I had to work the majority of the time we were there, but I managed to catch some time to spend with everyone. Dale and I took Thursday afternoon and played 18 holes of golf at Everygreen, CO. They have a public course there that’s really nice. It’s in the Rockies, of course, so there’s a lot of ups and downs and strangely configured holes. Hole #3 even has a huge boulder between you and the green so you just have to hit it over and pray you land somewhere near the hole. We gave up keeping score somewhere around hole #10, but we had a great time.

On Friday, Dale and I set out for Buena Vista, Colorado to go white water rafting on the Arkansas river. Dale booked a trip with an outfitter called River Runners that operates there. We signed up to raft a section of the Arkansas River called The Numbers. I have been rafting on the Spring River in Arkansas with friends, but that was nothing compared to this trip. I knew from the moment the raft hit the water that I was in for a tough ride. We had 3 other people in the raft with us – a couple and their 17 year old daughter. Dale and I sat in the middle of the raft, and our guide manned the back so he could shout instructions and steer. We went through seven rapids in all – four of which were Class 4. Basically, that means serious business and trying not to fall out of the raft. I’ll spare you the gory details, but the trip down was a lot of fun and was very challenging. At one point, I was underneath a rapid looking up at Dale and the 17 year old grabbing my life jacket to haul me back into the raft. Fun stuff.

On Saturday, we decided to drive up to Jefferson County Lake in the Rocky Mountains and have a picnic and do some fishing. Jackie was itching to drive into the mountains and see the sights so we packed up a cooler and set off. The sky was a bit overcast, but that was welcome since it had been abnormally hot in CO while we were there. Once we arrived at the lake, it actually started raining. We had to wait it out in the car for about half an hour. We started trout fishing and were wishing we’d brought more clothes. The wind whipping through the mountains made the temperature drop into the sixties. Jackie spent her time wrapped in a blanket by the edge of the water watching us fish. The girls had a good time wandering around and playing in the rocks. Dale and I must have tried everything in his tackle box but did not catch one fish. I guess it just wasn’t our day, but it was still nice to be out in such a beautiful area.

On the way back home we stopped at a place to eat that was shaped like a giant hot dog called Coney Island. Other than the fact that we somehow had to wait 40 minutes for 2 hot dogs and some onion rings, the place was pretty cool. You can see it in the photos we took on the trip.

The next few days we spent relaxing, doing a bit of shopping, hanging out with the family – stuff like that. I flew home Wednesday morning but Jackie stayed for another 3 days to get in some extra quality time with her aunt and cousins. That’s the last long trip we’ll take this year (most likely) since Addison will be here in a couple of months. Be sure to check out the photos from the trip.

 

Click the movie below to see a video of the snow from Adele’s front porch.

 

All four of us caught a fish right off the bat.  We then started moving our way down the river, and Jackie didn’t like that at all. There’s a lot of weeds in places that make it like walking blind since you just don’t know what’s in there.  The rocks are also extremely large and very slippery so it’s easy to trip over one.  Our friends kept moving on down the river, and we stopped and fished in a hole we thought looked good.  That turned out to be a great move as we caught a lot of fish there and actually kept six of them to bring back to camp.  We planned on having a fish fry on Saturday night so we were off to a good start.

On Saturday my friend and I went fishing again, but I wasn’t nearly as successful.  I only brought one back to camp that morning although I think he kept four.  After lunch we went to the campground store and rented one of the large rafts that carries four people.  We always get canoes but decided to try the raft this time since we always see so many people riding them.  That turned out to be a lot of fun as all four of us could just float together down the river and really not worry about too much.

The trip was 8 miles, and we decided to pull over right before we made it to the end so we could watch people go over “the triple” which is basically a set of 3 falls that everyone tends to wipe out on when they try to go down.  Here’s where my trip took a turn for the worse.

I waited until everyone was out of the raft and then started to get out myself.  I had my left leg out of the raft and my right leg still in when the raft starting moving with the current (it was really swift right there below the falls).  It was either hop out quickly or do the splits.  Unfortunately I didn’t find a good foothold with my left foot and crashed down on a rock with my shin.  I stood up immediately and noticed I was bleeding PROFUSELY into the river from two very deep puncture wounds.  Jackie poured Dr Pepper on the wound (helps with clotting) and grabbed one of her tank tops and wrapped it around my leg to try and stem the bleeding.  She then sat me in the cold river so the water would help to further clot the cuts.  After a little while, we got up and paddled our way to the pickup point where we boarded a bus that took us back to camp.  Jackie went and bought bandages and washed me up real good.  We had neosporin, but I was really wishing we had some alcohol or peroxide.

We made it back home the next day, and I was feeling really bad.  I had a low grade fever, and my leg felt like it was on fire.  I made it through Sunday and went to the doctor on Monday.  I hadn’t gone to the doctor for a cut since I was about 5 so I had to get a tetanus shot.  She also prescribed antibiotic pills and cream and told me to keep my leg elevated for the next several days and see how it goes.  It was obvious that a bit of an infection was starting to set in.

This morning I’m a bit better although it still hurts to walk on my left leg.  The wounds like look terrible, but I’m hopeful they will heal up soon as I’m trying to be diligent about taking my medication and staying off my leg.  I think it’s going to be a while before I go rafting on the river.