Raisin Feet

Never, I repeat never, try a body pump class one day and follow with an 11 mile bike ride and 4 hours of white river rafting the next, because you will need assistance getting out of bed. You will have to hold onto the towel rack and sink to sit down on the toilet.

First, let me tell you what body pump is. According to my gym's website, it's "...the original barbell class that strengthens your entire body. This workout challenges all your major muscle groups by using the best weight-room exercises like squats, presses, lifts and curls." It was KILLER, I was literally shaking the entire time. The instructor and the people in the class had amazing bodies, I'm sure it's the type of class that if you stuck to it, you would definitely see results. No pain, no gain? Hmm.

If that was not brutal enough, yesterday we headed to Harpers Ferry to use a Groupon that we purchased back in March, which included a "cycling and rafting adventure". After only a one hour drive, we were in a picturesque location, where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet. Also, in a town where the Appalachian Trail passes directly...we had no idea. I have no right to complain about exhaustion, after seeing hikers with heavy backpacks and hiking poles, trekking the 2,181 mile long trail! That's amazing.

So, the day started with a bike ride. It was actually the first time Matt and I biked together, who knew he was such a bell chimer? They had those great city bikes, with the tall handles and I even got a basket. We rode into town on a beautiful path along the river, covered by trees and had a quick lunch there. Harpers Ferry is a quaint and historic community (population 313) and "is best known for John Brown's raid on the Armory in 1859 and its role in the American Civil War."

At 2:00pm, it was time to head over to River & Trail Outfitters to get ready for rafting. This was Matt's first time and it had been years since I did it; I went a few times in New Mexico when I was younger with my cousin and grandparents. However, I didn't remember it being so strenuous. There were about 80 people going on the trip and a young guy named Kyle was the "trip leader". Turns out, as he was going over safety tips (before the trip), I realized that he had a big letter on his paddle, that looked a lot like this one--

Do you recognize it? Turns out Kyle goes to Rice! He is a rising senior, from Baker college, studying architecture. What were the odds? We were in the middle of nowhere, a long, long way from Houston. Once he realized the connection, he "assigned himself" to be our guide and didn't put anyone else in our raft, despite all of the rest having 6 people. I couldn't have been happier, we did not have to spend the next 4+ hours with the bridal party (yes, someone insane thought it would be a fun bachelorette outing, no thank you), the man who kept yelling "HEY THERE" (tourette's, perhaps?) at the top of his lungs, every 3 minutes, or the drunk, farter behind us.

There were about 15 rapids (class 1-3) throughout the trip, two opportunities to go swimming in the Shenandoah river and lunch about half-way through. The food came at the perfect time, we were able to regain some strength--the guides packed chicken, potato salad, watermelon and drinks for everyone. The only downside to having 3 people in our boat, is that we couldn't rely on anyone else to paddle for us and there was nowhere to hide--Matt on the left, me on the right and Kyle steering in the back. Oh my goodness.

We saw deer, geese and even a bald eagle! Wish I had pictures from the rafting, (well, maybe not...tight, orange, life jackets and bright yellow helmets are not the most flattering) but they mean it when they say "do not bring anything you do not want to get wet". Everyone was soaked and smelly at the end, poor Matt even had an "extra" swim session, as he may or may not have fallen into the water during a rapid, pobrecito. 

Oh, must add that the bridal party was gushing over Kyle the whole time, who is half Chinese, half Irish, they said he looked like Taylor Lautner. After a lot of fun and definitely an adventure, we finally got back to our car around 7:30pm.

I'll leave you with one of our bus drivers, "fantastic" jokes:

What is the difference between a rafting guide and a 401k? The 401k eventually matures and earns money.