White Water rafting day

French Toast and mini sausages for breakfast, then we leave the ranch at 8.00am for the hour or so bus ride to the Arkansas river.

We get kitted out with wetsuits, booties, a splash jacket, helmet and life jacket. After quite a scary talk from one of the guides about safety on the river and all the things that can go wrong, we get on our boats and meet our guide for the day Catelin. She is a rodeo princess and her family owns the company and a 500 acre Bison farm!!

The first half of the journey down river is pretty tame. We get to learn all the commands that Catelin will shout when we need to negotiate the rapids later. Me, Andy, Scott and Ewan paddle, Susan and Will hang on.

We stop halfway and the guides set up lunch for us of sandwiches, crisps and dips. There is a tactical team change on the paddling and Will takes over from Ewan. The rapids are great fun and I think we negotiate them pretty well, there are no disasters and no-one falls in.

Although I'm not cold, I'm so glad to get back to the rafting centre off the school bus (that smells of wet dog) and back into my dry clothes. The bus journey home is quiet because I think everyone is tired from the physical exertion of the day.

The food at the ranch is once again magnificent. We have bison with veg, salad and a cheesy rice dish that is very moreish!!

After dinner we go to listen to some music played by Wrangler Christian. That boy can play the hell out of a guitar...