Friday, May 31, 2013

Ocoee!!

Esther sent out an email about a special one of the outfitters was running for Memorial Day at the Ocoee.  Even with the discount, I didn't really think it was something we could do.  Bobby and I talked about it a little, but kind of left it alone.  Esther mentioned it again and I told her I would talk to Bobby that night, but because of the wedding, I never even thought of it.  The next day, Sunday, Esther was like "HEY!  I am making reservations!  What are you doing?!!"  Haha...not really but since I forgot to talk to Bobby, that's how my brain read it...in a panic.  He was cutting the grass and I ran outside.  I asked him if we could spare the money so Brit could at least go.  He was like "Yeah, we can make that happen."  So I grinned really big and was like "Do we have enough so two people can go?"  He said, "But I want to go too!"  Haha...so within a very short amount of time, we decided that the three of us would go, I talked to Suzette who agreed to let Dakota hang out with them all day, reservations were made and everything fell into place beautifully.  Love when that happens!  I even let Beth know in case they could come over since they live in Knoxville.

The next morning, we were at Suzette's house at 8 am, dropping off The Boy and packing in The Crawfords.  Dakota was extremely excited about spending the day with Zachary, which made it much easier...I was afraid he would feel left out.  That was not the case at all!  Plus, we're going to plan a canoeing trip that we can all go on.

The drive was uneventful, which is just how I like it.  There were waves and people laughing and talking and then quiet again.  We passed through Hollywood and I waved in the general direction of Dad and Rosie :)  Chattanooga traffic wasn't horrible and we made great time.



We got to Quest and got signed in, looked at their gift shop, signed our waivers.






We went to eat our lunch that they provided in this particular special.  I expected pre-made sandwiches with stale bread (school lunch flashbacks?) and was pleasantly surprised!  It was a wonderful spread of breads, tortillas, deli meats, and all the fixings.  Oh, and homemade cookies and cupcakes.  It was delicious!  And everyone was so kind, asking us if we needed anything else.  I was quite impressed.


We had a little down time before things started.  I, along with all of the kiddos, have never been rafting before so there was lots of excitement!  We slathered sun block on and waited for things to start.



Then it was time to gather, discuss some safety, collect out gear and load up on a bus that would take us up to the drop off point.  It was a very exciting bus ride, laughing and talking and making jokes.  Bobby said we had been down that road before and nowhere in my brain did that make sense...even after he said that that was the way we went to Tellico Plains.  But then I saw something that I remembered and very loudly admitted that he was right and I was wrong.  People cheered and he knuckle bumped several men.  Evidently this was a big step for men everywhere!  Haha!

We got to the drop off point, they unloaded the rafts, we got up with our guides and started going over the basics of how to sit, feet placement, rowing, etc.  Then we got lined up and into the water.  To be honest, it wasn't as big and bad as I imagined it would be.  There were some rough spots and we got soaked, but it was fun...not scary.  Brit and Chan rode with me and Bobby and every time I looked at them, they had the biggest smiles on their faces.  Our guide was awesome!  I can totally see us hanging out sometime...so we're now facebook friends!  Hahaha :)  I brought a waterproof camera with me and am waiting...not so patiently...for those to come in.  Did you know you don't get negatives anymore?  They put your photos on a CD now.  Cool!  That's how long it's been since I got film developed :)

When we got back, Beth and Richard were waiting on us!  It was SO good to see them and on her birthday too!
The drive home was equally uneventful.  We stopped at the Taco Bell in Scottsboro.  I called Dad to see if he and Rosie would meet us, but they had had a long, busy day and opted to stay home.  So then we were back at Suzette's, chatted for a while about the happenings of the day and home by 9:00.  Everyone got showered and I realized that I neglected my legs in the slathering of the sunblock!  They were pretty red, but are now just tanned.  Yeah Native American skin!  We slept very well that night!

Ah, it was SO much fun and I loved sharing the experience with some of my favorite people!  I can't wait to go back!  There's talk of going for Father's Day!  :)

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Where we've been as a family