Hey pops,

Hey pops,

Rafting was amazing this weekend. We rafted The New River in West Virginia. Due to all the rain the river was 9ft higher than it normally is. It made for incredible rafting though (which of course mom was concerned about. Concerned = freaked.) Everyone who did this trip in the past kept talking about how amazing it was this time around. Even our guide said this was one of his most favorite trips.

Initially everything was going wrong. We arrived Friday night around 10:00 (I left at 1:30). It was such a hellish trip. There were accidents, traffic, rain pelting down so hard that I couldn’t see and keep in mind I was driving in the mountains up and down some very steep, two lane roads. When I had a quarter tank of gas I decided to try and find gas. I didn’t find a station until I had driven for 15 miles after my empty light came on. I had to backtrack a half an hour to find a station which just wasted an hour of my time. Everything that could go wrong went wrong but that’s alright because the next day made up for it. We rented a tent from the outdoor adventure company and for $20 it was already set up and three of us shared one tent. It was such a bargain especially since it was raining, muddy and I was exhausted and irritable after having driven for about 8 ½ hours. The next morning it was overcast and foggy and I was having second thoughts about it. Plus I didn’t feel well but I’m sure it was all psychological. So our group (my friends Kate and Steph and Kate’s friend Dawn and her boyfriend Ben) went down to breakfast (really great breakfast by the way) and got our briefing before rafting and then got outfitted and headed down to the river with our caravan. I was so nervous and I had this awful headache from being nervous. Things got better after we got there though. This is really random but I went to college with our rafting guide. We were both history majors and we took a couple of classes together. I remembered him just because I remember everyone. :) I’m like an elephant.

There were 10 people in our raft. 5 of us from one group and we got hooked up with another 5 person group. They actually camped in the lot right next to ours. They were a really cool group and we had so much fun with them. So rafting down the river we initially hit Class II – III rapids. About halfway through we had lunch and they provided an awesome lunch. My friend Kate who has been rafting at least 10 times said this is the best she’s ever eaten during a rafting trip. After lunch we headed out and that’s when we hit up all the upper level rapids. The waves were humongous because the river was so swollen from all the rain and there were a couple times when I thought I was going to fall out because of the sheer force of power behind those waves. One time the guy in front of me got hit from a really bad direction and I thought he was going to fall into me and we’d both fall out. It wasn’t scary though unless there were rocks in the vicinity though. We went down all types but my favorite rapids were the Class IV and V rapids. They had these crazy huge waves coming at us from all sides. I did not fall out of the raft (unless it was on purpose.) There were a couple of times where they let us jump out and swim around and then practice getting back into the raft. When I jumped out I thank God I did because I realized my helmet was loose (got it fixed afterwards) and my water shoes were dragging me down. I had to duck down and take them off and then swim back to the raft with them in my hands. Krav Maga and Jiu-jitsu have really prepared me. I wasn’t sore at all. My muscles were ready for the challenge. The food was awesome as well. They fed us really well for breakfast, lunch, dinner and breakfast the next day.

I’ve included the terms and definitions for Class I – VI rapids so you can understand it a bit better. I’m not sure if you know exactly what I mean so I thought a little reference guide might be in order. Sorry for this long email but seeing as how it’s so expensive to talk when we finally do get to talk to each other I thought this would be the best thing. My next email will detail my adventures during the filming of the new Angelina Jolie/Liev Schreiber movie at my job. Spoiler: I saw them both!!!! :)

Love you daddy-o,N

Reference guide:
Class 1: Very small rough areas, requires no maneuvering. (Skill Level: None)
Class 2: Some rough water, maybe some rocks, might require maneuvering.(Skill Level: Basic Paddling Skill)
Class 3: Whitewater, small waves, maybe a small drop, but no considerable danger. May require significant maneuvering.(Skill Level: Experienced paddling skills)
Class 4: Whitewater, medium waves, maybe rocks, maybe a considerable drop, sharp maneuvers may be needed. (Skill Level: Whitewater Experience)
aClass 5: Whitewater, large waves, possibility of large rocks and hazards, possibility of a large drop, requires precise maneuvering (Skill Level: Advanced Whitewater Experience)
Class 6: Class 6 rapids are considered to be so dangerous as to be effectively unnavigable on a reliably safe basis. Rafters can expect to encounter substantial whitewater, huge waves, huge rocks and hazards, and/or substantial drops that will impart severe impacts beyond the structural capacities and impact ratings of almost all rafting equipment. Traversing a Class 6 rapid has a dramatically increased likelihood of ending in serious injury or death compared to lesser classes. (Skill Level: Successful completion of a Class 6 rapid without serious injury or death is widely considered to be a matter of great luck or extreme skill)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater