Whitewater Rafting

Danny and I have been wanting to go whitewater rafting on the American River ever since we moved here (3 years ago) but we never were able to get anyone to go with us. We finally just decided to go even if it was just the two of us. We did the middle fork of the American River with Whitewater Voyages and had the time of our lives. It was freaking amazing!

We drove up Friday night which was a nightmare. There was tons of traffic for no reason and it took us forever to get to Coloma/Lotus. We got to the camp at 11:30, found our camping site (The Alcove of Awareness), and set up our tent. I hadn't been camping since girls camp and had horrible experiences camping previously. I thought I would give it another try but in the morning I was very aware of why I hated camping. First, the smell of tents makes me want to vomit. I have no idea why. Second, it's so loud outside I can't sleep. Third, all those noises i.e. snapping twigs and rustling leaves, leave me terrified and crying all night long. Danny slept fine. The campsite was actually surprisingly really nice and I would have no problem staying there again if it weren't for my fear of the dark, animals, bugs, tents, dirt, etc.

At 7am in the morning we met up with the rest of our group. A couple about our age from England, a family with teenage daughters, and cousins? in their 30s? We also met our guides Max and Chris. We loaded into the van and made the hour and 15 minute drive to the launch point. Once there we got about 30 minutes of safety training and our gear (life vest and helmets). Chris explained to us what we should do if we ended up swimmers (aka got thrown out of the raft) etc etc. I had been freaking out a little the days leading up to the trip about getting thrown out of the raft so this was kinda freaking me out more. Then Chris explained to us that the run we were doing had some pretty crazy rapids. And the biggest (Tunnel Chute) we were going to encounter pretty soon after putting our raft in the water!  Good Morning Rapid wasn't too bad but we did have a swimmer!! While our guide was trying to get our youngest rafter (12 years old) out of the water and into the raft our raft got caught on a rock and we got stuck!! It was an intense few minutes but everything ended up okay. The Tunnel Chute was next. It is a class V (out of VI, VI being unraftable). We headed into a class IV and then went straight into the class V which dropped us into a underground tunnel. AWESOME! Below are our pictures from the Tunnel Chute.

Coming out of the class IV. Yep. We're still in the raft.

 Get down! Means get your butt on the floor. We're heading into the class V. Danny and I are on the side of the raft facing the camera. Danny in red and I'm behind him.

 AAANNDD we're going into the rocks.

Good save, Chris! Now onto the falls!

And here we go down the chute!

Hold tight!

 Close up

Falling down, down, down.

 Crash!

 And we're sinking

Seriously sinking.

 Nope. We're back.

Whoa! That was intense!

 Oh wait, it's not over.

 And we're sinking again.

 Is it time to paddle?

 Yep! Time to start working. We're heading into the underground tunnel! By the look on Danny's face, I think he underestimated the extremeness of our rafting trip.

After the Tunnel Chute we rafted a few more rapids then kind of drifted down the river until lunch. After lunch we hit Chucka Rucka Falls. It was crazy. As we were approaching it and we could see other rafts going over. I could see them approach then the end of the raft would flip up vertical. I could tell it was a really steep drop. Everyone on our raft was like "WHAT!!! You've got to be kidding!!" Even crazier, our guide told us it was important to stay focused because after the upper falls we only had a minute to port the raft because there was a lower fall that was 25 feet and a class VI (unraftable). Everyone has to get out of their raft and hike down the lower falls. Some groups carry their raft, some lead the rafts down empty with ropes, but our company lets the guides ride the rafts down the falls. We got to watch as our guide, Chris, rode our raft down this huge waterfall. It was nuts!!! Hopefully when we get our underwater camera film develop we'll have some cool photos. The whole trip was totally amazing.

Food Trucks

We just discovered that all the food trucks in the area gather together Monday nights in Palo Alto. It is the greatest thing ever!!!

This time we tried The Chairman's baked braised pork bun (delicious), Just Chilled's fudge brownie, pineapple, and pomegranate (pineapple was my fav), and The Shacks' roast beef?, and baked mac & cheese (best mac & cheese I've ever had). I can't wait for next week (oh wait...that's today. YEA!)!

Bloopers - for Becca

When Bailey (doll) goes to the park for the 4th of July breakfast she...

 goes on the swings...

 climbs...

 

and goes down the slide!!

 Becca, how DO you feel today?

 Our shoe of choice for Yosemite... Pumas.

When Bailey goes to Yosemite she...

  shakes hands with Mr. Bear.

 gets a hug from Mr. Bear.

 gets eaten by Mr. Bear and Becca is sad.

 

Trying to take a picture with Becca and Ricky.

 

Inside jokes at Cheesecake Factory.

Yosemite

We left Sacramento for Yosemite. Along the way we stayed the night in Modesto where there was a power outage in 107 degree heat. Luckily the power came back on after 3+ hours but the hotel room was hot! Yosemite was amazing! There is still tons of water so the falls are huge.  Luckily we stayed at Yosemite Lodge at the falls so we had nice accommodations and were close to the falls.

 

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

 

Lower Yosemite Falls

 The family at the Lower Falls

Becca super excited about her new t-shirt and new coyote

 The next day we hiked out to Mirror Lake. Becca was especially excited to put her water socks to use and splash in the water. BRRR....it was cold!!

 Sisters at Mirror Lake

 At the rock temple garden

 After our hike to Mirror Lake my Dad and I rented bikes and cruised around the valley. 

Yosemite Falls with river.

  Yosemite Falls with meadow.

 Half Dome from Sentinel Bridge

 Me and Dad with our bikes (Almost didn't get them. It was a busy day for bike rentals!)

 El Capitan on our way out

Bridalveil Falls

After Yosemite we came back to Palo Alto where we went swimming, shopping, and out to eat. It was a super fun trip. Thanks family!!

The Fourth

For the 4th of July my family came into town. We met them at Mimi's near the airport for breakfast then we headed into the city. My Mom and I went to the Balenciaga and Spain exhibit at the De Young while my Dad and Becca went to the science museum. The exhibit was awesome. I wish I could have taken pictures inside!

We spent the next couple of days in Sacramento with my aunt and uncle, and cousins.

Sisters at church

Sisters at church 

 Yep. We wear matching outfits @ The Fourth breakfast (and all day long).

  Liz does everyone's nails

Matchy Matchy

We also went swimming, ate yummy food, and played with fireworks! It was great.

Memorial Day and Liz's Birthday

Just for journaling sake...

We didn't do anything for memorial day weekend. It was the most boring weekend ever! For my birthday I had lunch at Specialty's with Danny and Tony and then later that night went to Outback for dinner. We tired to go see Pirates 4 but couldn't find parking. The next day I went shopping to the Gilroy outlets for some new outfits and we tired again to go to Pirates but it was sold out. The whole week before my birthday was pretty fun because it was filled with lots of fun activities (R.S. birthday dinner with Cafe Rio, book club, girl's movie night). For the girls' movie night we went to see Midnight in Paris and it was so good. I loved it!

Matching shoes and trouble with paparazzi

Last Saturday night Danny and I needed to get out of the house so we decided to walk to California Ave to get a treat at Starbucks. Unfortunately Starbucks was closed (I don't understand why they close so early) and while we were window shopping some guy kept taking photos of us so we had to walk back home. Danny has had a couple of strangers ask him if he's a model so now he's really self conscious of people taking pictures of him because he's so good looking. HAHA  (J/k I'll have to tell those stories another time).

Date Night

We don't go out as often as we used to so when Danny told me last week to make reservations at a really nice restaurant I didn't hesitate to call Flemings.

I wish I had brought my normal camera. I didn't realize it was going to be so dark inside!

Thanks Danny for working so hard!!