James River, VA

What a day! Too many photos to choose from . . .

1. The copperhead snake we found in Travis' woodpile (awesome photos too!)
2. Rafting on the James River (chosen blip comes from here)
3. Hike through the woods at twilight: frogs, sunset, moon, etc.

My blip of the day almost captures the day. I say almost because it is a somewhat serene photograph. I went on the James River with Travis today in his two-person raft. The rapids here are not that big (Class II/III at best), but I have what I consider a "healthy" fear of water, so they were exciting to me to say the least. He was such a good instructor, though, that I had SO MUCH FUN! Yippeeeee!!!

We rafted for almost 4 hours, which included stops to jump off a cliff into a swimming hole, jump off the raft into the rapids to get the feel of being pulled under the fast water (yikes!), and so on. All in all it was a wonderful way to spend a very hot (90+ degrees) day in the Virginias. My new mountain bike stayed home for the day, abandoned. Poor thing. However, I've decided that being on the water on a day like this is the only way to go. It's the only time I haven't felt like simply dying by trying to get through my day in the heat and humidity.

I feel so lucky to have found a man who is an expert on the water to take me out on my first river trip in the two Virginias. He is wonderful! The rivers are wonderful!

This weekend also affirmed how very, very happy I am that I finally moved out of Utah. It was a scary move at first, but if I had any inkling of just how wonderful it would be not to live there anymore? I would have left years ago. I'm just so glad to have found such a beautiful, beautiful place as this to move to. Yea!

I am very fortunate.