Hey daydreamers! (Lol, alliteration overload in the title.) You guys really seem to enjoy my Colorado Travel Diary series, so today I’m here with Day 3! Ahh, I can’t believe there’s only 2 more days left in the series.

Today was super special, because we went…*drumroll please*…WHITEWATER RAFTING! It was so, so, so much fun – I could’ve spent all day on that raft! And I still can’t believe that – wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. 😉 I can’t wait for today’s post, so let’s get started!

*THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS WERE TAKEN BY LAKOTA GUIDES PHOTOGRAPHY UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.*

Once we’d eaten breakfast and hung out for a little bit, it was time to drive to the rafting place! When we first got there, I was kind of nervous. I kept thinking about everything that could go wrong, and what if I fell in? I was also super nervous about my insulin pump and supplies, because how was I supposed to treat my blood sugar on a tiny raft? What if I fell in and my pump got ruined?

We had to put on these wet suits that were really uncomfortable, since the straps were rubbing on my sunburn I got from going to Epic Discovery! We also had to wear these waterproof shoes, helmets, and splash jackets. For some reason, the helmets had random names on the back of them, and mine said Dory! Unicorn’s was Sleepy, lol.

We got to ride in a bus with all the other rafts going on the trip, and once we got there, we practiced a couple of strokes on the ground. Riley and I were tall enough to paddle, but poor Unicorn was stuck in the middle seat! 😜 We learned that when our guide, Perry, called out “Forward 3!” We’d row forward three strokes, and “Backward 3!” meant the same thing, but backwards. Us Texans were used to canoeing, so it was really fun learning how to paddle the raft!

My heart was pounding when we first got in! (I’m the terrified one in the back right, lol.) The water was soooo cold, so I was super grateful that we had to wear all that gear!

We started to paddle, and I felt like I was getting into the groove a little bit more! I started to relax as we traveled through the river. You could see the mountains from the raft!

Credit: Lakota Guides

And then we hit our first rapid! It was CRAZY. I was so scared and screaming with delight at the same time! It was such a fun adventure, and the rapids weren’t as bad as I thought they would be.

But then, of course, Riley decided to go on this thing called the Rodeo Seat, which is basically this rope that’s on the front of the raft. You kind of sit on the very edge, and the only thing that’s keeping you on is the rope! Riley seemed to be having fun, and the rodeo seat looked scary but also pretty cool.

Another raft in front of us had gotten stuck on this log, and their entire boat flipped over! Once they got free, the log was rolling around like crazy.

My exact thought process was, when I saw the helmet bobbing up and down in the water: “Oh look, there’s some girl in the water. WAIT!!!! THAT GIRL IS RILEY!!!!!!!!” She had fallen in the river! Suddenly, the log was rolling towards her. She went underwater and moved out of the way at the last second! It was crazy!!

Once we’d pulled Riley back onto the boat and that craziness was over, another person had fallen out of their raft! At first I thought it was my dad, lol, and then it turned out to be some random person. Since we were the sweeper boat, we had a special job of picking up all the people who fall off, so the guy rode on our boat for a few minutes before we could get him back to his party.

Paddling along the river was sooo relaxing – I just wanted to stay on that raft forever and ever! And the whitewater rapids were so exciting and scary and thrilling and petrifiying, all at the same time.

And of course, towards the end of the rafting trip, Riley decided to get BACK on the rodeo seat, even after her fall into the river! I was super amazed by her bravery. I could never have done that. 😜😜😜

And then, of course, on the very last rapid of the ride, she fell of again. 😂 Poor Riley!

Soon the rafting trip was over, and we were all exhausted! We all got out of the raft and took off all our gear. They even had snacks, water, and cookies, so that was super nice! After enjoying our cookies, we got in the van with another raft and we all talked and rehashed the insanely amazing rafting trip. It was the highlight of Colorado, for sure!

We drove around this place called Minturn for a little bit, and then decided to eat lunch in Vail Village at this cute little deli that had AMAZING ice cream and sandwiches! Riley’s older sister called, and she answered with, “Guess what? I almost died today!” Uni and I almost died laughing! 😂

We found these really cool murals next to the parking garage! They had all these flowers and swings on them, and I had to pose in front of it! I love how these kinds of murals make it seem like you’re part of the painting. I read in this travel magazine that was lying around the rental house that said something like “the murals in Vail aren’t complete until someone stands in them”, which I thought was really cool!

And of course, Unicorn had to pose, too. I love her expression in this photo, lol! She’s looking into the distance with a devious smile on her face, and I her arms are shrugging like “Whaaaaat?” when she was trying to “grab” the ropes of the swing. 😂😂😂 It actually does kinda look like she’s sitting on the swing!

I love this picture!! The rest of the day was spent doing puzzles, playing cards, eating snacks, laughing, chatting, and playing around in the yard. Riley and I even found these sleds in the garage, so we sledded down the hill of our rental house in the grass, just so we could tell everyone that we went sledding in the summer! 😛 It was actually really fun, except the grass was really itchy and irritated my skin.

AHHH AVERT YOUR EYES! I look downright scary in this selfie. 🤪 I had to use the flash since it was getting darker. THIS SELFIE WILL HAUNT YOU IN YOUR NIGHTMARES MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA

Anyway, here are the traditional sunset photos for today! I STILL can’t get over how GORGEOUS Colorado is. I know you guys are probably sick of me talking about how pretty this place is, but it’s so true. ❤

I miss Colorado so much! In my opinion, it’s the most beautiful place in the world. 💕 🏔️

(We unfortunately didn’t get any pictures of the fireworks, so here’s a cool one I found from Unsplash!) Even though it was July 3, there were fireworks going off! We raced outside, and we could see the fireworks show perfectly…from our deck! It was insane. It was such a crazy, incredible experience to be able to see fireworks…oh, and also to be freezing cold on July 3rd. 😉

And that’s it for today’s post! I’m really enjoying this Colorado series, and I hope you did, too! Writing these posts totally takes me back to that amazing vacation and puts me in my happy place! See you next Saturday!

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