off to the River...

So my face book profile reads ...Wishing you a shabbos full of everything wonderful from the south fork of the American River...Ruach no problem....rest???? that will be a whole other issue. Remember the power of the cyber hug. Shabbat Shalom

yes we are off again year 3 at the American River it is becoming a really nice tradition...same time every year (the first weekend of August) the same place (Camp Lotus) and the same people o.k. some of the same people.

The first year it is was just
The Bear and Me and his Rotary Club.

Year two was The Bear and Me and some of RGEB.

This year we finally have a kid going with us....

and that kid would be Morgan.
Now it's a 7 1/2 hour ride where
The Bear usually does the

driving ...
I do the navigating and computing,
face booking or blogging
and Morgan does the

sleeping.

O.K. so here are some Pictures

so on day one we started at the campsite in Lotus and we rafted all day down to the lower end of the south fork on the river...it was a great day....a few bumps and bruises....but it was still a great day.



We were on the river about an hour or so when we got to the point where we could jump out I was the first to go (this was my view from the river)




and then Barry and Chrissy followed by Leslee.....










Michelle decided that she was not going to go in the river (so she thought, but we will get to that later).


That was the first uhhhoh....the river was a little cold and Barry wanted to get back in ...but his vest was a little loose and Aaron (our guide) pulled and pulled and finally he got in but wait his glasses...got a little tweeked....






and wait where was Leslee.... while Aaron was dealing with Barry Leslee got a little down stream... so Michelle pulled me in and we got Chrissy in and then we went after Leslee...and that was all before lunch

Where did you sleep?

and we are on our way home a little more banged up than last year ...but it was still a wonderful weekend.

If you remember last year we were in the little tent....o.k. so this tent is actually Christine's (can't tell will all the orange) but that is what we were in last year and Barry really didn't like having to get dressed laying down. So this year we waited and when we saw the sales start we did it....we bought our own tent

It's 10X13 and can sleep 6 if you really need to .... but personally I think it is great for just one queen size air mattress and room for all of our stuff and Barry really likes that there is room to stand up and get dressed.

Our Travel Buddies

last year Barry and I kind of did this alone....there were a few of his Rotary people but most of the people were new to me.... but this year it's different...we talked about this enough that we wet the appetite of a few members of RGEB.

So Christine, Leslee and Michelle have decided to take the plunge ...so to speak and conquer the river.

Exactly what are we doing????

WE are going river refting on the American River the south fork of the American River to be exact it has over 50 different rapids ranging from class 1 to class 3. The Chart below shows you the different tpes of rapids and what makes them what.

EASY BEGINNER
CLASS I-II
Rivers with Class I flat water interspersed with occasional Class II rapids: waves 1-2 feet high. Using a self-guided watercraft is an option. *Best for young children and tentative adults.
BEGINNER - INTERMEDIATE
CLASS III+
Rivers with Class I - II water interspersed with Class III rapids: waves usually 2-3 feet high, passageways contain some obstacles. Rapids are challenging but not overwhelming. * Best introduction to rafting for the widest range of people.
INTERMEDIATE
CLASS III-IV
Rivers with Class I - III water interspersed with occasional Class IV rapids: waves and drops 4 feet high and sometimes higher, difficult passageways containing some obstacles. Unintentionally falling out of the raft may mean an uncomfortable "swim". * Best for those with previous Class III experience wanting to try-out Class IV whitewater, and for athletic, adventurous first-timers.
INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED
CLASS IV+
Rivers with Class I - IV water and more difficult Class IV+ rapids: 4-5 foot waves and drops, complicated by difficult passages containing obstacles that require quick, precise maneuvering. Falling out of the raft and "swimming" in a rapid will be difficult. * Best for those with previous Class III or Class IV experience wanting a more difficult whitewater challenge.
ADVANCED
CLASS V
Rivers with Class I - IV+ water interspersed with long, tumultuous Class V rapids: 5-8 foot drops and obstacles that must be avoided. Falling out of the raft means an extremely difficult and potentially hazardous "swim". * Best for those with previous Class IV & IV+ experience seeking the ultimate whitewater challenge.
UNRUNNABLE
CLASS VI
Rivers containing rapids that are so difficult that safe passage is doubtful and chances of serious incident, injury and death are almost certain. If attempted and successful, luck deserves the largest portion of credit.

Just like last year ...well kind of

Empty nest or revolving door I was planning on one and ended up with the other....my days and nights alone with my hubby and the dog....well they have been very few and far between... but this weekend it will be different.....o.k. no it won't we just won't be at home we will be on the South Fork of the American River with about 75-80 of our best friends (well maybe). So those of you who followed our adventures last year knew about our first river rafting trip, and we had such a good time that we are doing it again this year. Just like last year we will be going with River Runners And just like last year I am blogging on the ride...so what is different? well because we were speaking so highly of the trip last year and how much fun we had Christine, Leslee and Michelle from the office are going to join us.

yes that is them behind us.

Michell and Leslee are driving and Christine gets to ride in the back sea

We did Meatgrinder EN21

On Sunday August 3 we went up the river.... to ride it down the gorge the camp grounds because by now we were pros....

.... yeah right just 1 days of rafting under our belts and we didn't fall out and we were proud of ourselves. Colleen our guide was a great teacher, she even said we were good. We had such a good time that this activity has been moved from being on the Empty Nest List to the Do It Again list...

The Rapids the day before Satans Cesspoos and Hospital Bar were a lot of fun also.

Does He Look Ready EN 19

for Satins Cesspool or Hospital Bar...

well he was.

Saturday Aug 2 was a wonderful day full of learning all kinds of new things...

First Joe (in the tie dye shirt) gave us a lesson the proper river raft etiquette

like the proper way to hold and toss a paddle.

Then he instructed us on how to properly put on and use our life vest.










and most important, the proper way to give a River Runner Hug





Here are some of the students that paid attention

just a few pictures text to follow EN18

ok so the whole drive is not very interesting as you can tell from my previous blogs about the price of gas but once you get to exit 37 off the 50 things start to change.

all of a suddent you are driving right along the river and as per the instructions after 10 miles and a left turn you arrive at Camp Lotus

now Camp Lotus is great you pull in, check in get a little card for the dash board and then you drive to area "I" they do have the whole alphabet but area I is at the end of the camp ground.

well they are starting breakfast... so I got to go

We are off tothe River EN15

9:00 am we are off to the river ... who is we you ask? well the total we is Barry's Rotary Club but the car we is Barry, the club president Andy and me. I am sitting in the back seat Ashleigh style (across the whole back set just blogging away).

So where are we going? we are off to the South Fork of the American River to go river rafting. Yes Barry and I are going river rafting. Some of the pictures will be slightly delayed since the only waterproof cameras I could find are old fashion disposable film cameras....

We will be going with a company called River Runners and the good thing is they do most of the work for us... who ever though we will be sleeping in a tent (yes the Bear will be sleeping in a tent) they will set it up. and our meals will be cooked over a camp fire... but it will be cooked by them... and they will do the clean up too.... so we have our sleeping bags (yes that is green and pink) and we have an air mattress (we are not that crazy) and we are on the road..