the LAST weekend

after rafting, with the new river behind us.

we had to do something big for our last weekend in SWVA. we decided that something was whitewater rafting in new river gorge, west virginia. ever since i moved to virginia (10 years ago!), i've wanted to raft in what are known to be some of the best rapids in the east. i LOVE whitewater rafting! i've rafted seven rivers in four different countries. but had yet to run the best rapids closest to home. we made the three-ish hour journey to lansing, west virginia, where we camped on the property of the rafting company. it was sort of a free-for-all site and as we entered the complex, the road was lined to the max with boy scouts. we sought an area elsewhere. if you've read my other blog entries, you'll know that Brittany and I have gotten a slow start in gaining our camping expertise. but there would be nothing but triumph in this final weekend. we set up our tent in 11 minutes (i timed it) AND i built a campfire! we did not need any brawny, facial-haired man nor a skinny catracho using plastic as kindling. we made a campfire! and then we roasted marshmallows.
the next morning after breakfast and an unfortunately long delay of our rafting time, we finally gathered (with the boy scouts) for our safety and instruction lecture. we set off with our helmets, life jackets and paddles on an old school bus up river. there were eight of us in the raft, plus our guide, Harley, who was a native west virginian that would have been cute if it hadn't been for the BO and bad teeth. Harley immediately chose the two big black guys to sit at the front of the boat after sizing up there biceps in comparison to those of Brittany and me. This reminded me much of my rafting in Perú and I realized this is just downright discrimination! It became apparent very early on that size did not matter. These guys had never rafted (did i mention i've rafted 7 rivers) AND they had no concept of the correct way to paddle and set rhythm. now, i don't need to be in the front purely based on the fact that i am just as good a paddler as any man. but its where all the action is!!! and i don't want to miss out on the best ride because i'm a woman. fortunately, karma visited us as the guys were each tossed from the boat at least two times. the last time it happened was in our most technical rapid. we had to get around two large rocks and we had to do it by paddling hard and together. the instructions were, if you fall out, just cling to the raft. we started down and i could tell we were not in sync. the guide commanded "all forward, dig in guys!" but it was too late. we hadn't made it around that first rock and instead slid up onto it. as the rushing water pushed our boat side ways into a hole, i thought for sure we would flip. i came close to falling out and even closer when Brittany came tumbling toward me from across the boat. thankfully, my shin stopped her. but i looked and the two guys were gone. then clinging to the boat. then mass chaos which seemed to last forever. the guide calling out for them to be pulled in to the boat ASAP as we were approaching our second large rock. i didn't mention that the people placed second in the boat were the girlfriends of these two useless guys. they were equally useless and the guide began to sound nervous, "get them in the boat NOW." after some confusion and, i hate to admit, giggling, the guys were pulled back in and the guide commanded, "anyone with a paddle, forward!" it was Brittany and I paddling full force, with the guide directing. we made it to still water and the guide said, "well, i've never done that one that way. interesting." this makes for a great story and it was definitely fun, but it still annoys me that it is my second crazy mishap in a rapid that i can attribute to poor paddling on the part of men.

soon after that we approached the new river gorge bridge, which is the longest single arch bridge in the western hemisphere. its much cooler looking at it from the bottom vs. while you're crossing it. and although i did not have my camera in the raft, we stopped at an overlook and took some photos on our way out of town.
to be continued...

fun fact: did you know the "new" river is actually the second oldest river in the world? which is the first?