On the Salt River

A few days ago I was talking to a co-worker and he brought to mind memories I have of days spent tubing the Salt River with friends. I only went a handful of times but each trip was a mini-vacation and good times and good memories. Two in particular come to mind that I want to remember. 

One trip was the day after a massive monsoon storm. The evening before there had been a tremendous storm, lots of rain, major wind. I remember the power went out when I was working at KFC. It was an odd experience because the power went out but only in half the store. We figured that it must be that the store was on two power grids because on the side of the store with power the surrounding buildings had power but the side without power the buildings surrounding were also dark. The trip home was an experience, downed tree branches and road closures making getting to my home a challenge. I wondered as I headed home if my friends and I would actually be able to get to the river as planned. 

The morning of our trip the skies were clear and the temperatures were already soaring. We decided to go forward with plans to head to the Salt River and see if we could go, we didn't know if it would be open but figured we could go do something else if the river wasn't open for tubing. So we grabbed lunch supplies and coffee and headed on out. Luckily the river was open and the water was MOVING! We loaded our cooler, paid our rental fees and grabbed the shuttle down to the river.

That day on the water was amazing. The water levels were really high and we were really moving. It was a relaxing day, watching the landscape zip by and float with the current. We had a mini-marshmallow war drank water and make jokes as we floated along. At one moment we all had to dig in to fight the current. I used my whole body to lean into the current so I would stay in place and not float away from the rest of the group. We all were watching and waiting as one girl of the group was caught in a whirlpool she was unable to get out of. One member tried to move toward her to help pull her out. It would have been challenging enough but the amount of laughter staying put and moving against the current was even harder. This day went by so fast and we were at the end in such a short time about half the time that it normally would have been. It was such a fun day full of adventure and laughter.

The other trip was a typical summer day in Phoenix. Hot, sunny, and slightly humid. We loaded up the cars and coolers and headed out to the river. That day was very different from the last journey (the one after the monsoon). This day the river moved much slower and the water level was so low in comparison to my last experience. It was relaxing again, we enjoyed ourselves as we floated down the water. The water was cool in opposition to the hot sun and felt good to get out and cool down when needed. The entertainment portion of this trip was going into the rapids. This usually meant shallow water and in some cases we touched bottom on the rivers. So the person in front at the rapids would shout back to the group "butts up!" and we knew that the raft would keep moving but you'd best pick your bottom up or it would be dragged along the dirt and rocks (and goodness knows what else) of the riverbed. That day was a long day but so much fun. 

I'll never forget the memory of the day after monsoon tubing experience versus the "butts up!" experience of my second trip out. So different but similar at the same time. Both were fun in their own ways and memories I love to remember.