It Stretched Out like the Rest of our Lives

Yesterday I woke up to a brilliant, shining spectacle of a morning. I was groggy, but what lay ahead of me was sharp and clear: Rafting. Sun, friends, adventures. I had to rush to get ready, and this resulted in minor razor burn on my legs, but once I was out the door my spirits were blazing. I climbed into Josh's car and as soon as we picked everyone up we were racing down the highway, windows down, Swedish techno blaring. Halfway to River Runners and the volume was suddenly off as I listened to McBride tell me over the phone that they had gotten lost and had no idea where River Runners was. A few simple directions and broken speed limits later, we arrived, only to find out the trip would not start for another two hours. In distress, we searched for something to do and found:

Kiel.

Kiel, who works at the Royal Gorge park. After some begging, he called and got us [all of us, all seven of our loud, teenage asses] in for free. Carousel rides, phobias of heights, and a petting zoo ensued, and when it was all over, we rushed back to River Runners to suit up for our trip.

The wet suits were the worst. It took a ridiculous amount of pulling, tugging, jumping, squeezing, and pushing to get all of me into such an unforgiving material, and even when I was finally finished, the crotch of the suit refused to come up where it should have been. Wearing jiggly booties and a latex wetsuit, I did my best to saunter instead of waddle out to the car to throw my sweatpants and tanktop in the trunk, get my lifejacket and windbreaker on, and pile into the van. Driving to our destination, the summer day was splendid. The trees were a livid shade of green, the leaves big and ripe in the summer heat, and the sun cast its brightness over what seemed like everything in the world, making the gravel hot and blinding. When finally we arrived at the river's edge, the guide, Kc's father, got out and explained some basic safety rules concerning swimmers and flipped boats.

At long last we situated ourselves in the raft, took up a paddle, and began sailing down the river. The water turned and curved like a great, shimmering snake, and when we hit white water, it roared and twisted and rose and exploded at us, angrily rocking the raft and soaking us to our overcharged bones. At one point we were allowed to get out of the raft and go swimming, but swimming was absolutely the wrong term. It was more like being swept down the river, making a vain attempt not to hit our heads or be tossed too violently or have our legs ripped apart by rocks. It was insanely fun, but we sadly had time to do this only once on our trip. We piled back into the boat after watching McBride attempt to avoid two very large and very intimidating cacti on an equally narrow path, and off we went, paddling hard enough to leave our fingers sore the next morning.

When it was finally over, we went home, changed, and decided to have dinner at Village Inn, where our check was messed up and Perry ended up paying seventy dollars for the seven of us to eat. After much persuasion, I was convinced to play a spur-of-the-moment game of Manhunt. A lot of confusion occurred then, but when the game was finally set up and ready, we set off. I Chased first, and climbed my first fence. [Can you believe it? I have never climbed a fence before. My childhood was ridiculous.] Then Josh, Perry and I set up a jail, starting in the high school parking lot and moving to the Abbey, and eventually to Walmart. However, we ended up letting every single prisoner escape, and the game continued, surrounded by the crisp, energy-charged air of a late June night.

Kc had developed angry rashes on her legs and arms, and her throat was swollen, and it succeeded in frightening everyone present into watching her like a hawk to see if her condition changed, but when it came time for her to go home, she was mostly fine, and she was alive in the morning. We proceeded that night to Nick's house and watched The Lion King, and it was relaxing in a way only Disney movies and sore muscles can ever make a person.

All in all, much was discovered that night, and many memories were made, in hearts and hands and heads, and we rest easily with sun just beneath our eyelids.

Until next time.