I had forgotten how lovely rafting down a river is. You see the cliffs, the trees, an osprey carrying a fish. Really, we saw an osprey carrying a fish. Swallow nests, a train or two, and the rapids.

They were pretty mild rapids because the river was so low, but that was fine by me. I'm not as tough as I used to be. (I think one of my gentle readers, shot the Deschutes with me senior year of high school.)

This trip was a gift from Dad and Barb, and we went with my sister's family as well. All the kids and grandparents in one boat with a guide, the four parents in another. Lovely. Actually, the guide complimented the kids and said they were completely trustworthy as paddlers. David and his guide totally bonded, so it was great.

The only problem was it took a lot of time--3 hours to the Wenatchee, 4 hours on the water, 4 hours home. The kids played Trivial Pursuit on the way there and watched dvd's on the way home. So a long day, in the midst of many long days, but fun.