BHRT--day 6

Wednesday, 8/28/13
7:00 a.m.  Mom and Dad left. I went out to feed my friends.

8:30 a.m. We drove up to Cottonwood Pass and hiked to the top of the Continental Divide.  VERY hard to breathe up there, but the views were spectacular.  Talked to a friendly Coloradoan (whose dog sat down directly on my foot and just camped out there) and watched an old hiker lady take a pee on a rock with no regard for the fact that I was right there.  People are generally a little more laid back and naturey up here.  I love it!

 Noah looking at the road we just drove up the mountain.

 going for the top!

 It was chilly up there!  50 degrees.

The white speck by the upper left corner of the lake is Mike.

11:00 a.m.  Went into town to buy a fishing license (at the High Rocky Store, which had neat stuff at outrageous prices) and some groceries (at City Market, which is the Colorado Kroger).  Back to the cabin for lunch.

12:00 p.m.  Leaving for Performance Tours, where we'll take a van to the Arkansas River to go white water rafting in Brown's Canyon.

On the way there in the rafting company's van, I was praying about having a safe trip. The radio was blasting in the van so I blocked it out while I was praying. The second I tuned back in, Bon Jovi was singing, "Take my hand, we'll make it I swear" and I felt like it was God confirming that He'd heard me and we'd make it. Sure enough, we made it.

 Our guide, Benny D.   Noah and Mike paddled.  Sarah and I rode like princesses.

 View from my seat in the front of the raft.

We saw a moose!  I couldn't zoom in with this disposable water camera, but you can see the moose right in the middle of the picture, partly behind a tree.  Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Mike and kids got out of the raft and climbed this boulder...

 and then jumped into the river!  Above is Sarah.

Noah taking the leap.

 At a deep part in the river, we could get out of the raft and swim. The water was very cold, but it felt good after being in the hot sun.

Kids were excited to ride on a real school bus back to Performance Tours.

4:00 p.m.  Back from rafting, which was awesome!!  Perfect weather, amazing scenery, and so much fun.    At one point, a couple tears of pure bliss rolled down my cheeks. 

5:30ish Drove into town to eat dinner at Eddyline, a place the cabin owner recommended.  It was fantastic!  Across the street was a boulder for the kids to climb, and a wonderful hiking trail that runs right along the Arkansas River.  So we played and walked a little while we waited for our food. Our server actually came out to let us know that our food was ready.  Mike gave her a big tip for that.  

After we ate, we hiked along the river a long way.  It was a perfectly beautiful trail.

On the way home, to top off a great day, we saw several deer. Here's one peeking around a tree.