On July 3rd, Tuesday, we headed to Hagerman for an overnight-er in our tent. Mom, Dad, Karli, Krystal, and Shane got there a couple of hours before us. They found our "campsite". Apparently Mom and Dad didn't like Krystal and Shane's pick so we ended up at Malad State Park.
Here are pictures of our fancy campsite.
Krystal and Shane are getting ahead of the game by airing up their raft.
Check our Dad's white man fire behind him. At one point in time the flames were a few feet high.
Mom is running for her life after she got Krystal wet with her water gun. GO MOM!
Right through the center of the park was a little creek. It looked like it was a little flooded.
Krystal took advantage of the water and tried to float it.
That night Stephen and I did not get any sleep. Cooper was in the pack and play asleep, while Maycee was in a sleeping bag between Stephen and me. She had never slept with Mom and Dad before and she was so excited! She woke up four times in the middle of the night and had to put her hands on both of our faces just to make sure that we were still there.
Honestly, it was really cute and funny, but I was SO tired the next morning.
Dad, Mom, Karli, Krystal, and Shane decided not to put up their tents and slept under the stars on a tarp. In the middle of the night they were woke up by a policeman telling them that they were not supposed to stay overnight in the park.
I'm so glad that we were a little more difficult to get to.
Early the next morning a State Parks & Rec guy came to tell us the same thing. Two more official looking guys followed.
Wow.
You are not supposed to stay the night at Malad State Park. Had no idea. In our defense, there were no signs stating that fact anywhere.
Stephen and I were in charge of breakfast on Wednesday. We brought everything to make omelets in a bag. They were pretty good! This is how we cooked them.
The purpose of our Hagerman trip was the river float. Here's the crew that put there lives on the line for a little fun.
These three did NOT float. I think I would have had a heart attack.
...And they're off!
Here they are entertaining themselves at the end of the float by throwing rocks in the water.
When we got in the car to drive away, I learned "the rest of the story".
All of the kayakers on the float were beginners. Not hard hitters. Stephen flipped over in an eddy in the middle of the float. Tipping is not really uncommon, but at this particular part of the river it was very dangerous.
When Stephen flipped he came back up and held on to the raft that held Dad and Karli. Stephen was a little out of breath and was about to ask my dad to help him up. Just as he was opening his mouth to ask, he was sucked underneath the water. Stephen was wearing a life jacket. He frantically kicked to try and break the surface without any luck. He was finally spit out of the eddy about 15 to 20 feet from where he was sucked under. He had no idea that he was also being pulled down stream. He thought that he was stuck in one spot.
My dad went after Stephen's kayak after they found him and they swapped spots. Stephen was a little out of breath.
When Mom and I were waiting at the end of the float we asked another raft, that was previously behind our crew, if they had seen a group of kayakers. They said they passed them, but the group seemed to be looking for a "Steve".
I didn't really panic because of our previous kayaking excursions, but apparently I should have been....For future reference, if you are ever caught in an eddy under water and can't break the surface, pull your body into a ball and the water will "spit" you out.
All of us were a little exhausted and went to another park to eat lunch.
Maycee went home that night with Grandma and Grandpa. Our Utah trip would begin the next day so we just planned to pick her up on the way out so that she wouldn't have to be in the car as long.
Thanks for the fun trip guys! We will be safer next time.
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