‘Adventure’ was my middle name. “Um…Mom?” I went under. We all did. Like a leaf in a whirlwind, losing everything, we tumbled again and again, spinning almost in slow motion. This started and ended my adventurous rendezvous.
My family and I went to Utah to meet the “in-laws”. My brother, Jesse, was getting married and we were invited to spend “the Fourth” with them. We were going to go ‘float down the river’. When we got to their ‘cabin’ , in Vivian Park, I wondered what their house must look like. We walked up their deep green lawn and nice marble finished walkway. After my mother knocked, it was opened by a man of about sixty. He introduced himself and his wife as Don and Susan Sessions. Don was extremely friendly and I instantly thought to myself, “What a friendly human being.” Susan told us, “Make sure you don’t fall in, the water is freezing cold!” They had already packed all the equipment into their car. We were ready to go!
We drove a short way to the starting point of the Provo River. After taking some pictures with us all geared up, we assigned groups. My group (Dad, Mom, and I) got out first; we were the leaders! We turned a corner and saw a massive bridge staring us right in the face! There was a 3 separate section; two with sharp rock at the side. I heard a distant voice from behind us, muffled from the sound of the rapids. “Aim for the second tunnel.” Don yelled. We were less than 10 yard at this point. My parents rapidly rowed; trying to get to the second tunnel. I thought in my mind, “What are we doing? We are going to crash!” I tried to warn them but all that came out was, “Um…Mom?” We hit head on. I thought we would just bounce off of it… I was wrong. We flipped. When I fell in the water I was shocked, literally frozen for a moment. The water was numbingly cold. I tumbled and twirled; like when you try to body surf on a little wave but it ends up being ‘monstro’. As I attempted to grab on to something, I felt the log running under the tunnel with screws in it. I held on for dear life. I was strong but not as strong as the rapids. They pulled me little by little closer to them. My feet were parallel to my head. Suddenly I got a tight grip between a vertical and horizontal board. I noticed from behind me the others had somehow gathered to the side. I also saw my dad right behind me. He grabbed me and the wood. Knowing that I was now secure I relaxed a little. I looked around and suddenly noticed my mom was missing! I cried out, “Where’s Mom?” For a second lost in thought of her drowning, trying to keep up till it was no use. My dad answered, “She is safe on the other bank.”

Now that I was fully out of the ice frozen water I began to shiver. I suddenly notice a gash in my knee. “Must’ve hit the bottom of the river,” I thought. Forgetting my body, I noticed that half of my apparel was missing. My flip flops (the good ones) gone and my favorite pair of sunglasses. “AWW, Rats!” Suddenly on the opposite bank my mother came into view. She had managed to still have her sunglasses in place. In awe I noticed that she managed to save the two oars while she was at it.

As we continued nothing quite as exciting or as thrilling happened; but we had a grand time. As I reflect on this experience, I begin to understand that sometimes it’s the challenges and adventures that make life enjoyable. For after all, ‘Adventure’ was my middle name.