Washington Day 4 (Slip'n Slide)

Washington Day 3

We made it to the temple
to do baptisms...

and to the gum wall,
where we each made a contribution.

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and to Pikes Place Fish Market

and the big fountain near the space needle

and the Space Needle

and the Nike store.
Yes, we were on the ground,
the ceiling was so cool!

Washington Day 2

Day 2 we hit the lake with Andrew and his big new beautiful boat.  We got to see the skills Ayz, Reyn and Tiago have been learning over the years.  Reyn has gotten so good at wake surfing, she was able to get Q up with her.  It was amazing!

 

Ben got up on his 2nd try.  

First time up for Alyssa

truly remarkable!

We also did some tubing, fun!

Washington Day 1

We made our yearly summer trip to Washington.  Because Q had football tryouts the night we were planning to leave, we didn't hit the road until 9pm.  Around 2:30am, we stopped at an old Motel 6 to get some sleep.  Not sure it was worth the money, in our room, there were flies that kept landing on my face and buzzing past our ears.  None of us felt well rested the next morning. 

First Stop, Multnomah Falls,
gorgeous as usual.

Once we arrived, we thought we would cool 
down on the river.  It was unusually warm 
for Washington.

A Parting Gift

Holly decided to live with her dad until she graduates high school.  As a parting gift, she gave Qyntn a leopard gecko which made him so happy!  Ben and I didn't want another pet, but what could we do.  Welcome to the family Liz.

River Balsa

Costa Rica is the perfect place for white water rafting, the water is warmer than rivers around here and the jungle setting is incredible.  Ben had never been white water rafting, so I convinced the team to float the River Balsa. It was quite the adventure.  

Because there were only 6 per raft, Ben and I got put with a random couple, a trainee and our guide.  The rest of the group was in a different raft.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous.  I really wanted Ben and the rest to enjoy it.  From the first rapids, I was on cloud 9, smiling ear to ear.  Not too far down the river though, the raft tilted my way, and I slid off the raft.  My foot and legs were still in the boat, but my head and chest were under water outside the boat.  I was determined not to fall in, so I dug in my feet and the two guides grabbed my life jacket and pulled me back up.  Phew, catastrophe overted.  Then it started to rain, which seemed to make the raft extra slippery, but it was absolutely beautiful!  However a few rapids later, we hit a huge rock and got dumped into the river.  I tried to lay back, relax and point my feet downstream (as instructed), but we were still in the thick of the rapids.  I hit rock after rock got flipped over, did sommersalts and finally came up and was able to grab onto the raft.  I had been told not to grab onto the raft though, so that the guides could flip it back over, so I let go and got sucked under the raft.  For a few seconds I thought it might be the end for me, but eventually, I hit another rock and the raft floated away from me.  Still floating rapidly downstream getting pummeled by rocks, another raft offered me an oar and pulled me into their raft.  It was crazy!  I lost both shoes in the chaos, one of my toenails was almost completely ripped off, there were bumps, bruises and blood all over my lower half.  Luckily, the life vest and helmet protected my torso and head, but my back was really sore.  

Ben also got pummeled a bit, but he was able to stop himself on a rock and stand up to help flip the raft back to the right side.

Although in a lot of pain, we got back on the raft and kept going.  Getting flipped was actually quite exhilarating and I smiled and laughed the rest of the way.  Memories were made.   I had hoped that the photographer had captured some of the excitement, but I found out that he wasn't nearby when it happened.