Day 5, Monday-Rafting the Grand Canyon

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We went white water rafting on the Colorado River. They had 2 class 7 rapids, one of their names was honeymoon rapid. I could barely hold on but it was so fun and hard. We went on a helicopter, my mom shut her eyes. We went to Roadkill Cafe. It was so good, I was full, but I had to have their chocolate cake. My first bite and in my mind I was like this is the best cake in the world.

Cray

The first rapid was right where we put in. The first splash felt great but was very shocking as the water temp. was 49 degrees. After that first one though, I thought I'd be ready for the rest. Nope. They were all just as shocking. We stopped at a Hualapai Holy place called Travertine Falls. There we climbed up a rock face with ropes and then a rope and wood ladder to get to the falls. Very cool place. Then on to more rapids. The Colorado is the only river to clasify their rapids on a scale of 1-10. Other rivers are on a 1-5 scale. Yes, that means their rapids are more intense. A 5 in the Nantahala River in GA is like a 5 here. We did several 4's, 2 class 6 and 2 class 7 rapids. After lunch the rapids were over and we just cruised down the river for a couple of hours and then at the end waited for our helicopter ride.

Link to video:


That night we went to Seligman and ate at the Roadkill Cafe and stayed at the Historic Route 66 Motel. Very authentic.

Now on the the Grand Canyon National Park.

Chris

PSS from Colleen. OK, I ate an Elk Melt for dinner at the Roadkill Cafe. But the day. Wow, amazing, awesome, fabulous. I could write for hours about what we saw. It was truly special seeing the Grand Canyon from the river. The water was EXTREMELY cold, so we didn't want to fall in, but certainly it was hard enough we should have fallen in, but we held tight. Just like always, if you fall it, it's okay, just float down, but hypothermia seemed a real risk. More importantly we held tight to Cray. Chris and I held him physically down as we went through the intense rapids. He was scared, but did it all. We were so proud of him. I don't think I've ever gotten as wet as in these rapids without falling in. What was different also about this rafting was that it was a motorized raft. We didn't paddle, but instead Nate (aka Chief) drove us through these very intense rapids. It was so hard just to hold in, much less imagining having to paddle also. Chris took video which we hope he will be able to load later. Travertine Falls was beautiful. We then had a 20 mile cruise after the rapids since take-out opportunities are limited. We got to a spot where the helicopter picked us up and brought us on a short tour and then to the rim. Chris and Cray sat up front and loved every minute. I peeked every minute or so

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