This summer I joined an adventure with my friends on the Yakima River. At first I was a little worried being around new people that never been around me or who haven't been around me enough to know my situation. I had anxiety and almost talked myself out of going. Being in a new situation or around new people just scares me a tad. I didn't know how river floating worked, didn't know if I should wear my hearing aids, if I would flip and have trouble finding the group because of my vision, etc. My mind goes on high speed and thinks of every little or big thing that could go wrong. I start to over think the situation, which caused the trigger for my anxiety. Heck, my mom gave me a speech before I left telling me to be careful and not all be connected by rope, that did not help matters! I finally told myself, I can't miss out and my best friend and his wife, Justin and Sam, would help me. I could count on them. My bag was packed and I couldn't back out now! (Plus, I think Justin would have kidnapped me anyways, haha)
Once we arrived to our camp spot we unloaded the truck and made camp. By the time we finished it was time for our scheduled time to start our float. We each got our own tube, which was an inner tube with an air pillow and piece of material that went over the hole in the tube so you didn't sit all the way inside.
There was a total of twelve of us. We split into two groups and of course made sure someone was hooked up to the cooler. Yes, river floating is not just about getting burned in the sun, getting splashed by your friends, jumping off cliffs, floating in the current...its about the beer, fireball and friendships (Some of you might be against that idea, but don't worry we put safety first!) I actually ended up being the only sober one! I was the safety, oh I had a name....ah yes, the buffer. Silly friends. I made sure we didn't run into the side of the river, rocks, rock walls and made sure we didn't get stuck in the little islands of sand and grass in the river. I don't know how the blind girl ended up being that person, but we all got a kick out of it!
Our group was all together by holding onto a handle of some one's tube or resting their foot on top of a tube. It made it easier to break apart if needed and still stay together while floating. I steered by using two Frisbees as paddles, man that was a work out and after three hours of paddling off and on my hands cramped up!
The first day we floated for about three and half hours. We were all beat from being in the sun but were enjoying every minute and had lots of laughs. A train went by and everyone on the river would hoot and holler and raised their drinks, while the train horn would go off. Then, on certain parts of the river where cars could see you on the river, people would honk and we would raise our drinks and holler. It was neat sight to see and a fun experience.
At the end of the line, we all had to paddle hard to get to the side of the river where we had to get off. Once we made it, it was hard to pull out the water logged tubes out! There was a shuttle bus waiting for to take us back to where we started, which was also our campsite. It was nice not having to worry about driving or leaving our vehicles on the side of the road. The next day we went again and went for almost five hours, I believe. This time the river current was faster so the owner took us up the river so we could go for longer.
You would think that floating the river would be boring, but being with a large group there is always stories, laughs or something happening to keep us entertained. We stopped at two different cliffs where people would jump off. The guys always chatted it up with the other groups. Never a dull moment with my friends and new friendships were made. It was a good trip, even if I almost drowned. Oh, it was nothing! :)
It was back at our campsite and very hot out. I wanted to dunk in the river, which would have been no biggie...but I slipped and the current started taking me away. Sam yelled for Justin, he thought she was yelling because there was a rattle snake since we had just seen one. Oh no, she was too freaked out to get the right words out. Finally she got the words, Audrey Down River. Two friends ran farther down the river to see if they could catch me. I didn't have fear that I was drowning and that I wouldn't get stopped. I just was trying to keep my head above the water so I could breath. I clawed for the bottom with my hands and feet to find a rock to help stop me. I finally got myself stopped and stood up so I could grab a branch and my breath. Then, BAM! Down I go again, I went about fifty feet or more when I finally got stable and waited for Justin to help me get up river so I could get out. I was informed that if I kept going I would have hit a rock wall, not good! Luckily the current kept me to the side of the river and not out in the middle. I felt like my toes were broken from being smashed in the rocks. My fingers hurt and were swollen from the rocks. I gave everyone a heart attack! They were very cautious of me after since this happened before our last float trip. I HAD to be connected to one person just in case something happened. I was not given the option, it was a demand. If I got disconnected or was heading towards a rock they would yell for someone to get me or give me a heads up. I think they thought I was going to have another life threatening event, haha. I told them I was just making our trip memorable! They didn't think it was funny, whoops my bad! I was also very careful the rest of the trip.
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