My second trip to Pennsylvania this summer was just as great as the first. This last week I went with some girls from Bella's scout troop to Ohiopyle, PA for a white water rafting and rock climbing trip. It was a blast. The girls were great - no drama, got along wonderfully, super smart and helpful, etc. The activities were also such a blast. First stop was Fort Necessity to complete a few merit badge requirements. It dates back to pre-revolution times - during the French and Indian war. George Washington set this place up when he was just a young 20-ish nobody and it was the start of his military career. The ranger who toured us was fantastic and I learned a ton. Then it was off to the real adventure. Our trip was organized and run by Wilderness Voyagers, who did an amazing job. They provided all transportation, food, and guided activities. We just had to show up. We rock climbed for 5 hours the first day and I made it to the top on all climbs! Wasn't sure if I could still do that. Bella got up 3 of the 4. I was proud of how well she did. We white water rafted down the Yough river the second day. The guides were beside us in kayaks and shouted directions while we controlled the boat. That started out really bad when I was assigned to be "captain" due to my previous kayaking experience but a man in our boat (a dad from the troop) couldn't accept a woman as captain and kept shouting contradictory commands. We spent 30 minutes spinning, flipping, and cursing. One girl fell out and cried the rest of the time. The guides kept yelling at us to listen to them, but to no avail. Finally they suggested we switch people around. I swapped captain spots with a man in another other boat and everything was perfect after that. It became a really fun experience that I was sad to see end. I was honestly so sad when it was time to head back to Michigan. I could have stayed many more days. I'm amazed at Pennsylvania's natural beauty. Such a gorgeous place.
We camped every night and our first night we planned to cook our own food because the official Wilderness Voyager trip (and their food service) didn't begin until the next day. However, it rained before we got there so all the firewood was wet. It took us 2 hours to finally get the fire going. It got faster on subsequent evenings, but that was a very hungry first night.
In addition to rafting and climbing, we found some natural water slides and waterfalls that the girls had a blast playing in. We also enjoyed just spending time on the river's edge.
The tour took pictures of our rafting trip since cameras could fall out of the boat, but they took the picture pre-captain switch, so the only two smiling was the man and his daughter in the front who were oblivious to how frustrated we all were. Needless to say, we didn't buy the picture, but simply photographed the tv in the store as they were displaying it.
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