Day Two: Massage, Horseback Ride, and Canoeing

We started our second day with a nice, relaxing Swedish massage.  I wisely refrained from taking any pictures of that particular activity.  The massage was especially welcome, because I was a little sore from the Day One hike.  (Stop judging me for being out of shape.  I'm going to stop using our elliptical as a clothing rack and start using it as an exercise machine soon.)

After the massage, we went on an hour-long horseback trail ride.  I didn't have my camera handy, but the picture above is exactly how we looked, minus the ocean.  There were several beginners in our group, some of whom had never laid eyes on a horse in real life before, let alone mounted up to go riding.  Somehow Bryan and I managed to project such an aura of experience and equine wisdom that after the ride, one woman asked us for advice on how to become a better rider.  We gave her our best riding tips, but neither of us mentioned that we hadn't been on a horse in probably a decade.  We also left out the part about how we're not now, nor have we ever been, experienced riders.  It just didn't seem like an important detail at the time. 

Next was probably the most-anticipated activity of the weekend: a two-hour canoe trip down the Jackson River.  As the guides were unloading the canoes, they asked if anyone wanted to leave their bags in the car, or put anything in the "dry bag" to keep it from getting wet.  I had a small bag with my camera, phone, and wallet.  I don't know if it's a sign of extreme arrogance or extreme ignorance that until that moment, it never occurred to either Bryan or me that we might get really wet.  I mean, sure, we might get splashed a little, but nothing to worry about.  In an act I thought was probably an overabundance of caution (but turned out to be very smart), I put my camera in the dry bag, and left the rest of my stuff locked up in the van.

Bryan and I shared a canoe, and we launched into the river without any difficulty.  There were about 10 other canoes in our group, and within about five minutes, I somehow managed to flip not only our canoe, but at least two others as well.  It turns out you're not supposed to run into each other.  Thank heavens Bryan had more presence of mind than I did, and managed to hang on to the canoe so it didn't continue on down the river without us.  For my part, I was too busy trying to keep my flip flops on my feet, my head above water, and my knees away from the huge rocks on the bottom of the river.  I was only successful on the first two counts -- my right knee whacked a big boulder.  Within a few minutes, we both made it over to the side of the river, Bryan still clutching the canoe.  He had lost a flip flop in the process, but otherwise was in good shape.  One of the guides came and helped us empty the water out of the canoe and climb back in, and we were on our way.

(As a side note for those of you who don't know this about me: I don't like water.  At all.  I wouldn't say that I'm afraid of water, or afraid of drowning or anything like that -- I just don't like water.  I don't like pools, I don't like the beach, I don't like swimming or even getting wet.  I shower every day because I dislike being dirty slightly more than I dislike being wet.  But my showers are as short as they possibly can be so I can get out and get dry again.  True story.)

At that point, I took an extreme step to ensure we wouldn't be pitched into the river again: I put Bryan in charge.  Most of you know that one of my defining characteristics is being bossy, so you know how ceding this authority must have felt.  From Bryan's vantage in the back of the canoe, he could see what I was doing and could bark orders as needed, so making him the boss was the logical thing to do.  He reveled in his new found authority, and executed rather well.  When we caught up to our group, we had another pleasant surprise.  One of the other guys on the trip had miraculously managed to fish Bryan's fugitive flip flop out of the river.  I have to say, I was impressed.

Once we got the obligatory capsizing out of the way, the rest of the trip was a lot of fun.  Even though we were soaked through, the river was beautiful and the trip was great.  I think it might have even been our favorite part of the whole weekend, and that's really saying something.

As we were waiting for everyone to get out of the river and get the canoes loaded back onto the trailers, another couple about our age noticed Bryan's Utah Jazz hat and asked if we were from Utah.  It turns out that the husband had gone to BYU for law school.  I don't think it's illogical to assume that if he went to BYU, they're probably Mormon.  So we asked.  Well, they weren't.  And once we told them that we were, they abruptly turned and walked away, afraid, no doubt, that we were going to drag them into the river and baptize them right there on the spot.

I think that Day Two's dinner deserves its own post, so that will be forthcoming, along with Day Three.