So you might remember a few years back I thought it would be fun to take Kenny to Chattanooga for our anniversary. He never went white water rafting on the Ocoee or anywhere for that matter and I did it a few times growing up with youth group and thought "hey no big deal." And then. I almost died on that little rafting trip. No really. If you don't recall you can read about it here. Looking back on that post I didn't even go into much detail about the ordeal. But it was so scary. When we fell out one of the guides landed on top of me and I was under the boat and couldn't come up for air.
So now that you are caught up. I have not been white water rafting since then. I can be fairly dramatic and I am dead serious in that I was really scared and never thought I would EVER get back in a boat. Kenny however LOVED it and has been on numerous boys trips and they do seriously hard rivers! I can promise you that this will be the only river I do unless its one of those fun ones out in Montana I have heard about.
Kenny and I getting ready for the rafting.
Last week, I was invited to a client trip for some of the guys I work for in the Tennessee territory for Ashley. They wanted me to meet accounts. Kenny was invited to go along and be a guest. Which was funny, because this was his old territory and he used to call on a lot of these accounts. So off we went to the mountains to relax in cabins and soak in hot tubs and enjoy being without phone service for a couple of days. The first night our group just had a catfish fry that was a lot of fun.
The next morning, it was time for WHITE WATER RAFTING. I originally planned on skipping out on the excursion but decided at the last minute to give it a try. We weren't going on the part where we fell out in and Kenny was being so sweet and giving me some major pep talks. I was fine when we were at the outfitter and then we got ready to load the boat into the water and I just lost it. I have never really dealt with a fear like this that was out of my control. Well, except maybe roaches. Not to mention all the people had heard my story and were a little freaked to. It was a little tense.
Me with two other wives.
Madeline and me. Probably talking about how scared we were. Ha!
If you have rafted the Lower Ocoee the first rapid is the scariest one because it is big and there is just a lot going on and the guides have scared the crap out of you right before and you get in the water and just have to paddle because your life depends on it. No really, it totally does. The first rapid for our boat went okay. We hit a rock and I was bumped into the center of the boat but I didn't fall out. I cried after we were through it which I am sure everyone in our boat just wanted me to fall out at this point ha! But after a few more rapids and holding on for dear life. I started to calm down a little. I actually managed to laugh a little bit during the calmer parts. And I did it. I rafted the Lower Ocoee. I was completely terrified the entire time I did it and pretty much hated it. But I was proud of myself for facing my fear and getting back out there.
While we were there our guide told us about this new river in Georgia they just opened up and Kenny and his friends are already planning a trip there. Want to know more? Google Chattahoochee River Pile Up and thank me later. It is a pretty crazy video. Needless to say I won't be making that trip.
After the rafting trip God rewarded me with an afternoon thunderstorm that I got to enjoy while sitting in a hot tub on a covered porch. We all just barbecued that night.
It really was a fun trip and it was nice for Kenny and I to have a little adult time all while knocking out some serious fears!
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