There was a time when one's youthful body had the endurance of a raging horse but at the age of 50 plus don't do it! That is, thinking you can do an adventure weekend of camping and rafting with college students who are in charge is a no-no.
As for the plan, Linda's daughter Rachel and some student friends of hers were to pick up Linda and me by 6:15 pm Friday evening to drive a few hours to Tennessee. There we would camp out just a short distance from the white water rafting center. The idea was that if we were close to the rafting center we wouldn't have to get up so early the next morning for our 10 am run down the river. Well -- that was the plan.
What follows is a series of mishaps and waylaid plans, and by the time we gather with the mostly international group of students, it is 10:50 pm. Due to the lateness of the hour we will not make it to the campgrounds in Tennessee before they close the gates there. So, it is off to another campground at a place called Stone Mountain, Georgia instead.
We drive for another 40 minutes or so with wrong turns etc. and end up at the Stone Mountain Stadium where we or I should say, they check the map for new directions to the campgrounds and Hola! We find the camp and it's open! But no one is at the camp ground gate to help us find a spot or pay our fees. There is a night deposit box with instructions but with 17 college students all trying to figure out the costs and exchanging money. time check 11:45 pm.
It's now going onto midnight and the kids are running around in the dark putting up tents for the first time in their lives. Meanwhile, Linda and I, at the mercy of the situation, stand by listening to the clamoring around us and we also hear, not to far off in the distance, the rumblings of an onslaught of a major thunderstorm! The kids are not aware of the oncoming nightmare but we are and praying. Time check 12:30 am.
Just around the time the kids finish putting up the tents, Linda and I feel the first gust of wind blowing ever so teasingly gently into our faces. The wind gets more and more gusty. I finally burst out loudly, "Let's go! Here comes the rain!" WE could not wait any longer and I shout out to Rachel, "Take us to our tent. Now! Leave all of our gear in the car just in case we get washed out in the tent!" Hastily we scurry to our tent with Rachel guiding us in the dark through the trees. The wind is now picking up great speed and huge pelts of rain begin to fall. Quickly we dive into the tight confines of our two man tent. Rachel with lightening speed zips up the tent and dashes for cover! Time check 12:45 am.
Roars of thunder! Flashes of lightning! Pelts of heavy rain! It brings fear to the toughest of people. Linda grabs me shaking for dear life! Even with her eyes closed and her cochlear implant turned off, she can still hear the thunder and see the simultaneous flashes of lightning! (And I've got the bruises to prove her vise-like grip, too!) The storm rages on for another hour or so. The long and hard rumblings of the storm bring to my mind one of my worst fears, Tornadoes! I was sure one was coming our way. Time check 2 am.
There's a welcome break in the storm and Rachel comes out to check on us and finds us doing ok, alive and dry! However, Rachel announces that a few of the tents got washed out and some of the kids will now be sleeping in the cars or in the public washroom. One of the college girls is very uncomfortable about the situation and is trying to round up people to come with her to her parent's Atlanta home to spend the rest of the night, but there are no takers. Linda decides to head to the washroom while things are quiet and has a beer there to settle her nerves. Meanwhile, I just stay in the tent as I don't want to get caught out there when the second wave comes.
Sure enough, about 45 minutes later the wind again picks up and rumblings are fast approaching! Just at that moment, Linda and Rachel return. I cry out, "Get in the tent Linda! It's coming again!" Linda stumbles in and Rachel quickly zips up the tent after her and dashes off to the public washroom to spend the night. Time check 2:50 am.
The second wave is just as fierce as the first! The rumblings are even longer and louder which again gives me thoughts of tornadoes! I have in the past rode out many thunderstorms while camping but as you get older it's just not as much fun especially when you are lying on a hard bed of gravel wearing damp clothing with just a blanket underneath you. As a man, I made sure Linda was warm and dry so at least she could get some sleep. As for me, I just toughed it out. Time check 4 am.
I must have eventually fallen asleep, but awoke when Rachel came by to wake us up at 6:00 am. We had to pack and get on the road because we had at least a two and one half hour drive left to get to the rafting site. Yes, in spite of the original plan to get as close to the rafting center as possible, we had only gotten 45 minutes outside of Athens!!!
After eating Linda's home made oatmeal raisin cookies, her banana nut bread and I think, her chocolate chip zucchini bread washed down with diet coke and water for breakfast, (breakfast of collegiates), we then drag our rather exhausted-sucker-for-punishment bodies into the car. Time check 7 am.
The two or so hour drive to the rafting site is uneventful; thank goodness! By now it has stopped raining but there is still a little bit of a chill in the air from the previous night's storm. I think my nerves are still quivering in fear... and this time it's the fear of riding through level 4 rapids! Yeah!
After getting safety instructions from the rafting guides about what to do if you fall into the rapids (heaven forbid!), we put on helmets and tightly secured life jackets; it looks like we're getting ready to go to war! Yikes!!! Onto the bus we go to the river head. At the take-out point we get a few more instructions on how to raft, and then get into the raft to practice a couple of strokes. Then lifting our raft out of the water, we carry it across a make shift bridge which spans rapids that are almost 6 feet high and look like level 50s! We are reassured that we will not be doing these Niagara Falls-like rapids. Thank goodness!
We launch off with our crew of 5 plus our guide and the very first rapids we approach are level 4! We do a quick 360 degree spin and dive into the rapids with a big bounce! Oh dear! Linda is bounced right out of the raft into the swift river! Rachel reaches out to pull Linda back into the raft, and there goes Rachel!! Into the river too! Yahoo!!! I am sitting on the other side of the raft and I quickly pass my paddle to the guy in front of me to hold while I reach out to grab Linda and pull her back in. Then as we pull each other to our proper seating positions, the guide reaches out and pulls Rachel back into the raft, too! Yahoo!!! If that didn't wake me up, I don't know what would!
There were several more level 4 rapids as well as level 2 and 3 rapids, with the grand finale at the end where everyone dropped into the bottom of the raft to ride out a 4 meter waterfall drop! During the run of the river we would turn this way and that way where the guide would do a sharp left hand turn and yell out to me, "This one is for James!" Then boom! Splash! A six foot wave would hit me from head to toe! Ya! Hooooo!
What a ride! For a mere 33 dollars you can get a rollercoaster ride that stretches 10 miles long taking well over an hour to do. Wow! It sure made up for the long night riding out the thunderstorm, that's for sure! (smile)
To say the least, everyone was very happy-tired and sleepy on the non stop 3 hour trip home. We arrive back in Athens. Time check Saturday 5 pm.
Just call ahead and ask them to accommodate you. http://www.noc.com/rafting.html