Whitewater Rafting

YEAH! Whitewater rafting today, woo hoo!! Headed out out to the US National White Water Center (www.usnwc.org) Located on the banks of the Catawba River in Charlotte, N.C. The U.S. National Whitewater Center is the world's largest artificial whitewater river and an official U.S. Olympic Training Site. The USNWC is a locally owned and operated non-profit dedicated to promoting healthy, active, outdoor lifestyles. Opened in August 2006 at a cost of $38 million, the 307-acre public adventure-sport facility includes whitewater rafting and kayaking, mountain biking and hiking trails, a climbing center, a ropes course and soon, an 1100 foot zip line over the water.
It was a perfect day to be outdoors, a bit overcast with the sun peaking out every once in a while so it wasn't that hot. The water temp was actually refreshing. I dragged my mom out b/c my boo had to go into work to finish up a project. We arrived, went through a quick 30 min. safety orientation, picked up our gear (helmet, PFD, and paddle), and headed out to the boat to meet our guide, James. Then, we proceeded to spend 2 hours of non-stop class II-IV whitewater river, surfing waves that challenged our skills on the tight turns of the channels. After a run down, you ride a conveyer belt back to the upper section to take on another channel. It was pretty cool and James was an alright guide. I asked him a ton of questions about the kayak instruction, how he liked his job, and about becoming a rafting guide. Don't worry, I'm not quitting my day job, but one of the perks of becoming a certified rafting guide is they get free water time on the river and if I want to get more into whitewater kayaking, this would a definite plus. He gave me some info on the whitewater guide training classes and I'm going to check the website for the status of the next class. Anyways, about the trip. I am always so surprised at what a tough bird my mom can be. I thought for sure she was going to fall out the boat or slow us down. But she was right in the middle of the action, paddling her butt off, and whooping and hollering with the rest of us. Well, we only had one casualty (person who fell out) in our boat and it was neither me nor my mom. Oh, and I did get clobbered by a wall of water, which caused my achey ear to become water logged, but no worries, I came home, took my meds and ear drops and am on the road to recovery. Til my next adventure. GET OUTDOORS!!!