Saturday July 25th I found out not only how grateful I am to be alive...but how very grateful I am for the blessing of such a strong, courageous, attentive man in my life!!
Sat morning started out as any... I slept in :o )
Then got up to go tubing on the Provo River with Jeffrey, his brothers, nephew & sister.
After following the wrong directions we got down there about 2:20pm...
The next shuttle was taking a group at 3...So we waited!
Ready for adventure, Ready for fun & trying to get ready for how cold the water was gonna be!! lol
We all got our life vests...Posed for a few pics...
Then hopped in the bus to be shuttled approx 6 miles up the road to the drop off point!!
I had never done this but I wasnt getting nervous at all...
I mean the people who die in these kind of activities are the ones not listening, not following instructions & just plain goofing off right ...?!!?... At least thats what I thought!
After a not so pleasant experience with the employees of High Country Rafting (we were asked to load the equipment that we weren't even going to get claim on then told to blow up the flat tubes ourselves!!) ...
... We hopped in the FREEZING cold water ready for some fun!! :o )
Immediately Jeffrey & I got seperated but not too far from one another. Our whole group was still within seeing or shouting distance from one another! ... The water was terribly cold but not too bad once your butt & feet went numb!! lol ... I snapped a few pics & was enjoying myself.
Shortly into it I found myself drifting towards the bank in some rugged waters...I tried to paddle away w/ my hands but alas I smacked into the trees toppling out of my tube!! The shock of the cold water wore off as soon as I realized I couldnt get my footing cause the current was pretty strong. I tried to hold onto &/or climb back onto my tube, but it was cap-sized & the current was too strong for me to flip it over without drowning myself :o )
Lucky for me Jeffrey's brother was right behind me & grabbed my hand & paddled up to the bank...Jeffrey fought the current walking back 2wards me as we made it to the side. I was shaken up & cold but just grateful I was in his arms. (ps-this isnt the near death grateful to be alive incident!! ...It gets worse!)
After I regained composer, Jeffrey & I headed back down the river... This time holding one another's tubes!!
Things were going well, every time a near crash happened Jeffrey paddled us from the bank & back to the middle...The lil rapids were even fun!! We were enjoying ourselves!
We got to a lil rougher area & nearly missed a few large trees poking in from the banks. I thought for sure one of us was going to be impaled or knocked unconscious!! It started to be not so fun anymore... We reached a point where it was safe & calm enough to get out & walk a bit on dry land. We knew there was a bridge point coming up where we were supposed to get out & walk anyways...so why not !! ... We actually considered walking the rest of the way then found out from some other tubers that we were only abt 2 1/2 miles into a 6 mile journey!! So...
We decided to look for paddling instruments to help us navigate a lil better once we got back in...
We walked a bit then asked another guy heading down the river about how far the bridge was ...
He said it was another 20 minutes, so we thought why not hop back in & just see how it works since we have our 'oars' :o )
... Im not sure what the guy who told us '20 minutes' was smoking but the bridge came up on us in less than 7 I'm sure!! ...We rounded a bend & saw what appeared to be a bridge & we started paddling with all our might to the bank to hop out...The current picked up & before we knew it we had reached the point of no return!!
~Looking back I wonder 'what if we had jumped ship then? Would our completely unprotected bodies been slammed into the bridge or would we have been able to get to shore??'~
~Looking back I wonder 'what if we had jumped ship then? Would our completely unprotected bodies been slammed into the bridge or would we have been able to get to shore??'~
Doesnt matter...that point is moot...
What followed has played & replayed in my head a million times...Awake & sleeping!!
We saw the waves hitting into the sides of the bridge & basically knew the only option we had was to try to put ourselves in a position to go between the bridge legs... The current was ripping so hard we were pushed straight into a large fallen tree near the far left side of the bridge, feet 1st. As I struggled to hang on to my tube, Jeffrey worked on pushing us away from the edge so we could travel on down stream under the bridge.
As the water continued to batter up into the log, the waves swept upward causing our tubes to tilt further & further backwards....
I shouted 'Jeffrey?! Jeffrey?! Jeffrey?!' ...& my tube could stand the waves no longer.
I toppled backwards, head 1st into the river. I remember hitting my head & shoulder on the rocks at the bottom of the shallow river then opening my eyes under water and seeing a dark image overhead. I wasnt sure if it was MY tube floating over me or Jeffrey IN his tube over my head or the log that we had been pushed up against...All I know is that I thought I would be stuck & drowned if I began to surface...so I pushed myself back down. Mistake or not, I dunno. The under current grabbed me & tossed me against the rocks on the bottom of the river some more & something hit me in the face. I knew that if I didnt find myself out of this I could be knocked unconscious & then it was all over!!
...Jeffrey said that as soon as he saw me tip over, he jumped out of his tube & tried to grab for me. I rushed by him... out of reached... then disappeared. He then saw me tumble head over feet under the water. At this point I didnt know which way was up or if I was coming out of the water. Then I bounced into something else - that turned out to be his leg. He had miraculously planted his foot & grabbed my life vest. I remember knowing as soon as he had me that whether or not I was pulled out of the water or we floated down together, from that point I was going to be okay!!
He held onto me & pulled me up out of the water. I grabbed onto his life vest as he held me so tight & so close. I couldnt get my feet planted ... I was numb ... scared ...& shaking... I had lost a shoe & couldnt catch my breath or stop sputtering water... but Jeffrey held onto me so I didnt fall again!!
He held me tightly until I was safely on dry ground !!
I ended up with a scrape/bump on the bridge of my nose (that we think possibly came from the board we found to use for a paddle as it fell into the water overhead) & scrapes & bruises all over my legs...
I cant tell you how grateful I am for Jeffrey!!
For the strength he has, for the way he is built that made it so he could stand strong against the water AND hold me up & for how courageous he is ...in spite of the fact that he doesnt know how to swim!!
He saved my life !!
There is no doubt in my mind that if he hadn't been there...I would not be here!!
I love you huny bear !!!!!
What followed has played & replayed in my head a million times...Awake & sleeping!!
We saw the waves hitting into the sides of the bridge & basically knew the only option we had was to try to put ourselves in a position to go between the bridge legs... The current was ripping so hard we were pushed straight into a large fallen tree near the far left side of the bridge, feet 1st. As I struggled to hang on to my tube, Jeffrey worked on pushing us away from the edge so we could travel on down stream under the bridge.
As the water continued to batter up into the log, the waves swept upward causing our tubes to tilt further & further backwards....
I shouted 'Jeffrey?! Jeffrey?! Jeffrey?!' ...& my tube could stand the waves no longer.
I toppled backwards, head 1st into the river. I remember hitting my head & shoulder on the rocks at the bottom of the shallow river then opening my eyes under water and seeing a dark image overhead. I wasnt sure if it was MY tube floating over me or Jeffrey IN his tube over my head or the log that we had been pushed up against...All I know is that I thought I would be stuck & drowned if I began to surface...so I pushed myself back down. Mistake or not, I dunno. The under current grabbed me & tossed me against the rocks on the bottom of the river some more & something hit me in the face. I knew that if I didnt find myself out of this I could be knocked unconscious & then it was all over!!
...Jeffrey said that as soon as he saw me tip over, he jumped out of his tube & tried to grab for me. I rushed by him... out of reached... then disappeared. He then saw me tumble head over feet under the water. At this point I didnt know which way was up or if I was coming out of the water. Then I bounced into something else - that turned out to be his leg. He had miraculously planted his foot & grabbed my life vest. I remember knowing as soon as he had me that whether or not I was pulled out of the water or we floated down together, from that point I was going to be okay!!
He held onto me & pulled me up out of the water. I grabbed onto his life vest as he held me so tight & so close. I couldnt get my feet planted ... I was numb ... scared ...& shaking... I had lost a shoe & couldnt catch my breath or stop sputtering water... but Jeffrey held onto me so I didnt fall again!!
He held me tightly until I was safely on dry ground !!
I ended up with a scrape/bump on the bridge of my nose (that we think possibly came from the board we found to use for a paddle as it fell into the water overhead) & scrapes & bruises all over my legs...
I cant tell you how grateful I am for Jeffrey!!
For the strength he has, for the way he is built that made it so he could stand strong against the water AND hold me up & for how courageous he is ...in spite of the fact that he doesnt know how to swim!!
He saved my life !!
There is no doubt in my mind that if he hadn't been there...I would not be here!!
I love you huny bear !!!!!
