I volunteered to drive since the only thing I hate more than driving down a mountain at a high rate of speed is not driving a car down a mountain at a high rate of speed.
This time was VERY different! As soon as we pulled into the River Expeditions "Campus" as I refer to it. I knew that we were in for a good time! Got out of the car to check in and found a pool and hot tub open to everyone! The Outfitters store had all the essentials and they even had a Saloon to relax and have a cold one after a hard day of rafting.
We checked in and were told we would be in "Luxury Cabin #2" we saw some of the other cabins and agreed they looked nice and were expecting a cabin with the essentials only. WE WERE SURPRISED!!! We were lodging in a 5 bedroom, 2 full bath, full kitchen log cabin with a back deck, hot tub and fire pit. What a treat!We headed over to Dirty Ernie's Rib Shack for dinner. They served bbq, and various dishes. I think they are best well known for their decor. Take a look!
Yes, those are dollar bills stapled to the walls. They give you a sharpie and encourage you to make your mark and put them up with a big staple gun! Of course the Weekend Retweaters had to "note" that we were there. (pun intended)
After dinner we checked out the New River Gorge Visitor Center. We walked down some "treacherous" stairs to get to the viewing platform. I took some good shots that I'll be entering in the Fair so I can't post them here. But here are a couple gems!
After the gorge preview we headed back to the cabin for some late night wine, cheese and hot tub. Then we hit the hay to rest up for the next day. I have to say our cabins didn't have wireless internet and barely had a cell signal, but it was a welcome silence in my brain!
On to the FUN part of the trip! We woke up early (a couple of us earlier than others so they could go out for breakfast, I thought ahead the night before and left them a note to bring me something back.
We went down to register for our trip back at "base camp" at 9:30 for the 10:30 trip. We filled out our liability forms and I headed over to get some sunscreen while the gals hung out by the pool with their coffee. We were introduced to Heather, River Expeditions Co-Owner who informed us our Trip Leader would be Marcus and our Guide would be Brad. We hadn't met either of them yet but she said we were in good hands!
After grabbing our life jackets, helmets and paddles we were loaded on to the bus for the 30 minute trip down the one lane mountain!
He got out of the bus, met our guide Brad (who looked like a guy on vacation who decided to wear a Hawaiian shirt and a life jacket). We went down and put the boat in the water.
Fast Forward... Here are couple shots of us in rafting action!
If you want to see me tackling Tiffany Eckhardt out of a boat click here! Brad our guide was THE BEST I've ever had! We didn't flip the boat one time and NO ONE fell out!
I can not say enough good things about Brad!
Rafting came to an end and we made new friends in our boat who we invited over for a campfire later in the night. We headed out to the Red Dog Saloon after our trip to watch our video and catch up with Brad and our boatmates for a beer.
We also found this giant chicken
Which is hilarious if you have read this - Giant Metal Chicken (The Bloggess) -
All in all we had a FANTASTIC TIME at River Expeditions and they were fantastic hosts! If you'd like to book your own trip on the New River check out www.RaftingInfo.com !
All in all we had a FANTASTIC TIME at River Expeditions and they were fantastic hosts! If you'd like to book your own trip on the New River check out www.RaftingInfo.com !
