Asheville Day 2: River Float

On Sunday, we started the day with a visit a nearby playground. The plan was to play for an hour and then have a picnic lunch. However, it started raining while were were there. The forecast, radar, and a quick visual of the sky showed that the rain was isolated. So, we opted to drive to our activity and try and have lunch there. It was a good choice, as we were able to avoid the rain. We used Beer City Tubing, which offers "rides" on the French Broad River--the third oldest river in the world. They had a good setup with picnic tables and lawn games. Oh! We have been playing a license plate game in the car for months, maybe even a year. We have checked every state except Wyoming. While we were at the park, Thomas saw a Wyoming plate driving away from the parking lot. He chased after it to verify (possibly confusing the driver, but likely not threatening with the kids running behind him). It was a little outside our rules, since our original rule was you have to be in the van to count it. However, since it was in the same parking lot as our van, we made an exception. Everyone was very excited. As soon as we got back in the van, we checked it off. Then, when we started driving, we saw another Wyoming plate! Our last plate of the old game was Wyoming and the first plate of the new game was Wyoming!

Okay, back to the river. After a 12-minute bus ride, we were dropped off for our 2-3 hour float. At various points, everyone was linked to various people. It was just as amazing and relaxing as I had hoped--a real life lazy river. We played music and occasionally chatted and also just sat back and enjoyed the views. The boys frequently jumped into the water, which was rarely deep. There was one small part where the water sped up a little and was a bit rocky. Unfortunately, at that point one of the kids fell in, lost their tube, and needed to be rescued from the rocks. Thomas was the closest adult and walked to him with a tube. But, with the rocks, the ground was incredibly uneven and he ended up stubbing his big toe really hard. It was starting to bruise pretty badly last night and it is likely either broken or sprained. Hopefully, he will still be able to walk on it today.

The float took almost exactly 3 hours and I loved it. My two goals for the trip were to find a Wyoming license plate and to float down a river. Check and check! The older three kids also loved it. Luke said it was "fine," but a little boring and long. Crazy kid! The other kids all rated it 8 or 9. 

And now, the river float photo dump:

It's a boy party!

Thomas' attempts to avoid the chaos didn't last long.

Poor Kayce stuck in the middle of the boys (and Anna)

The littlest Wills and Wilson with a nice view behind them.

Anna mourning the loss of her sunglasses.

Fun, fun, fun

For the last 45 minutes or so, Kara and Ben linked together. Both were happy with this arrangement.

Living my best life.

Murky, cold water? No problem for Jack.

On the way back to the rental house we stopped at a cute ice cream place that also had little kid-sized zip lines and some other lawn games. The kids loved it. 

After ice cream, we went "home," showered and changed and headed to dinner at the Whistle Hop Brewery. It is a cool venue with tons of lawn games (bocce ball, disc golf, mini bowling, a 6-hold miniature golf course, a large slide, etc). They don't sell food, but had a food truck there called Appalachian Chic. Most of us liked it, but it was pretty expensive for the food we got (mostly sandwiches). Our meal cost $86 and that was with no drinks. But, it was really nice to sit outside with the beautiful views and enjoy the atmosphere and lawn games. And, there was a nice man handing out bags of rocks to the kids. Apparently, he picks up cool rocks during his hikes and then gives them away. 

The kids dinner table

After that, Kayce and Trevor took the boys home and Thomas and I took the girls to Walmart. Kara wanted film for her instant camera and Anna needed to replace the sunglasses she lost in the river. It was nice to shop without Luke. We got back around 8:30. It was another long, but very fun day!