Vacation Log Day 4

July 31, 2007 by jon.

What a wonderful day.  First off I got up and ran about 3 miles.  Wasn’t quite as easy as yesterday, but it was still nice to get out.  Oh, I didn’t tell you.  I went 5 miles in Colorado’s rarefied air yesterday and it was great.  I spent about $230 in running clothes and accessories earlier in the day due to the issue I mentioned in the Day 2 post.  I was annoyed and I just had to get out.  I did and it was fun with no problems from the altitude.  Today I felt it a little more, but I still enjoyed the run.

After that was done we had plans to go with Jodi and John and family to the mountains.  We did the Georgetown Loop, stopped off at a silver mine and then did some rafting down Clear Creek. This was all put together in the Rail N Raft Package from Mile Hi Rafting.
What a blast!  And only $50 a person.
The train ride was something different to do and we enjoyed just relaxing a bit.  The silver mine tour was a stop off of the mine.  Anyone who knows me knows that I get a kick out of history.  So riding a historical railroad and then touring a silver mine was about the best thing I could do.  Photos will follow soon.
Then we went rafting.  Jodi & John’s family went in one boat and we went in the other with the “Rookie” guide.  Eva was in her first year of guiding and did a great job.  I’ve had a few rafting guides and I thought Eva did well making it fun and tried her best to get us wet (Which is what Robyn wanted).
The best part was watching the kids.  Brad was in the front with me.  He was nervous when we first talked about it weeks ago in Illinois.  To see him take a leadership role just made me proud.  Robyn also joined us in the front and just held on.  She screamed a lot but it was screams of joy.  She kept asking Eva if she could go swimming.  So when we were all done, I grabbed her and dunked her about 1/2 way down.  She loved it.

Take a look at some of the photos that the rafting company took.  We’re the first 12 photos or so in the group.
Rapid Image Photo Aboutus Page

Our friends on the other hand weren’t as comfortable.  John and his son Drew couldn’t get in synch when paddling which wasn’t a problem….until the end.

At the last rapid (The Twister) our boat went first.  These are the photos on the site.  This was the biggest rapid on this stretch and was challenging.  Eva guided us well and I think we responded quickly to her directions.

Then the other boat went through and we could tell they were in trouble.  They were too far to the other side of the river and heading to some big rocks.  To make a long story short, they got stuck sideways against the rocks and had to bail out….notice the last three photos in the slideshow.
BTW - We all had a good laugh when viewing the photos from a safe and dry living room.  Something to be said about looking back on something and laughing.

We finished the day by taking in some Mountain Pies from Beau Jo’s.  If you haven’t been to Beau Jo’s yet, you’re missing something.  Excellent pizza.

I must say this day probably is pretty high on my all time list of fun days.  It was just a kick to do the different activities and to do them with good friends.

Posted in Activities, Running | Print | 1 Comment »