27 April, 2016

Whitewater rafting - or not?



…or so we were told.

I was a chaperone on a Servant Event trip to North Carolina, and we had scheduled a day-off fun trip including whitewater rafting on the French Broad River.

However, this was a year of drought. We baked in the sun all week, out in that Carolina heat – You know the “Carolina Blue” color? It’s the blue in the Carolina Panthers logo, and I believe the same blue for the Tarheels team. Well, that was honest-to-God the color of the sky that entire week.

Sweat bees were biting us out in the sun. I realized they’re nothing to be afraid of.

Anyway, Saturday we drove a couple hours to the Nantahala Outdoor Center to rent gear and take a guided whitewater raft journey down the French Broad River – woohoo! I’d never done this before! There were a couple larger rafts seating (I think) 6 each, and a few of us took single-seater “ducks”. Kind of like a kayak, but inflatable. I’ve kayaked several times, so I took one of the ducks.
 
Well, the water was low, so it really was like kayaking down a river. There were some slightly bumpier sections, and one place where we all got out of our rafts and swam in a deep pool before continuing downstream. It was the perfect refreshing end to a week of hard work. There were still a couple days of work and cleanup, but most of the hard labor was past.

I don’t know if it can truly count as whitewater rafting, but I’m counting it! …until I do it for real some other time.

Moral of the Story: Get out into the water when you can!

8 comments:

  1. Well, at least you got a good story out of it. An adventure is an adventure. Some 20 years ago I went on the Snake River with my graduating high-school class (all 18 of us), and it was somewhere between terrifying and great fun.

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    1. I wonder how I'll feel about actual whitewater rafting on actual white-water!

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  2. If nothing else, it counts as a W! Also I thought it was going to go badly once you got the single person boat, I'm glad it didn't!

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    1. I'm a bit of a control freak at times, so it's nice for me to have total control over the paddling.

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  3. I had to look up "Servant Event," Red. I guess I do that here volunteering at our historic Opera House. I believe life is about an exchange of information and ideas and helping others. I also believe in the importance of the arts. Anyway, my daughter lives in N.C. I'll have to ask her if she's heard of the French Broad River. She has a kayak. I'm going down to visit her in June, so I'll look for that Carolina Blue.

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    1. Oh cool! This was in the Asheville area. Well, we drove there from Asheville.
      I don't think a regular kayak would survive the rocks, but I could be wrong.

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  4. White Water Rafting is still on my list, but I have to get fixed first.

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    1. I thought you already "got fixed" haha.
      I get it though.

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I enjoy a good debate. Feel free to shake things up. Tell me I'm wrong. Ask me why I have such a weird opinion. ...or, just laugh and tell how this relates to you and your life.