Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Back from the Grand Canyon


Well, I'm back from our white water rafting trip down the Colorado River. Here are a few pictures from the over 200 that my DH took while we were cruising through the rapids. This first one is of my DS, Alex and my DH, Bob. Most people see the Grand Canyon from the top. We spent six days looking at it from the bottom up!! In addition, we rode through more than 40 rapids on our boat. It was wet and wild!!!

The second picture is of Alex and I on the boat as we await the next rapid. This was a 2 boat trip with about 15 people on each boat. We had folks from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Bloomingdale, Michigan, Portland, Oregon as well as a couple of stock brokers from NYC. There was also a group from Sherbrooke, Canada. All of them spoke French and most of them also spoke English. They were a fun group and added a lot to our trip.

Four years ago, we took the 3 day trip from the Bar 10 Ranch to Lake Mead. This time we left from Marble Canyon and ended at the Bar 10 Ranch so we have gone through every rapid on the Colorado River. We also stopped to do several hikes to waterfalls that were just spectacular. We slept on cots under the stars. It's hard to imagine how many stars there are with so many city lights. This city girl was blown away!!!

Our guides were fabulous! They knew all about the geology and the history of the Grand Canyon and they were fantastic cooks. We had surf and turf and chocolate cake all cooked in our camp..

The vastness of the canyon sure makes you feel pretty insignificant. It is just so beautiful!

WHewww!!! Needless to say, I am still recovering from our trip. My DH is headed to visit friends in NJ this weekend and I hope to get back to quilty things. I did do some hand quilting on my little civil war quilt on the plane to Las Vegas but still have lots to do. I hope to have my mystery quilt top done by the end of the weekend and have it posted on Monday.

I have been catching up with all my blog gals. Boy, you all have been BUSY!!! I am impressed with the work being done with Judy L's quilt an hour a day and with Tonya's challenge.


I will post a few more pictures over the weekend to show you our campsite, the guides and our mode of transportation for our trip. We went with Western River Expeditions. I can't say enough good things about this operation. They are top notch.

well, all for now...
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9 comments:

Fiona said...

That looks just spectacular, what a great adventure.

Patti said...

Glad you had such a marvelous time. One of my Tangled Threads quilting friends did this with her entire family - brothers, sister, sister-in-law, son, daughter-in-law to be, etc. a couple years ago and had an incredibly fabulous time. Because both boats were composed of totally family other than the guides I guess the trip was wild in many more ways than one!

Eileen said...

What a great trip, and what great memories you've got.
I've seen the canyon from the top but I've never thought of going down. Good on ya for white water rafting.

Finn said...

Hi Annie, welcome home!! I missed you...*VBS* But it's ok, because you obviously had a marvelous time...*VBS*

It is spectacular scenery and thrilling territory to be in. I haven't been there, but some day soon, I hope.
I look forward to more pictures. And quilt chatting..Hugs, Finn

Linda C said...

You are right--we all see pics of it from the top but seldom from this angle. My dad, sister and BIL did the hike down thing while my mom stayed up in the lodge and quilted about 12 years back.

Glad you had such a great time! Get yourself caught up and the quilting will be there when you are ready!

Libby said...

Count me as one who has only seen the Grand Canyon from the top. Your trip sounds fabulous. Perhaps one to add to my list of things to do in my life. Looking forward to seeing more of your photos.

Quilts And Pieces said...

Your trip sounds wonderful and the pictures are beautiful! What a fun thing to do! I've always wanted to do that.

Glad you had a great time and I look forward to more pictures!

The Calico Cat said...

Ahhh I have fond memories of the grand canyon. (I hiked down the Havasupi Canyon - one of the off shoots as a teen.)

Mary Johnson said...

I've never been White Water rafting but the pictures look great. I'd love to take a trip like this - how scary were the rapids?

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