On the first morning in Jackson, we booked a river rafting trip for 10:00 am. Andrew and Claire were beyond excited and nervous about this. Danny and I had done this many years before and thought that the kids would really like it. You have to be 6 years old to go on the raft. We decided to get them wetsuits because they said the water was 52 degrees. At this point it was still early in the morning so it was a bit chilly.
We rode in an old school bus to the launch site which was about 30 minutes away.
Once we got there, we got jackets and life vests. The life vests are put on quite snug so that if you fall out of the water they can use the shoulder straps to hoist you back in. In hind sight we didn't need the jackets because the sun ended up coming out and it was warm. Aren't we just so cute?
Here are some pictures from the river rafting company. They assigned the adults the spots depending on how wet you were willing to get and how strong you were (I think). Danny was on the front right side and I was on the back left. Andrew and Claire started out next to me in the back. First, Andrew moved up a row and then Claire did. Until finally they were all the way in the front next to Danny holding onto the front rope. Everyone thought that they were being so brave. I was really surprised that Claire went up there with Andrew. You'll see that Claire and Andrew got really wet, soaked in fact.
There is a picture between the one above and the one below that I didn't purchase, because it is the whole boat engulfed in water. You can see below that the kids are drenched.
I love this picture because Andrew and Claire are looking at each other so proud of what they did. This, by far, was their favorite activity on the whole trip. They still talk about it and want to take Grant back when he is six years old. They both wrote about this when school started as one of best things they did all summer.
After our adventure we got Subway and headed back to our hotel room (it was really a condo). The kids sat out on the balcony.
The next stop on the non-stop fun train was the alpine slides. Again, the kids were nervous about this, but I assured them it would be fun. Danny isn't a fan of heights or ski lifts, so he stayed at the bottom and took pictures of us coming down. I should have taken a camera with me to the top of the ski lift as the view was gorgeous over the whole valley. Here we are riding up on the ski lift.
We got worried when we got the top because it was really overcast and started to sprinkle. They don't let you go down the slide when it is raining. I am not sure how you get down, but walking down didn't sound too fun. Here is Andrew on the way down.
I had to ride with Claire because she is only 6. She really wanted to ride by herself and I would have preferred that as well because the sleds aren't super spacious.
Instead, I talked them into going swimming at the hotel. The pool was pretty small for how large the hotel and condo complexes were.
We rushed back from the pool really quick, go dressed and headed to the Bar T-5 Chuck wagon dinner. You start at the base of the mountain and they take you on modified covered wagons (tires vs. wooden wheels) pulled by two horses each up a road into the canyon. Here were are loading up.
Our horses names were Joe and Jack. The girl at the front right was in charge of our wagon. She had everyone introduce themselves and say where they were from.
Andrew and Claire with Joe and Jack in the background.
On the way up there were Indians that tried to "attack" the covered wagons. It scared everyone at first because they came up really fast out of the bushes yelling.
Then it was time for dinner. It was all you can eat salad, brisket, BBQ chicken, rolls, salad and corn. It was really good.
After dinner they had some entertainment. They sang some songs and had all of the kids come up to help with "She'll be coming 'round the mountain". Claire is in the front middle in the pink and Andrew is in the back row with his head turned.
Here is a good picture of the covered wagon.
Before we left to go back down the mountain, the Indian let the kids pet his horse.
The wagon driver let each of the kids on the wagon drive it back down the hill for a bit.
More horse petting before we left.
Funny cowboy pictures.
They do two dinners and shows a night, so they lined up all of the wagons in preparation for the next group.
It was a beautiful night! Andrew and Claire really enjoyed this dinner. They thought that the ride in the covered wagon was great. They really made it fun for the kids.
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