White Water Rafting

I am not a trouble maker or a trill seeker, contrary to the labels I was given this weekend. Let me start by saying white water rafting this weekend was a riot! Now I want to explain my side of the story so you all will know that I am not a trouble maker. Then again I am the type of person that no matter where I am I try to make the most to the situation.

The day started a little slow with the James River being mostly bathtub water with a current. This was fine for me; I was outside, with friends and swimming in water that is so much warmer than the river water from back home. However, the rest of my party was extremely upset with the river condition, I think they expected some serious white water but this was VA and not Cataract Canyon. I mean come on! Still, after a few hours of soaking up the sun, lazily swimming the river and a few water fights I needed some excitement too. About this time the river picks up a bit, and we run a small rapid called Hollywood falls (which was stupid!). I am not the type of girl to miss a opportunity to spice things up so I jump out of the boat and head up stream, because (of course) I was planning on swimming the falls. My plan was squashed immediately, when the river guides start flipping out and yelling at me to get back in the boat, reluctantly I returned to boat, with assurances from my guide that the river would really spice up in a minute. The next part of the river is:

“Class IV : Long rapids; waves powerful, irregular; dangerous rocks; boiling eddies; powerful and precise maneuvering required.”

Now what happened next is the truth…. We hit the first set of rapids in the class IV pipeline and I fell out of the boat. Honest, I fell out, I did not jump out. The boat quickly maneuvers over to calm water and the guide tossed me a life line. At this time, I was positioned in front of a rock and I getting pounded; and in order to grab the lifeline and get back the boat I could see that I was probably going to get hurt, and I thought these rapids are boring and it would be so much better if I swim them so I ignored the lifeline and swam the rapids. It was fabulous! It was such an adrenaline rush! The rapids appear huge when it is just your little head floating above the surface of the water, and yes it was a little dangerous, but it was so worth it. I got of the river (after the rapids) pumped! There were times when I was swimming the rapids that I could have gotten myself out of the river and I did think about it briefly, but I was having so much fun I decided to keep swimming and not wait for the boat. After this, the rafting guides labeled me as a thrill seeker and a trouble maker, and I am not! I was just making my own fun.