What happened was at Scramble Like a Rat (class III rapid) we somehow ended moving head on towards a HUGE undercut rock. Our raft guide yelled "back" so that we'd paddle back but it was too late. We made contact with the rock and our raft started tipping so she then yelled "high side" and that also failed. I saw the raft was about to keel over so I was the first to bail. Others were soon to follow. Thankfully I went towards the side where the water was very still. I just stood up and when I looked around, to my horror I saw some of my friends floating down river and I had no idea where my husband was. I also saw our guide. She somehow was able to climb up the rock and held onto the raft by herself (amazing considering how heavy that thing is...it took 9 of us to move it from the road to the river bank!). She right sided it and then came my way and I jumped back in. Then we headed downstream and began collecting everyone else. It's amazing how strong you can be on an adrenaline rush. I was pulling folks into the boat that I'm sure were heavier than me. Our raft guide said had I not bailed at the time that I did, we would have capsized the raft over for sure. I feel like that's more dangerous because you can get stuck under the raft. I found out later that my husband was the last to bail from the boat and he did get stuck under for a bit before being carried away by a strong current. He was picked up by our friends in another raft.
We later found out that we did what is called a "dump truck" which is when a raft dumps all of it's passengers but remains upright. In our raft guides 10 year career she has only had to call a "high side" manuever 15 tmies and this was only the 4th time she has had a dump truck. Lucky us. Some of it was her error (she is the one steering after all and she was kind of hard to hear) some of it was us (we kind of sucked at paddling backwards...give us a break though, 6 of the 8 people had NEVER rafted before!). Either way, this wouldn't keep me from doing it again or venturing into bigger water. The next day my entire upper body was sore as was my butt from sitting on that hard raft all day. This was an awesome tricep, pec, and ab workout for me lol. I didn't feel so bad about not being able to exercise.
Anyway, so that was our wild rafting adventure. I recommend it!
Since my friends and I took a "refreshing dip" in the Lower New River I leave you know with this refreshing dip (ba dump dum!) recipe which used my CSA beets. It's the first time I've ever roasted beets and I wish someone would have told me that they stain your hands *lovely* color of hot pink when you peel them. While pink is my favorite color, it doesn't mean I want to be semi-permanently colored that way on my skin! I loved the flavor of this "salsa"...like a greek salad!
Come back tomorrow to find out what I did with the beet greens :).
Greek Salsa
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Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
- 1.5 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1.5 tsp. oregano
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp. chopped parsley
- 2 tsp. chopped dill
- 1 cucumber, seeded and diced small
- 1 large tomato, seeded and diced small
- 1/3 lb. feta cheese, diced
- 10-12 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped green or red onion
- 1/4 cup diced beets (roasted or pickled)
- Whisk together the red wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and oregano, and then season to taste with salt and pepper.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients (the beets turn everything hot pink, so add them slowly at the end to partially avoid this). Stir in the dressing, tossing well to combine.
Source: Elly says Opa!
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