The 2 F's

Floatin & Freezin!

This past Saturday, my hubby and I were able to go on the Priest and Laurel Activity of tubing down the Platter River. Can I tell you---I had so much fun!!! There were 8 youth and 4 adults and it was a gorgeous day for it. Yes, the water was freezing but once you got in and floating for awhile, you were numb so it was all fine!In a previous post I stated how fun it was to be reminded of some of my childhood memories just by standing at the river's edge. WOW--the memories flooded back as I was floating--all the friends that we took with us, the laughter and screams, the sun against my skin, the picnics, my family, seeing the rock that almost caused my doom,....the list goes on.

Anyway, it was quite comical to hear all the kids scream as soon as they got into the river. The initial burst of the freezing water on your body made even the boys scream like girls. I am not joking when I say freezing--you gotta remember it is the end of September in the Colorado mountains. Thank goodness it was a warm day or it would have not been fun. After taking pictures of the kids, the adults drove around to the take out point to take more pictures. It was so fun to see them all having a blast together. One girl decided that once was enough but all the others were quick to go again. One boy was so cold, he had to go into the car to get warm. By the time, they had come down a second time, they were ready for lunch---SUBS! It was funny to watch them try and grip the knife to put the condiments on the sandwich. They would shake they were so cold. It was all so yummy and then they were off again--this time with me and the other adult lady. My hubby went off to fly fish (didn't catch a thing) and the other stayed back with his daughter. I had to laugh at the kids--they made us leaders go first. I think they wanted to see our expressions of the cold water, but I think the real reason was they wanted us to be far enough ahead of them that we wouldn't be in their way. But the river is not always so cooperative. Some float faster than others and we ended up right in the middle of them. It is always so fun to interact with the youth and I am glad that my kids don't seem to mind me being around.The next 2 times down the kids decided to float farther than normal. That was fine but the river now followed the road and the walk back would be the same length as they floated. They were fine with that and they had just as much fun walking as they did floating. We would sure know when they rounded the bend on the road--we could hear them laughing and talking they were so loud. The last run of the day, they ended up floating almost a mile further and it took them forever to get back to us.
Everyone had such a great time and I know it will be an annual trip now that they know how much fun it is. But I think they will make sure they schedule it earlier in the summer. I know that we have decided to come back next year with all of our kids with HUGE tubes. Anyone want to join us??