Elena en Colorado: River Rafting!

We got up extra early today to start our long drive past Buena Vista for our River Rafting adventure! Who knew it would be so busy on the Arkansas River? In fact, it was the busiest day of the year so far, our guide told us. We loaded up on sunscreen (although Allison needs more lessons on how to properly apply sunscreen!), and headed out for our adventure.....
Mike was our guide. He kept us out of too much trouble, that's for sure. Most of the river was very easy going. We enjoyed beautiful views of the canyon, rock formations, wild flowers, and watching other crazy rafters. Now and then, however, it was not so easy going! The water was low and the rocks are big. This means that our raft had to work hard as a team to get through tight places and work our way through the rapids. Elena did great! She would heard "Forward 2!" or "All forward!", and "Back 2!" or "All back!".... and our favorite, "Stop." Elena followed every direction Mike shouted perfectly! There were definitely some tricky spots on the river and Missy and Erik are really feeling how hard our muscles had been worked (we're getting old, I guess.) Tuckered and very thirsty, we landed at our pick-up spot and enjoyed a bit of splashing in the river before heading back. Fun trip!
On our way back to Denver, we took a route through Leadville which is where Elena's mother spent a year attending the high school. We spent a little while looking around the town before making the final drive down the big hill to Denver. The drive home was filled with all sorts of giggles from the back seat and a few sweet snores from little sister, Lindsay.
Tomorrow we sleep in!!!!!