Canoeing the San Rafael River

A few months ago, my husband told me he wanted to go down the San Rafael River. The river is in a very sparsely populated area of Utah and for most of the year, calling it a river is a stretch. But in the spring, depending on the amount of runoff from the mountains, the water level rises dramatically and you can go in a canoe or kayak or raft. This year we've had a LOT of water in the form of both snow and rain so the river has been navigable for a while. Scott has been checking the water level on the government website for weeks but the real factor was the weather (not too cold) and the availability of our children to go with him. Finally this last weekend was a go.

I have to admit I was a little worried about the safety of the activity. But we looked at a couple of blog posts about it and it looked fairly benign, rated a Class 1+ so I stopped worrying, for the most part.

Saturday morning, Scott drove our big van with the canoes and three of our children down to Fuller's Bottom where they launched the canoes.

Saturday afternoon, I drove down in our other car with our youngest and picked up the van at Fuller's Bottom and then took it to the San Rafael Bridge where the boaters had arrived about 20 minutes before. It turned out to be a popular day to float the river. We met some people from our neighborhood in Orem there including one of Talmage's friends.

After loading the canoes, we went to a nearby campground, built a fire, roasted hot dogs and ate some dinner and then drove home. Scott said the scenery as they floated through the Little Grand Canyon was really spectacular but the float was just a little long. The roads in the Swell were a bumpy but I enjoyed the wildflowers and other scenery I saw. Someday I want to try the floating part myself but probably not for a few years.

Comments

Our Cousin Drew

This last week, my brother and his wife lost a very precious son, just 13 years old. He collapsed while running with a cross-country team and passed away before he could be revived. Everyone that knew Drew is broken-hearted at this loss. He was the happiest, most agreeable kid we knew. I remember him being at my house without anyone close to his age to hang out with, so he found our Duplo blocks and started building even though it is a toy that boys his age don't usually enjoy. He was so content. He didn't complain that I ever remember. His mother always called him the perfect child. He will leave a big hole in not only his immediate family but our extended family as well. Here is a poem my aunt shared that seems fitting: Leave Taking How I would have liked to wave goodbye and watch until you turned and smiled and disappeared on the horizon. You who taught me to dance and let me teach you, who laughed at my stories and winked at me when I was sad. I can just see you trav

Remembering Drew

This weekend we celebrated Drew's life. On Thursday night, we gathered as an extended family and had a dinner then sat in a big circle and talked about our memories of him. I took some notes and here is what people said. Grandpa (Gary Hansen): The last time we saw Drew was last week on the 4th. I remember all the cousins on the trampoline, bouncing up and down and playing basketball. Grandma (Susan Hansen): I asked Drew to come over last winter to teach my Activity Day boys how to make origami stars. He was very patient in working with them even though they were pretty clueless. Eventually they all went home happily with their stars. Paula: This last winter we invited Bruce and Michelle over for dinner and we didn't have anyone his age for him to hang out with. I remember that Drew found the Duplo blocks on his own and played with them all by himself, quite cheerfully entertaining himself. I asked him if he wanted to play with a different toy--maybe something more sophistica

Drew's Funeral

Yesterday was the viewing for Drew and then today was the funeral. There were a LOT of people at the viewing. Bruce and Michelle greeted people for almost four hours yesterday and then again this morning before the funeral. Bruce said that if weren't for Drew's death, it would be the best week of his life with so much love being shown to them. Friday actually began with a family run in Drew's honor. We started at a church by the new Lindon temple and ran to Bruce and Michelle's house with breakfast following. Friday night was the viewing. There was a very nice display of all things Drew. This was one of the pictures displayed and I recognized someone I know: We stood in line and the paramedics who worked on Drew stood in line behind us so we got to talk to them. Here's a fun fact: They cover both Orem and Vineyard but Vineyard gets a lot more 911 calls than Orem per capita. It's a younger population and they are quicker to call. They said it's hard when the

Search This Blog