Rafting in the Smokies

When my husband was still in the Navy, he went  white water rafting with his sailor buddies when they were in Australia.  He said their raft went down twice and all of them  got thrown out but he said it was a lot of fun.  So when he told me that he want us to go white water rafting in Tennessee, I was hesitant because we have the kids.  If it's just me, I would go in a heartbeat  since I  grew up in a coastal  place and being in a rough sea is not new to me.  However, when you have children with you, you will always be on a protective Momma mode.  The kids were excited about it so I went along  and  just prayed that God will protect us in the water lol.

The guides were  very friendly and  the one that's leading all of  us was very convincing.  We chose the mild one which has a rough part but not all the way the entire journey.  While she was telling us  how mild  this  one is, we were stopped by emergency people and we saw a truck  in the river.  We were glad the passengers were okay but that  really made me worried.  I was thinking, what if this is a sign for us not to go and all these worse scenario was running through my mind while we were going to our destination.  

The head of the tour guide  told us that she never saw anything like this happen before in the area.  I think that the passenger of the vehicle were new to the place and they were not  particular about the bend and sharp turn of the roads.  Their vehicle was in the middle of the river, it was scary!

Anyway, our tour guide's name was Bill, he was really good.  He even brought bubbles for the kids, he was probably  thinking that my children  will get scared. What Bill did not know is that, my kids are more courageous than me lol.   Only the five  of us adults had paddles.  He taught us what to do  during the rough part, he was a really good instructor.  He told us that in the past, he had one instance where his people got thrown out the boat and  he said that he doesn't want  that to happen again especially with the kids.  So he made sure that we listen to his instructions and not to panic.

We were teamed up with two  Norwegian guys and  they were very friendly.  They too were adventure seekers just like us.

We were not allowed to bring anything but ourselves.  They were strict about what type of shoes to wear and made sure that our floating devices were tightened just right.   They also taught us how to properly  hold the paddle which I already knew because my Dad taught me when I was  a kid.   It is important to remember the rule of the thumb and that is not letting go of the top of your paddle so nobody will get hurt on ut.  

All of these pictures were taken by  their designated photographer.  You can buy or pay for it  at the end of the tour.  See, they really get you with this one, there's nothing really  you can do but  buy it if you want  pictures of your  adventure.  I thought, it was gonna be a printed photo on a frame but all you're getting is a  thumb drive with the  15 shots of picture in it for $40.

After the  rough part was over, there was a very calm and steady part where the rafters can jump out the rough and swim for a while before  returning.   My husband and son  went  and swim but  my daughter and I stayed in the raft, I don't trust  river that I don't know about ha ha.

My children got all the splashes of water  because they were in the front.  They absolutely had a blast with this adventure.  They want to do it again in the future so I think we might do it here in  West Virginia since we have the  New River Gorge.  We did not want to start  our  experience here because the course here is a lot rougher.  Hartford Tennessee was the perfect place to start as it was milder.