Bee~ Journal of then...

[Beekissed]

Too pretty! I hope you get to go rafting! Chad and I did the Upper Gauley River on our honeymoon!!! We stayed in a cabin at Fort Lewis Lodge and our last day drove into W.VA to do the rafting all day. We had the best guide....she was only about 5 ft tall and she looked like a little squirrel in the back of the raft, popping up and disappearing, popping up and disappearing! I had a blast and so did Chad....once we did the first class 6 rapid...then he could breathe.

Class 6 is supposed to be boss! So...how was it? Was it scarey? We'll be doing the lower New River and its supposed to be pretty tough. I just wanted to do something fun and adventurous for once, as I've never really done anything like this. I've been old all my life.....never really did anything dangerous or thrilling. I want to LIVE before I die.

 

[lorihadams]

The very first rapid we hit was class six! It was soooooooo cool! I want to do it again someday, maybe next year we'll renew our vows and go our honeymoon again for our 10th anniversary. We were talking about doing something like that. But we'll have to see how many animals we have by then.

Here's the full story of the white water rafting trip though:

We leave Fort Lewis Lodge in southwestern Va at about 5am. We were booked on a trip for the lower Gauley river, which is class 3 rapids and below which was suggested for beginners or first timers. We get a little lost on the way and arrive at the rafting destination. By now we were nervously excited and my husband was convinced we had just driven into deliverance. Anyway, we check into the place and I take off all my jewelry and put into a lock box and we rent our wetsuits and get suited up. Meanwhile, a class looks like it is finishing up and loading a bus. We notice that no one is left there but us. Now we are getting a little nervous.

Our guide comes up to us and says the following "we are so sorry but you two are the only ones booked for the lower gauley trip today so we are going to have to wait for a while until some of our guides get back and we can fill a boat cause we can't just take you two. If you would like, though, we have a trip for the Upper Gauley that is getting ready to leave but we'll let you go at no extra charge. Just let me know what you want to do cause they are leaving in a couple of minutes."

Well, we knew that the Upper Gauley was serious and I didn't care, I was all for it. I told the guy yes we would go. Chad looks at me and says "you are going to get us killed. We haven't even been married a week and we're gonna die."

So, we get on the bus and they lead us to the back of an old rickety school bus that is winding through the mountains and one of the instructors gives us a five minute overview of the 30 minute class that we just missed on how to go rafting, you know, how to steer, what to do if you fall in, etc. Yeah, we're gonna die. Then he pulls out two release forms for us to sign before we can go. Chad looks at me and just says over and over again "we're gonna die."

They get us to the site at the river and give us our boat and guide and lifejackets and put us in the back of the boat right next to the instructor just in case. She is about 5 ft tall and slightly overweight but very bubbly and reassuring. She looks like a squirrel everytime the raft goes up and down. Our first rapid was a class six. The water flowed over a rock ledge and then collided with another rock at the bottom which forced the raft to essentially fold in half and shoot you back up from the bottom like a roller coaster ride. It was AWESOME! Chad asked her what class that was when we finished and she said "six, why?" He says "oh, I can handle that!" He was ready to go after that!

Don't be scared, it really is fun, I would totally do it again in a heartbeat!!!

 

[Beekissed]

THAT is a great story! How great is it that you had the opportunity to do the rough stuff? You would have missed that if things had gone a little differently......makes ya think, doesn't it?

Thank you for the wonderful description, Lori. That just reinforces my wanting to go. I'm getting real excited about it and hope the weather is sunny.



Son #2 and I just went to see Harry Potter 6 and it was the best Harry Potter movie yet! Can't say enough good things about this movie....it was hilarious! Best graphics, best job at following the actual book....just the best one yet.

I'm not usually impressed with movies too much and usually leave a theatre feeling like "I paid money for that???" but this one was definitely worth it. Four stars~****!

 

[big brown horse]

There is a Harrie Potter 6 out now?!

 

[Beekissed]

My niece cut off her rooster's head with a set of loppers! The rooster that she just could not kill and is her big baby and she just couldn't imagine life without? Well, he has been attacking her and her mother and went on a vicious rampage in which he was like a rabied dog. My BIL pinned him to the ground with a pitch fork and they lopped off his head.

So much for Baby Ray and his "I could never kill him" force field. Funny how things work out. She said her hens act like they've been let out of jail and finally are showing some personality traits and seem happy.

I advised my mother to find her loppers and keep them handy......

 

[Javamama]

Loppers! Great idea! I might have to try the loppers next time we process. DH and I can't come to an agreement on how to kill. He prefers the axe, but I hate the flopping. I got sprayed in the face last weekend. I want to use a cone, but he doesn't want to look the birds in the face while doing it. Loppers could give us precision and a little distance.

 

[Beekissed]

I like the cone because you don't have to look them in the face...their face is actually upside down and you get to see the underside of their chins only. I quick slice through the vessels, trachea and esophagus but sparing the spine seems to be the least traumatic and most quiet.

I'll never go back to chopping! The cone will be a permanent fixture of any place I live now. The things you learn on these forums are priceless!

 

[Blackbird]

What is a lopper?? I'm sitting hear picturing some type of killing machine dressed up like Cyndi Lauper with big orange hair. yes I have a wierd mind. Proof I'm crazy?. I dunno.

Anyone like to share?

 

[FarmerDenise]

They are cutters for cutting larger plant material like twigs and such. So they are bigger and stronger.

 

[big brown horse]

What is a lopper?? I'm sitting hear picturing some type of killing machine dressed up like Cyndi Lauper with big orange hair. yes I have a wierd mind. Proof I'm crazy?. I dunno.

Anyone like to share?

BB, you are the cutest thing in the world I have to say!! Cyndi Lauper!! I am secretly adopting you, don't tell yo mamma!