Ryan's Whitewater Rafting Trip

So this is weird. I have never before blogged about a trip I didn't take. But this is as close to whitewater rafting as THIS girl is ever gonna get, so I thought I'd let you take a peek at where my man has been for the first part of this week! 

It was a pretty great vacation for Ryan, because he didn't have to do any of the planning! His friend Anthony organized the trip and had all the details {food, lodging, transportation, reservations, etc.} all worked out before they left! If you're a read-all-the-details kind of person, here's the site for the place they went. 

And for the record, a million points to Ryan for doing such a great job documenting his trip. Shawn pitched in and took pictures too, and between the two of them...they did a GREAT job of bringing home scrapbookable material to me. Sigh. Of. Happiness. 

His home for three days and two nights:

His home with seven other guys. It did have electricity. It also had ONE outlet, no air conditioning, no indoor plumbing, and no coffee pot. He's my hero.

I did find it surprisingly nice on the inside, even if it was primitive. Ryan's bunk - neatly made. I love it that he's a neat freak even on a camping trip. :) 

What the place lacked in indoor amenities, it made up for in view:

There's a few different rafting options where they were...but they did the Upper Gauley, which is 13 miles long and has five class-5 rapids. Ryan took with him the waterproof camera we got for our Holiday World trip. It had a few pictures left on it that we didn't use up, so he took it with him. So the pictures to come are a mix of the ones they bought from the trip and the ones from his camera. Hope you enjoy!!

This is Ryan's good friend, Shawn. We all went to high school together, and these two have remained good friends in the years since. When Ryan got his gift of the trip, he invited Shawn to take another of the slots, and I'm so glad he did. By the way, they were the only two in the raft wearing blue helmets that day, so you can find them easily!

 The full group, ready to raft.

The water was 54 degrees that day. Brrrrrrrrrr!! Their guide's name was Jillian, and they were her very first group to guide solo. They said she was really good!

 Ummmmmm yes. Ryan is in the front seat.  True story. Would you expect otherwise?

 Nope! No one from this boat was lost overboard at any time. Good work!!!

 Some of the pictures Ryan took in between the busy parts....

 I was praying SO HARD during this time...I was so nervous for him!! I knew he'd done it before and I probably shouldn't worry, but I tend to default to worry. :)

He hadn't taken his phone on the rafting excursion at all, so I had to wait until he got back to the cabin to take pictures. When he texted this one to me, I had some SERIOUS tears of relief.

He loved it. Shawn loved it. I think all the guys loved it. So glad they had a great time. So glad they were all SAFE and that their guide took good care of them, even if it was her first day! :)