White Water Rafting in North Carolina.

It it still pretty hot here in the south, but my Sweet Husband and I found a new way to cool down.

We went White Water Rafting on the Nantahala River in North Carolina!
Sometimes a little adrenalin is a great way to de-stress, this trip sure did the trick.

Our raft was one of several launched together. There were seven of us in the raft together.

Sara or "Sarsaparilla" is the one behind my Sweet Husband, (in this picture she is the only one with her paddle in the water) was our guide. She did a great job.

This stretch of the river has mostly class 1 and 2 rapids with lots of waves and a class 3 at the end. Class 5 is the worst, none of those on this trip. I took a waterproof disposable camera with me. I kept it tied around my neck and managed to get some good pictures with it, but they are not digital. The company we went with Wild Water Rafting has photographers stationed with a view of the class three waterfall at the end. That is where these photos came from. They are in order as they occurred. By the time we got to the falls, we had been on the river for a while. We "Spun on a rock" and we learned to spin the raft round in circles without hanging up on rocks. It rained for a while and the river was so cold, the rainwater felt warm. The water was misty and mysterious in some places. Part of the movie "Deliverance" was filmed on this river. I have never seen it so we are going to watch it soon.

Look at our faces, we can see what is coming.

 

Brace down and hang on to your paddles. You can just see part of my head and face at the back here, the nose of the boat was aiming up. There were three couples, the gentleman in the front claimed "He who swims o.k." as his river name. He took a turn at "riding the bull" that is where you dangle your legs over the front of the boat, hang on to the D-ring and lean back as the boat goes over the rapids. He got very wet, but stayed on. His wife, next to him, fell out of the boat at one point, she leaned the wrong way when she was getting ready to "ride the bull". Luckily our guide had them get into position while the waters were calm and Mrs. Swims o.k. was promptly pulled back in by the gentleman behind her. We will call him, "he who is good at pulling people out of the river". He and his wife, the middle couple, had been rafting several times prior to this trip.

Now you can see what is coming too. Oh my goodness, my heart was racing at this point.

Look at the grin on my Sweet Hubby!

Down we go. This sequence of photos in reality only took a few seconds.
The entire trip was a little over three hours including the bus ride to and from launch points (maybe two and a half hours on the water so make sure your sunscreen is waterproof). Remember these pictures were taken near the end. Once we were safely over the falls, we were able to turn and watch the next boat go over. They did not listen to their guide and two people got spilled out. We paddled like mad after one of them and "He who is good at pulling people out of the river" got to pull him in. The other was quickly rescued by a third boat.

The wave at this point has come up over my head. No worries, I know when to do as I am told.

There I am, see the water pouring over the side?
Did I mention the average water temp is 50 degrees F (approximately 10 degrees C)?

My expression should give some idea of just how cold that was. My grey T-shirt looks like a wet suit. Our glasses by the way are still on thanks to "Chums". They are a special type of strap designed for just that, worked wonderfully ( I want to know how he who swims o.k. kept that hat on though). It was a good thing  I kept my glasses as the scenery along the river was beautiful.

Everyone is laughing! Can we do it again?
Anyone else want to try?
Cheers,
Kat

Wordless Wednesday, Waterfalls

Ten things I like about Summer!

Summer here at Kat's Corner is hot, but this old antebellum was designed for appreciating hot summer days.  Summer won't be here much longer and I like sharing it with you so sit back and have a peak at ten of my summer pleasures.

Walking to the mailbox, early on a summer morning.

Meeting new creatures.

Photographing flowers.

Home grown tomatoes!

Tadpoles and frogs. Watching them and listening to them sing at night.

Roses and Bees!

Dawn at Kat's Corner.

The view from the balcony.

The scent of warm honeysuckle.

Homemade Frosty Frappuchinos.

What are your favorite things about summer?

Kat

Wordless Wednesday

Birding on the Balcony.

I love to have a cuppa on the balcony in the morning.

Lately I have started taking my camera up with me.

Look closely, I think this one is a hawk.

This is a silly old crow.

My bird watching buddy.

Kat

Travel Report Bele Chere 2010 in Asheville NC.

Bele Chere is an annual art's festival in Asheville NC.

Great music, good food, art in all it's forms, and happy people, what more could you ask for?

We were there on the 22nd of July.

I told you they had all sorts of art, this is a cat statue (I always find the cats).

The locals really get into it. I love the decorations on this balcony.

This is one of two photos of this band, don't they just look like they are making mountain music?

This is the rest of the band. Lighting conditions were not ideal and I had a lot of trouble getting a shot with these two out of the shadows. Photo shop to the rescue.

We have been to Bele Chere several times, you never know what you will find there.

This is a blow up dental spa.....

(The handsome guy in the middle is my Sweet Hubby)

The festival is well laid out and signposted.

Buskers come in all shapes and sizes.

Here we see a mime (a mime is a terrible thing to waste) walking with a fairy on stilts.

We also saw magic acts, living statues and plenty of musicians.

There are miles of booths selling all sorts of hand crafted items, as well as food and drink vendors.

There is that handsome guy again. He is my travel buddy.

Need to cool down?

Each year they set up a couple of giant canvases on frames for graffiti, they even provide the paint and brushes. We were there on day one and the canvas is already getting lots of attention.

My favorite artist's contribution.

This is, in our opinion, the best band we heard there. Their music seemed to fit the mood just right.

They are "Brother Fatback"

You can hear them play here Brother Fatback on My Space

A little bit of everything. This puts a whole new spin on "Playing Air Guitar".

Look at the top near the strap, it is a drink holder.

On that note,

Stay cool,

Kat