在儿子宿舍打地铺（下）：漂流美国河

老公带着儿子与女儿去漂流美国河，美国河发源于内华达山脉塔霍湖以西的国家森林，这条河流有三条主要的支流，从南、中、北三个方向，流向加州首府萨克拉门托。在美国河上有许多的水上活动：户外探险、白水漂流、划皮艇等。漂流美国河分成六等，水流最急的是六级，那可是专家级别了。

去年我们去了第一级别的漂流，风平浪静的没有一点危险，不会游泳的我也跟着凑热闹；这一次他们去第三级别的漂流，那可是白浪滔天的漂流耶，我就躲在儿子的宿舍里乘凉了。

儿子的厨房还不错，锅碗瓢盆一应俱全，象一个过日子的样子，我在那里煮了午饭吃。在儿子的椅子上坐着，在儿子的课桌上上网，使用着儿子摆放的东西，在心中为儿子的居室打分，似乎离他的生活比较近了。

他们漂流回来了，我们又上戴维斯小镇吃晚饭，这次去一家中国饺子店，也是儿子与同学们经常光顾的地方。这一回小镇已经是熟悉了的，知道哪家店在哪里，也知道该在哪里拐弯。噢，这就是儿子生活了两年的地方，也是他未来两年生活的地方。

一个多么迷人的小镇，我们一家子在街上信步行走。

这是女儿写的漂流过程。

White Water Rafting

Yesterday, I had my first taste of white water rafting on a class 3 river.

I have been white water rafting before, but it was on a class 1 river, and the main part was watergun battles with other rafters. It didn’t require very much paddling, since there are only a few rapids.

The first thing I did was get a floatation device and a helmet. Then, the entire rafting group (about 40 people) got a safety talk. At first, some of the things you have to do seem counterintuitive. If you fall out of the boat and into a shallow area, you DO NOT stand up, and if you are stuck under the boat for some reason, the guide will stomp on your head to get you out. Some of the other stuff does make sense, though. You have to hold the paddle by the t-grip so you don’t whack somebody with it and you have to paddle in sync with the other rowers.

The boat I got onto was yellow and could fit in 7 (squashed) people. The guide was one of them. She was there to make sure that my group of people didn’t get stuck. She assigned us each to a spot on the boat. I got the back right seat.

Getting into the boat was a bit tricky. I had to get into the river. It was COLD! The water came into my shoes, which made my feet feel like ice blocks for a bit. I got onto the raft, and my feet felt a little warmer.

The guide showed us how to paddle forwards and backwards and how to turn. Once we all knew how to paddle, we all went into the river. At the start, the water was very calm (class 1). Then we started going through some rapids and whitewater. We all had to paddle a lot, especially in the whitewater areas. If you don’t paddle there, you’re probably going to crash and/or fall out of the boat.

All rapids are fun, but in my opinion, the best ones are the ones that go fast and splash you a lot. Most of the time, it’s only the front that ends up being splashed, so it’s a nice surprise when I get wet. Some rapids have names, such as Highway.

When we were very close to the lunch place, somebody fell out of the boat and into a whitewater area. We couldn’t get her because we had to stop for lunch. Rafts can’t go against the current of a river, so if we didn’t stop, we’d go ahead of the other rafters in the company. Luckily, another group of rafters caught her.

Then, my group stopped to have lunch. I ate a sandwich and had some lemonade. They tasted very good after rafting so long. After we finished refreshing ourselves and eating lunch, my group went back to the river.

After a while on the river, we encountered the Lollipop Tree, a round tree on top of a hill. It marked the official entrance to the Gorge, where the class 3 rapids were.

Our guide called out a lot of instructions once we got to the Gorge. Several times, we had to backpaddle to avoid crashing into something. The whitewater areas there were more intense (and I got splashed a lot more, too). The boat always ended up turning to the right, for some reason. The guide always had to make sure that we were facing forwards before a rapid.

Once, we went through a part called Scissors, and ended up turning backwards! The guide had us paddle forwards, which, while we were backwards, had the same effect as if we were facing forwards and paddling backwards. We eventually were able to get ourselves facing the right way.

In one part, there was an area called Hospital, which was a HUGE wave. It went over my head and also knocked some other people (including my dad) into the boat. Even with that, I had to stay ready to paddle. Right after the huge wave was a rock called Catcher’s Mitt, because a boat could get caught there. We were lucky, and only bounced off.

After Hospital was Recovery Room, a gentler rapid. We passed through easily.

Soon, though, we saw the Lollipop Tree again, marking the official exit of the Gorge. We paddled into a flat area, with no rapids at all. In almost no time at all we had to get out of the river, so we could go home.

Rafting in a class 3 river is extremely fun, and I hope that I can go again soon.

因为我没有跟着一起去，所以也就没有照片了。还好，有去年拍的漂流美国河照片，放在这里充个数吧。

带着武器上船

全副武装

沿途风光

水急的地方

中途休息

悠闲

和平共处

射水

下水更过瘾

终点站