On Sept 16th, 2014, Fred and I and Becky drove from Chandler, AZ, to Lees Ferry. We were excited and ready to embark on what is usually referred to as a ‘trip of a lifetime’ rafting the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
We arrived at the Marble Canyon Lodge, checked in, and headed off to explore……
We drove the short ways down to Lees Ferry, where we would begin our trip the next morning.
We stood looking at the river…..and bent to touch it…… trying to get familiar with what would become a very intimate part of our next two weeks.The water was a greenish color…..much clearer than it would be later in the trip.
We took our pictures….aware of the significance of the moment…..the start of a journey. (note- We look so CLEAN!)
We spotted the rafts that would be our transportation and home, fully loaded with supplies in preparation for the morning.
And we walked out over the bridge – thinking that we would be passing under it in the morning.
That night, we met up with our fellow travelers – all of us pretty nervous. We introduced ourselves all around, and it seemed like this would be a great group. We were given our grocery bag sized dry bags with instructions on how to pack. Back at our hotel room, we were rather frustrated as we tried to decide what all to take and how to pack so that we could get to what we might want. Fortunately things squashed down pretty well, and we took everything that we had planned to (and more than we needed).
The next morning, we met up bright and early, all packed and ready to go!
At the beach, we were given life jackets and safety instructions……then we loaded up on the rafts…..
And were off on a Grand Adventure!
……There would be rapids ahead, and smooth water, amazing scenery, challenging hikes, great meals, and time for socializing. Before long, we would find ourselves settling into the comfortable routine of life on a Colorado River rafting trip.
Looking forward to reading the rest of yours and Becky's posts about "the trip of a lifetime."
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