Our Vacation to Virginia

August 17, 2003

This afternoon I returned from a 10-day vacation to Virginia and West Virginia. The Def Girl, Kim, and I had an absolute blast. In one week we enjoyed mountain biking, beautiful Virginia scenery, historic Lexington and whitewater rafting.

For the first two nights we stayed in Abingdon, VA (near theTennessee line). While there, we traveled to nearby Damascus and took a shuttle ride to the top of a mountain (Whitetop) and proceeded to ride rented bicycles 17 miles down a trail back into town, criss-crossing the Appalachian Trail several times.

On Monday, we spent the whole day traveling to Lexington, doing our best to stay off the interstate and enjoy the astounding scenery the small, rural back rounds had to offer. This has to be some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

We spent two days in Lexington and had a blast there. While there we toured the only home Stonewall Jackson ever owned, as well as his final resting place. There's a statue in his honor (as well as the original family plot that he bought) in the town's cemetery (that happens to be one of the oldest in the country). Buried in this same cemetery are over a hundred confederates and some veterans of theRevolutionary War.

Also in Lexington hosts the campus of Washington & Lee University, featuring the President's House (which Robert E. Lee occupied as the President during the final years of his life. 1865-1870), Lee Chapel(final resting place for Lee, all his family and his horse,Traveller), and the Episcopal Church that Lee founded.

The museum in the basement of Lee Chapel was fascinating. On display were pistols owned by George Washington, as well as photographs of the crowds in Lexington on the day of Lee's funeral).

Kim and I also took a walking tour at night, hosted by a gothic-looking fellow who led our group by lantern-light around town to the various haunted places.

The Virginia Military Institute is also in Lexington, where they have stuffed and on display Little Sorrel, the horse Stonewall rode during the battle. Little Sorrel survived Jackson by 23 years and became the unofficial mascot of the school, hanging out on the parade ground grazing.

Kim and I came away with two gorgeous, matching portraits of Lee andJackson, a group shot of all the Confederate generals and a print of "The Last Meeting", which depicts Lee and Jackson conferring on horseback on the morning prior to Jackson's death at Chancellorsville.

After that, we drove to Fayetteville, West Virginia for some whitewater rafting in the New River Gorge. An all-day trip, featuring over 70 rapids, four of which were Class V. (I had only done as much as Class IV previously)

We were in a raft with a guide and seven passengers, most of which had never rafted before. (I wouldn't start with Class Fives!) Three of the folks were a family (the kid was about 11), there was a young couple (Elliot and Cara, students at Clemson), and Kim and I.

At the end of the day, we approached Greyhound Busstopper, the longest, most intense series of rapids of the day. It started with a Class III, had a Class IV in the middle, then a Class V and finally a Class III again. The Class V was a pretty good little drop by the name of Bonzai. The river was running very high and very strong. I was in the front with Elliot. Kim was behind me on my side, Cara behind Elliot on the other. The family was behind us.

We take Bonzai backwards. What follows exists in my memory as only a series of still images. My side of the boat shoots up. Then...up again. We were vertical on edge. I see Elliot and Cara get swallowed by the water. I hug my edge of the boat. It lands with a flop, right side up (luckily). I look around and... it's just me and the guide! We lost SIX people in the blink of an eye, right in the middle of Greyhound Busstopper. I register the surprise of being the only passenger left in the raft in an instant, in the next I realize my girlfriend is swimming the worst rapid on the river.

I crawl to the back of the raft to where the guide is leaning out stretcthing his paddle to Kim, hoping to pull her in. I join in, sticking my paddle out next to his, while the raft is essentially knocking around the rest of the rapid unmanned.

Kim takes hold of the guide's paddle and he gets her to the side of the boat. I then extend my paddle out to Elliot and Cara (they had managed to stay together, despite a trip to the bottom of the riverbed by Cara). There is no sign of the family of three, having either been shot down river quickly in the heart of the current or possibly caught in the hydraulic of Bonzai and mercilessly pounded by the water.

I pull Cara to the side of the boat (Elliot tagged along). They are both hanging on, still in the chaotic waters. We are in the midst of a Class III rapid, with complete disregard for control as the guide and I focus on the rescue. I'm holding onto Cara by the shoulder holes of the life vest. I register that the guide is having trouble getting Kim in the boat. My first two attempts at bringing in Cara fail. Proper technique is to grab the vest and just fall backwards, using your entire body to bring in the person. But the river was too wild to allow for proper footing and balance.

Things are going very quickly, the river is very loud, and the danger is very real. I'm distracted over concern for Kim and just hold Cara by the vest for a while. Finally, I see Kim brought safely in. I try again to bring Cara in but the guide's cooler that he brought for our lunch is in my way and I can't pull her into the boat. Elliot starts making his way towards the guide.

The guide yells "GET HER IN! GET HER IN NOW!!!!!" I look up and we are rushing broadside towards a gigantic rock. If Elliot and Cara are still hanging onto the side of the boat when we hit, severe injuries are a certainty and death is a possibility.

It's a race against the clock to get them in before we hit. I don't know exactly what I did, I don't know if I moved the cooler, found another space or just tapped into a deeper place for more armstrength but mostly through sheer willpower I pulled Cara into the boat literally two or three seconds before ramming into the rock. On my back, with Cara scrambling off of me, I turn and see the guide with no time left to pull in Elliot. But he manages to swing Elliot around the corner to the rear end of the boast, LITERALLY at the last possible instant. (Think of Indiana Jones reaching for his hat at the stone wall drops)

Finally, we're all in. There are only two paddles in the boat. Elliot and I take them and start looking around for the family of three. They had indeed been shot very swiftly downriver and picked up by another raft. They were safe but scared to death.It scared most folks, but I was left exhilarated. I thought it was awesome. Coolest thing? That rock that presented such a threat? A videographer from another company was perched on top of it and caught a lot of the drama on tape! He didn't get us going over Bonzai and losing everyone, but he got the the rescue on tape. If you'd like to watch it, click here, it is 7MB so you may wish to download it first.