Pulled out Friday around 4 to head to Coloma, California for the work
camping/rafting trip and ran smack into traffic problems up at South
Lake (Tahoe). Seems there was an accident closing down the
highway and we managed to sit up there for an hour before getting
turned around and heading up a different highway. I did manage to
make up time and beat my project mgr. up there to his suprise hehe. Got
into the campground about an hour before the sunset so didn’t have to
get settled in at night which was nice. I started immediately
drinking my mango rum and sprite but Patrick wasn’t feeling good so
after about an hour of being social he went to lay down. I have
no clue what time I went to bed but I have maybe a glass left of my rum
left and woke up with a slight sting of a headache.
Saturday was our big rafting day and a VERY long day. We
set out for our rafiting trip around 9:45 and after checking in our
group and then waiting for the guides to get through safety talks with
other groups before ours we got on the river around 11:30 I
think. We had in our boat – Randy and his wife Lisa, Lorraine and
her husband Scott, Patrick and I then our wonderful guide Marcos from
Brazil. It was very obvious from the start that Randy was
going to be a trouble maker as he started splashing the other rafts
with his paddle in the “quiet zone” and got talked to about the “river
patrol” so we started behaving. I did go in the water twice, on
purpose I might add!!! There was a rope hanging from a bridge
with that people swing from so the guide talked me into swinging from
it and then the 2nd time was a rapid that he suggested we go down
swimming if we wanted to try so I said sure, thinking that Randy and
Lisa were going to also. In the end, I was the only person from
my boat adventurous enough to get out of the damn raft and get a little
wet. It was cold but felt really good with the 90 something day
we were having there. The rafting trip was an all day one
so we stopped halfway and ate lunch and then proceeded on our way to
some Class 3′s. The first part of the trip was only 1′s and 2′s.
BOOO! We also had some excitement with rescuing a girl that fell
out during a rapid 
and also 2 paddles from a raft that flipped right
next to us while we were on our rescue mission. It was
pretty amusing to say the least and i’m glad I wasn’t the one to fall
out. There were some good water fights and Patrick played our
bucket man, armed and ready with a bucket full of water to load onto
nearby unsuspecting rafts. For a while I didn’t think i’d ever
get dried out.
The day pushed everyone to exhaustion it seemed. When we got back
to camp, it looked like people were sore and tired from the day,
needing some naps. Patrick wasn’t feeling well so he went to nap
but woke up feeling worse so I broke the bad news to my co-workers and
said we were going to pack up and head home. I wanted to stay
another night, but knowing how much it sucks to camp when you are sick
I felt bad for Patrick and knew he didn’t want to stay any
longer. We did treat ourselves to “In and Out Burger” in
Placerville before heading back home. I slept the entire way,
hoping to rid myself of the never ending headache of the day.
Today we went to check out the house and we are making progress, but
then again we close on it September 3rd supposedly so they better be
moving. Our cabinets are almost all in, our tile work is being
done and some of the other flooring. It’s really starting to look
like a house and I think Patrick is a little excited. He drug me
off at 7:45 tonight to get new pillows and then proceeded to look
around the store for things we will “have to buy once we get the
house”. hehe I wasn’t complaining and it was a lot of fun to say
the least, especially since i’m usually the one that drags him off to
look at house stuff.
Well, i’m off to bed in a bit, after our laundry is done. Nothing
like doing laundry late at night when you want to go to bed yet you
cant.
~heather
