Waves were crashing. Cold water was spilling in. Mist was flying in our faces as we journeyed down the river. The boat was bouncing back and forth, and was crashing into rocks left and right. These are some of the many things I experienced when I went white water rafting. The endurance and finesse of our strokes while we rafted were abruptly stopped. Then disaster stuck our raft.

My family was on a week long vacation in Breckenridge, Colorado. It was a cool, summer day and we were all getting suited up to go white water rafting. I was very excited to get going. I kept my cool as we walked down to Buffalo River and divided up into groups. My siblings, cousins, and I got to be in a group since we were the youngest people there. As the guides went through how to paddle, what to do if someone fell out of the raft, and other important need to know items, my cousin, Rachel, and I were gushing over how cute we thought our guide was. Little did we know we should have been paying attention.

We set on our journey in the 67 degree river water. We all squealed when we got into it because it was so cold. Once everyone got their rafts floating down the stream, we hit our first set of rapids. They were small so it was a nice test trial. My group soon learned how to maneuver them and we started to relax further on into the trip. We were having water fights and races with the other groups, splashing our paddles in the water at them, and having a good time.

Then, before we knew it, we had gotten into some really big rapids! Paddling got harder and the waves got bigger. Staying in the boat was it’s own personal task. We were so concerned with our paddling that we didn’t watch how big the rapids were. My brother, Ethan, fell victim to them. Our guide was yelling, “Keep paddling, don’t stop! Ryan! Grab Ethan!”

It all happened so fast, the boat was spinning in circles, and mass confusion struck our raft. None of us were paddling, and some of our paddles were in the water! My cousin, Ryan, eventually got Ethan out of the water and he was okay. Once the chaos subsided, we all calmed down and started laughing at what had just happened. It was a very memorable experience. I learned to always listen to instructions because you may never know when you will need them.

This experience was so much fun that two days later we went white water rafting again. We went with a different company than before, but none the less it was just as much fun. However, Rachel and I listened to the guide this time, and then gushed about how cute he was.

All in all I learned to always listen and to always make sure you have a strong person next to you when you white water raft, because you never know who may be pulling you out of a river. I also learned that when it comes to having a good time, your family is always the best ones to have it with. Even if they fall into a river on your trip.