My adventure started on a balmy, early-August day, about six years ago. My family and me were vacationing in San Antonio, Texas for a little over a week as a part of a family reunion. My dad’s from a big family and they are spread out all over the country from the east coast to the west coast. Every even numbered year we get together for a long weekend. We’ve had them in Savannah, Ga,, Hartford, CT., and we even hosted one in Detroit when I was too young to remember. Our family photo album shows proof that I was there and people have told me enough about it that I actually believe I was there.
This particular year, the reunion coincided with my sister Julia’s 10th birthday. That’s happened before and it means she hogs all of the attention. …show more content…
Six Flags was an option, since it had a water park, but it was too far to drive for only a few hours my parents reasoned. Instead we found a place about 40 minutes away in New Braunfels, Texas that offered white water rafting, kayaking, tubing and canoeing on the Guadalupe River. It sounded perfect. After returning to our rented condo to pack food and a change of clothes and drop off the leftover cheesecake, we headed to New Braunfels excited. It was the perfect fun-family activity.
Once we arrived, we were offered the choice between a single person tube, or a family raft. My mom and dad handled the details. They decided the best choice would be to go on a raft so we could stay together as a family. After they paid for the “experience” one of the workers outfitted us with bright orange life jackets and then someone else gave us paddles. I found out later they offered two rafting experiences, one more challenging and the other more laid back. After a short shuttle ride to the rafting entry point, we were pushed down stream on the Guadalupe …show more content…
Ahead we could all see the next drop. I remember my dad saying we could steer to the left and try to avoid it. It all happened so fast. There I was sitting in the back of the raft on the right side near my dad. My sister and mom positioned themselves in the front. This time we felt ready for the rapids to pull us down quickly. The front of the raft hit the water hard and the back splashed down. We all bounced. I lost my paddle and bounced out of the raft --- right into the numbing water. I was propelled under by the force of the oncoming rapids. As soon as I managed the strength to stand up, I see my dad reaching toward me from the raft. He’s trying to rescue me, but the force of the water sends him out of the raft. He lands right on top of me. Now we are both underwater. I could not breathe for what seems like a minute. Quickly my dad realizes he has fallen on top of me and rolls off and stands up. I popped my head out of the water. I was screaming as loud as a fire alarm, crying too. My dad and I were still standing in the rapids, He was trying to calm me, but I was terrified and kept screaming. I could hear his voice telling me we couldn’t stay in the middle of the river. He looked left and measured mentally how far to shore, then did the same on the right. We decided to climb up on the right side, there were limbs and branches to grab as we waded along. There was also a wall made out of giant boulders that we stepped on as we
This particular year, the reunion coincided with my sister Julia’s 10th birthday. That’s happened before and it means she hogs all of the attention. …show more content…
Six Flags was an option, since it had a water park, but it was too far to drive for only a few hours my parents reasoned. Instead we found a place about 40 minutes away in New Braunfels, Texas that offered white water rafting, kayaking, tubing and canoeing on the Guadalupe River. It sounded perfect. After returning to our rented condo to pack food and a change of clothes and drop off the leftover cheesecake, we headed to New Braunfels excited. It was the perfect fun-family activity.
Once we arrived, we were offered the choice between a single person tube, or a family raft. My mom and dad handled the details. They decided the best choice would be to go on a raft so we could stay together as a family. After they paid for the “experience” one of the workers outfitted us with bright orange life jackets and then someone else gave us paddles. I found out later they offered two rafting experiences, one more challenging and the other more laid back. After a short shuttle ride to the rafting entry point, we were pushed down stream on the Guadalupe …show more content…
Ahead we could all see the next drop. I remember my dad saying we could steer to the left and try to avoid it. It all happened so fast. There I was sitting in the back of the raft on the right side near my dad. My sister and mom positioned themselves in the front. This time we felt ready for the rapids to pull us down quickly. The front of the raft hit the water hard and the back splashed down. We all bounced. I lost my paddle and bounced out of the raft --- right into the numbing water. I was propelled under by the force of the oncoming rapids. As soon as I managed the strength to stand up, I see my dad reaching toward me from the raft. He’s trying to rescue me, but the force of the water sends him out of the raft. He lands right on top of me. Now we are both underwater. I could not breathe for what seems like a minute. Quickly my dad realizes he has fallen on top of me and rolls off and stands up. I popped my head out of the water. I was screaming as loud as a fire alarm, crying too. My dad and I were still standing in the rapids, He was trying to calm me, but I was terrified and kept screaming. I could hear his voice telling me we couldn’t stay in the middle of the river. He looked left and measured mentally how far to shore, then did the same on the right. We decided to climb up on the right side, there were limbs and branches to grab as we waded along. There was also a wall made out of giant boulders that we stepped on as we