sun (one of my favorite past times). There was nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one to take care of...that was amazing. We ate when we were hungry, slept when we were tired, and spent the rest of the time just floating along.

This was our last day, floating toward our destination. It was still a bit chilly, as the sun hadn't warmed us yet, but I am still rocking that sweet water-proof hat I stole from Jeff.

The worst part of the trip was actually an object. Known to everyone as The Groover. Basically it was a metal box with a seat where we did our "twosies." And as we made camp on day 2, it made us REALLY appreciate Camp One, with its port-a-potty.

For those of you who are interested in taking a river trip, let me give you a little peek (ha! not literally) at what it was like. The Groover was placed in a secluded area, and a yellow flotation device with the words "Need Help" was situated where all could see. When you felt that inevitable call of nature, you took the flotation device (to signal "Occupied"), and followed the path to the location of The Groover (one time it was a path, one time it was through a tangle of weeds). There, in private, you had to pee in the river (or in a bush, just NOT in The Groover), and then back up to The Groover, plug your nose, lift the lid, quickly sit down, and do your business as quickly as possible. Then, without looking, you had to sprinkle some powdered bleach on top (to keep the smell down), close the lid, and quickly run away before you are forced to breathe in again.

You don't necessarily have to follow those directions, but I highly recommend it. A person could ruin the rest of the trip by satisfying their curiosity and breathing in deeply, just to see what it smells like.

But apart from the minor inconvenience of having to travel with a box of everyone's poop, it really was an enjoyable trip. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys relaxation, periods of high adventure, and doesn't mind sleeping under the stars. Or showering with warm river water.

Thanks Julie for the pictures! I told you I would steal them from your blog, and I am nothing if not honest.