Elisabeth's camera has been returned to her, PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Here we are shortly after we began our tour, before we all got dunked.
Sadly, as of today writing this post, I do not have a picture, but it will come.
Today was our last day celebrating Elisabeth and one of the gals, Atefeh, has a friend who goes white water rafting down the Wenatchee river and offered to take us for a tour. We met Mark in Cashmere, got suited up with gear and then headed a few miles out of town to where the boat was tied and began our journey. This time of year, the Wenatchee river is at a stage II or III for rapids, but the water level is low, so you do have to watch out for the rocks. We were on the river for about 45 minutes and then stopped for lunch and to move the raft around the small dam via a cart left by some generous person whom all the rafting tours use. I was sitting on the front right side of the raft chatting with some of the other gals in the raft when next thing I knew, I was over the side of the boat completely submerged under water. I swear I swallowed a few cups of water, so I come up sputtering, but I'm too far away from the boat already as I got caught up by the current. First reaction is to get the water out of my nose and then follow the advice Mark gave before we began the trip. I got my feet up and kept a hold of the paddle, only I started to lose my flip-flops. As I'm trying to get my shoes back on, my tail bone met a rock. So, I keep thinking feet up, butt up. I couldn't get my shoes back on, so I let them go bye-bye down the river, only I lost the paddle as well. Unfortunately, I had quite a ride down the river, because once everyone got back in the boat, the raft got stuck by a rock and once Mark got the boat free, they had to come get me. I wasn't feet first down the river like I should have been because I was more concerned about where the boat was, than my head hitting a rock. Not smart, but it is what it is. Well, I did finally get back in the raft and all the gals were so impressed about how calm I was floating down the river. I was starting to get cold and they didn't know that I was starting to freak out mainly because I was cold and my tail bone kept meeting rocks.
Amazingly enough, my sunglasses stayed on my head and I somehow didn't lose my headband. We continued down the river and low and behold, we find my stinking flip-flops and one of the lost paddles. My shoes were floating down a slight detour on the water, so we had to get out of the boat once again to get it over the rocks and back onto the main section of the river. Well, somehow, Crystal manages to stub her toe, but we continue on and later find the last wandering paddle. There was a nice soft gentle section where Elisabeth gets out her camera and Mark takes a group shot. I told Elisabeth I wanted that picture to use for my blog and she said she would email it to me tonight.
We make it back to Cashmere, unload all the gear and Mark takes Crystal and Kirsten back to get their cars so we can all go home. While waiting for the return of the vehicles, we all sit, chat, eat and use the restroom so once Crystal is back we can head back to Bellevue. Elisabeth needed to be back in town for a dinner hosted in her honor with the gals who were unable to come to Lake Chelan.
Anna and I were dropped off in Issaquah and it was so nice to be home and see my boys again. I think both Andy and Aaron grew while I was gone. I did enjoy my weekend away and hope that we can all go away again someday.
Update: I later received an email from Elisabeth stating she managed to leave her camera in the ladies restroom back in Cashmere, but God was awesome and the camera will be returned to Elisabeth by the end of the week, so once she emails pictures, I will be able to post our group picture of our great adventure down the Wentachee River.
