9:33PM 6/15/14

Hello!
I'm so exhausted I can barely think straight!
This morning we woke to the annoying sound of the hotel alarm around 6:30 mountain time. We hopped out of bed, went downstairs and had cold blueberry muffins and apple juice that tasted like cranberry juice for breakfast. Then, we waited outside in the windy weather for the van to arrive that would take us to the Moab Adventure Center base. We arrived at the base and got on a repainted school bus that took us down to the Colorado river. After a bathroom break and a safety briefing, we were ready to raft. We got on a boat with 7 other people, including our guide, Emily. Emily took us through Class 1 and Class 2 rapids. She told us these interesting facts:

• At some points, the Colorado River is 50 feet deep
• The Colorado River is high enough now to hit Lake Cortez. The last time this happened was 16 years ago.
• The river is running 24,000 CFS, which is high right now.
• The river can be green, brown, red, or clear depending on the levels of sediment in the water.
• The river is snow melt from the La Sal mountains, so it is very cold.
• The La Sal mountains were named because the explorers determined that it was too hot for there to be snow on top of the mountains so they decided that is was salt. La Sal is Spanish for salt, as the explorers were Spanish. 

The river was full of breathtaking views and odd rock structures, including "Mater pulling a Mobile Home," and "The King and his two Ladies." The water was extremely cold and the rapids would splash it up on your face. Just to add to the fun, the wind would blow on you making you even colder. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. However, it wasn't over yet. 

We got off the river after a while and waited about 10 minutes before we returned to Emily's boat, which now only had 8 people including Emily. A new family of 3 replaced the 6 other people that had half day trips. After about 15 minutes with the new group, we stopped for lunch at the Red Canyon Lodge. We had hot dogs, lemonade, chips, and the biggest chocolate chip cookies I'd ever seen. They were like personal sized cookie cakes. Once we were done we used the restroom in the Porta Potties, which were quite possibly the cleanest Porta Potties I'd ever seen. We got back on the boat and ready for the Class 3 rapids. 

Emily steered us through the giant waves that crashed against us from all sides. One of the waves literally came right at me, and my mom and I got drenched. It was so awesome! Emily was telling us that the other day, one of the groups had "Dump-trucked," which means the boat tipped over spilling out everyone but the boat didn't completely flip. 

Our last mission was to make it to the cutoff. We paddled hard through two eddies which were aiming to sway us away from the exit. Finally we made it to the beach, where we boarded yet another bus and were given some well deserved popsicles. 

When we got back to the hotel, we went swimming in the hotel pool for about 45 minutes and took showers. By the time we all rotated through, we were ready for dinner. After asking all the tour guides where the best place would be to watch the Spurs Game, we went to the Moab Brewery. I ordered chicken tenders and french fries, which came 15 minutes later with my all time favorite: Ranch dip. My mom requested that all of the TVs in the room were turned to the Spurs game so we could watch the unfortunate beginning of the game. The Spurs were not, repeat not, looking so good. When we were leaving, my mom bought us some ice cream. My sister got "Kryptonite," which was a mix of flavors, and I got "Sugar Cookie," which tasted very similarly to Birthday Cake ice cream. 

We then decided that we would take a little sneak peek at the Arches Park where we will be going tomorrow. We drove along, looking at the odd rocks that looked like sheets. We also noticed two arches in the distance. Finally we arrived in one of the main places we wanted to go, which was the Balancing Rock. The Balancing rock is a rock formation that was basically two different kinds of rock stacked. The bottom one was mud rock, which eroded more quickly than the top, which was sandstone. The difference in erosion times concluded in a rock that appears to be balancing on top of another. We then headed back home, which is where I am now.

Tomorrow we are going to the Arches Park. I'll blog about it in the evening.

-Sarah Jackson

Side Note: I apologize for the lack of pictures. I'll try to get some more to you tomorrow.