Reflections of My Travel

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This morning, everyone got up early hoping that the river would be raftable. We loaded the van and got there as early as we could. The water level was about average so it was a slightly different trip than Sunday when it was way up. We had a good time, didn’t get dead, and decided to take a quick lunch and try a second run. Unfortunately, by the time we made it back to the river for the second run, the water was way down. We launched anyhow and got an education on bony-water rafting. Rocks, rocks everywhere and barely a drop of water to spare! It was a lot of work and very hairy. We got stuck every couple of minutes and had to bounce and paddle and shift weight to get loose. At one point in the river, a section called rock garden took on a whole new meaning. After getting stuck in it and realizing that there was no possible way of getting unstuck, our guide told us all to get out. We all got out on the super-slippery rocks, picked up the raft, and walked it until there was sufficient water again. This was very, very scary. For those who have never been rafting, one of the most stressed points of the safety talk is that if you fall out, NEVER EVER PUT YOUR FEET DOWN AND TRY TO STAND/WALK! It’s very easy for a foot to get caught in the rocks and the water to pull you down. While I slipped all over the rocks and felt the water pulling at me, I just knew I was going to end up with a broken leg. Fortunately, no one was hurt and we made it back into navigable water that we could go back to getting stuck and unstuck in. The trip ended up taking three hours. The morning one took just under one and a half hours. Turns out it takes twice as long to go down a dry river. It was hard work, hot, and tiring but we still had a good time. It was really interesting to see all of the rocks that create the rapids and to try to figure out how to get through them. We packed up camp while the kids run happened and we headed out with Sylvia while Brian went to retrieve the kids and take them home. On the way back to their house, we stopped at horsetail falls on pyramid creek for a very nice waterfall hike. The temperature was wonderful since it was 19:30 when we started. It was a very enjoyable hike that we finished with dusk coming on. It was late when we got to the house and, even though we stopped for dinner and an hour and a half hike, we still made it back before Brian and the kids.

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The original plan was that we were going to go sailing on Lake Tahoe today with a friend of theirs and watch fireworks from the lake. Their friend canceled on them, which turned out to be fine because we were tired from all of the rafting and camping fun. We mostly lounged around and finally gathered up to go out to dinner and then to the high school in Carson City to watch fireworks. The fireworks were decent but I was surprised that there was no musical accompaniment for them. The display was silent (other than the big BOOMs, of course). It was the first Fourth of July fireworks that I have ever been to that had no patriotic tunes in accompaniment.

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Back to work today, which meant getting started at 05:00 in order to be inline with Eastern Time. Ugh. Granted, it’s not as hard as getting to work at 02:00 like we did in Hawaii, but it did hurt nonetheless. Once our workday was finished, it was decided that we would all head to the beach at Lake Tahoe (it just seems wrong to call it a beach when it’s at a lake). First, let me tell you that it is absolutely ungodly hot here. We’re talking 105° and no matter what they say about dry heat – it’s just friggin hot! The only good thing I can say about “dry heat” is that my hair stays pretty all day long in it. Yep, I can leave it down and not look like a giant poof-ball around here. Anyhow, the temperature at the lake was very nice. There was a breeze blowing and it was slightly overcast. I didn’t actually go in the water, opting to nap in the sun instead, but I heard reports that it was rather frigid. I’m sure it couldn’t have been any colder than the river we rafted/swam in over the weekend. The beach was pretty dirty. The sand was covered in soot, ash, and coals from the fire a couple of weeks ago. We all came out of there with at least black feet. The kids who had been buried in the sand by Randal and Brian were pretty well coated in black. It did make for a nice respite from all of the insufferable heat and the lake was very pretty. I even got the slightest bit of a tan.