August 21-Day 4 of Vacation

We got up early today because we had to dead to Fort Collins which is about 1 hr away.  This is where we did our water rafting out of. There were approximately 24 of us. We go suited up in our life jackets and helmets.  I didn’t know what to expect on the trip so I didn’t take my camera.  I wish now that I would have bought a waterproof camera.

After getting loaded up into a big yellow school bus, we headed to the put in spot.  The river we are rafting on today is called the Cache la Poudre River.  It was down substantially from the more exciting June and July months. Our guides name was Dave.  I would guess that he is close to my age. He said he calls North Carolina home only because he went to school there.  Other wise he has lived in at least 18 places for more than 6 mos.  How exciting would that life be?

We had 4 other people in our raft.  We kept getting stuck on rocks because the water level was so low.  There were some pretty exciting times.  For a first timer, it was probably perfect. Next time I’ll go in June or July.

The water was freezing cold.  Dave said this is the warmest it gets.  We stopped at the swimming hole to play in the water.  There was just one other couple playing in the water and they were from Wyoming.  Then Justin decided it would be funny to throw me over his shoulder and toss me in. It wasn’t cold, it was freaking cold.  But, we pressed on and got back into our boats and headed to the pull out point.  It was a very scenic ride.

We got out of the river, loaded back into the yellow school bus, and headed back to town.  Our guides were very funny.  They said they have one more week of the season.  Once we got back to the business and got changed, we went inside to check to the pictures they took of us.  I found 4 that I liked.  They will be e-mailing them to me today or tomorrow. Then we took of our guides advice and headed into town to eat at Cooper Smith’s.

After lunch, we headed home. I slept in the car on the way home.  When we got home, I sat on the deck and read while Justin slept on the couch.  After our time of relaxation, we got up and around for dinner.  We decided to go to Smokin’ Dave's BBQ.  It was very good.  I don’t know how it rates to Hog Wild, but it is right up there.  They also had the best mashed potatoes.  We even got a side order of them to-go.  Then, we decided to come home and veg out.  We watched some preseason football.  The Cowboys were playing Tennessee.

We haven’t quite decided what we are going to do today.  Estes Park is having their Heritage Festival today and tomorrow.  We will probably check that out.  We want to do some more hiking.  We’d like to check out the aerial tramway. We only have 2 days left before we head home.