Day 3 – mountain biking, kayaking, rafting – Rick and Nancy's Adventures

Today, the schedule called for a 8 mile mountain biking ride followed by rafting or kayaking on the beautiful , turquoise colored Rio Azul river. I decided to skip the mountain bike ride (again due to strain on ankle) and ride with the rafts/kayaks to the Rio Azul put-in. Glad I did……everyone said the ride was pretty exhausting and I could see it had taken a lot out of Nancy (which means it would have nearly killed me!). She said it was one the hardest, most beautiful rides she had ever done (gravel roads up and down hills through the countryside). I was really proud of her for tackling such a difficult ride! The thing is, one of the guides, Emily, decided to run to the put-in! And she ran an extra 1/2 mile and still almost finished with the bikers……she’s a friggin’ beast! This is her first season as a guide on the Fu and, like the other guides, she’s an outstanding whitewater kayaker.

Anyway, once we got to the Rio Azul put-in, everyone had a choice to either kayak or stay in the raft. Even though everyone had successfully kayaked the Rio Espolon a couple of days earlier, the guides warned everyone that the Rio Azul would be more challenging. Nancy and Ralph decided to stay in the raft…..the rest of us choose the kayaks. It was a lot of fun…..but it was also very tiring. We all struggled a little to keep off the rocks in a few shallow areas in the river. I’m sorry to report that I got stuck more than the others since, at 200 lbs., I was clearly the heaviest person in this group! Ralph flipped out and under the raft on one of the early rapids but was quickly pulled back in. I ended up flipping in one of the rapids and hit my upper thigh on a large rock (no biggie, but it was dang sore for a couple of days). I finished the first half of the kayak run (barely), but after we stopped for lunch, I decided to get in the raft for the remainder of the afternoon to have a more relaxed ride. The scenery was just so darn spectacular…..just like so many other places we have visited or re-visited over the last 8 months…..each unique and beautiful in its own special way. We all felt so thankful to be there.

We finished up at about 3:30 and headed back to the Lantana cottages to clean up and have dinner. Tonight’s dinner was prepared by the guides and I have to say, their lasagna really hit the spot! And then “Tyler’s Bananas Foster” for dessert! Everything was “out-of-this-world” good. Personally, when I’m really hungry, nothing is better than a good Italian meal……and based on the amount of lasagna consumed, I’d say everyone else felt the same way!

BTW, everyone agreed the trip was a little more physically demanding than anticipated. I know it was for me, especially considering my broken fibula, and my lack of exercise during the healing period. But my braced ankle held up pretty well, and all of us were always ready to go after a meal and a good night’s rest.

The day started with a beautiful morning…