Two years ago during the summer my dad was looking for something fun to do on the weekend. He found a place in OhioPyle where you can go rafting, and since we had never tried it, he decided to sign up. We packed overnight bags and drove up to OhioPyle late that night. We had to be at the river really early in the morning so they could brief everyone on how to begin. When we got there, we were the only family who had never been rafting before, so they gave us a couple instructions and then sent us on our way.  We had to bring a cooler because we were going to be out there for most of the day, but it just made the raft really heavy. Everyone there said that it was pretty easy, and just told us to watch out for rocks. Also, before we left the man told us to watch out for the exit because it was easy to miss. 

Then we started off on our rafting trip. The first half an hour was pretty easy because there were no rocks or anything to block the way. But then we got to a really rough patch, and we had no idea what to do. The raft kept getting stuck on rocks sticking up in the water. It was stressful but super fun to weave in and out trying not to hit rocks. The raft pretty much guided us through and we got to calm waters again. 

We didn’t really see anything while rafting until we came across a chain of small islands. We decided to stop on the islands for lunch and explore them. It was also getting really hot and the sun was beating directly down on us. There wasn’t anything special on the island except some insects, so we just ate and sat in the shade for a while. It was weird being stuck on a raft all day. There was nothing really to do and cell phones didn’t work. 

After another hour we had pretty much no food or water because we had underestimated how hot and long it would be. The waters were pretty calm except for certain parts. These parts were scary to go through because it always felt like you were going to fall out of the raft. My brother was scared of the big rocks and would always freak out if we got anywhere near them. He would shake the raft which made it harder to paddle through. Once, my brother lost his paddle in the rapids but luckily it just floated through and we were able to grab it. 

After about five hours on the boat everyone in my family was getting really agitated. We had been stuck together all day and were ready for this to end. It was hot and we were really tired. My mom was starting to get really worried because we had been out on the river for a really long time and she could tell it was getting late. Also there was no way to contact anyone in case something happened. My dad tried to use a map he had packed in his bag to see where we were but he couldn’t read it at all. 

Finally, we passed a series of big rocks, and on our left was one of the guys that helped us set up the rafts. We quickly paddled over toward him and he said we had been out for six hours, and he was getting worried. He had decided to drive down to see if we were stuck at the exit. We were glad to see him because if not we might’ve passed where to get off at. He was really nice about everything and said that for our first time it was normal to be gone so long. 

I’m not sure if we would ever go rafting again because it was such a crazy experience but I’m glad that I had the chance to do it. Plus, we all got a really great tan.