I realize this post is a couple of months late.......but thought I'd go ahead and post. We were in the canyon yesterday, and as we drove along the Provo River we re-lived this adventure!In August I was talking to one of my brothers who mentioned he and a couple other family members were going to be floating the river. So, I graciously invited myself! We went to BYU outdoor Rec department and rented 2 large inflatable canoes. Getting them strapped to our car was an adventure of it's own. Anthon thought it was great.
One of them fit inside the van with the tip coming out the sunroof. The other we tied to the roof. Lauren and Micaela were camping with some friends for the weekend so it was just Matt, Anthon and I. Anthon begged and begged us to let him float the river. We kept telling him that it probably wasn't a good idea.
My parents drove us to the starting point of our river rafting trip.....the dam at Deer Creek, and then drove down to Vivian Park to meet us....the end of our rafting experience. I wish to point out how happy Anthon looks happy here.
We finally gave in after Anthon kept begging us to let him go down the river with us. Matt giving Anthon instruction on what to do IF we tip.
All ready for our adventure. Anthon is smiling here! Little did he know what he was in for. (don't you love how I look like I'm wearing a white t-shirt under my tank-top. Serious farmer sunburn. NICE!)
Unloading the canoes from the car. Anthon is still happy!
Cute Haley and Steve. Glad we get to see Haley more often, since she's going to school close.
All ready to go! We got started kind of late....it was about 7:00 pm. The water was a little quicker than I had anticipated, and the fact that trees grew right into the banks (notice behind us) Neither did I realize how hard it would be to steer a long canoe. Matt and I were not a very good team when it came to the rowing......we kept counteracting each others steering, so not very far down the river we ran into the trees on the side and tipped the canoe. We managed to get back in. Anthon didn't begin crying then, but he started getting cold since he was soaked, and then the possibility that we might tip again started to stress him. He started screaming!! That began stressing me out. When we tipped a 2nd time (yes.....a 2nd time) as we went under a road, hitting the support beams, Anthon was so done! Luckily there was no vegetation on the side of the river where we tipped. I strapped Anthon to my back (he had no shoes), yelled for Matt to keep going down the river (he was still swimming after the canoe), grabbed the row (Matt only had one), and hiked up the hill to the street. It was getting dark then. We must have looked pretty desperate because a guy loaned Anthon an extra shirt from his car, and let me use his cell phone to call my parents, who were waiting down the canyon.
Anthon wearing the dudes large shirt, waiting to be rescued! He had had time to settle down and stop crying at this point. He said he NEVER wanted to do that again!
Matt's scraps from our adventure. His knees were swollen for a couple of weeks, we banged them on some rocks.
My gashes from the embankment. I had huge bruises on my shins from trying to get my grounding after we tipped. The water was deep so I'd put my legs down to try and touch and then I'd hit my shin on a huge boulder. But it was a fun time. My brother Chris and his girlfriend came too. Delanie had gone the week before. I should have listened to her when she said she wouldn't do it again. She waited at the bottom of the river with my parents. Looking back, that was a good idea. I think Anthon is scarred emotionally for life from this experience. Anything that reminds him of rapids or a river makes him freak. He would not go down rattlesnake rapids at Lagoon, any slides at 7 Peaks water resort. Poor little guy. He should have ridden with Uncle Steve or Uncle Chris. They didn't tip over once!
Thus our Provo River Adventure. It wouldn't have been as much of an adventure if we wouldn't have tipped twice, gotten banged up legs, or had to hike up a long dirt embankment with a 4 year old strapped to us. All of this for a little summer fun!
