Casa Grande, AZ: Grand Canyon Rafting Trip Preparation

Mary Lynn and I have been busy the last few days. On Wednesday, after playing Pickle Ball and Water Volleyball, we had a Water Volley Ball Happy Hour followed by a pre-trip meeting for our Grand Canyon Rafting Trip. The Grand Canyon trip is scheduled for next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The rafting trip preparation covered a lot of the same information we had in our handouts. These days, trip leaders feel it's necessary to cover the material provided in the handouts since so few 

people actually read the handouts, so , after reviewing the handout material the trip leader opened the session to Q&A.

The handout clearly states the Indian Reservation we are staying at in the evening is 'dry', meaning no liquor is sold/served on the reservation.

The trip leader made a point of saying the reservation is 'dry' however he would stop the bus at a convenience store just out side the entrance to the reservation, if anyone wanted to buy wine, etc.

What do you think the first question was? "Is liquor available at dinner in the hotel on the reservation?". Too funny. Although I did begin to get an idea about the priorities for the group we will be travelling with...

In any case, our trip itinerary is as follows: 

Monday - bus trip to the Indian Reservation near rim of Grand Canyon, dinner and a rafting safety course in the evening. Basically rafting safety is "make sure you wear your 

life jacket any time you are in the raft or on the river".  He must have repeated this six times. I'm sure they will also cover what to do if you are thrown from the raft into the river, however, in the six years of running the rapids, that has not happened. 

Now if you have ever river rafted you probably know getting thrown into the river is a fairly common experience. Not here, mainly because these rafts are a little bigger than normal and motorized. No paddling necessary.

 

And it's a good thing people are not usually thrown into the river. River temperature will be an invigorating 47 degrees although the outside temperature should be in the high 60's/low 70's.

Tuesday: After a ~22 miles bus ride down into the canyon our rafting trip will cover about 40 miles of the mighty Colorado River, with a stop somewhere along the way where we can hike up to a water fall after lunch. 

After completing the 40 miles of rafting we will hike up to a plateau where there will be a couple of helicopters waiting to take us to the Grand Canyon Skywalk. The Skywalk is built out over the rim of the Grand Canyon and allows a spectacular view through a glass floor to the floor of the Grand Canyon some ~4000 feet below. A quick trip back to the hotel where dinner will be served. 

Wednesday: We take another bus back to Palm Creek. 

I can't wait. I bought a 'dry bag' for my camera gear so I'm hoping  to get some great photos.

I will not have my computer with me so I may not be able to post on Monday or Tuesday; maybe I'll be back in time to post Wednesday evening. 

See Ya!