Taking A Jet Boat Ride On The Columbia River

In trying to come up with some fun things to do during the reunion, John and Cindy decided it would be a good idea that we all take a jet boat ride on the Columbia River and afterwards have dinner at a nice restaurant nearby.... (Sounded like a good idea).... So off went went.... Ready for our first adventure....

(I don't think anyone paid close enough attention to this sign... and and maybe we should have)...

So off we went..... not a clue to what lay ahead for us.... Had we known, would we have continued on?.... probably so... After all we were looking for a little adventure, weren't we....

(You're smiling now, Cindy)....

Look at these innocent, unsuspecting faces.... Just a group of good friends out for a fun boat ride on the Columbia River..... What a nice way to start things out.....

No fear here.....

Or here..... Just a couple of good ole boys out for a fun boat ride.....

Some interesting sights along the river.....

We had hoped to watch him reel in his catch, but we were on our way again before he did.... It looked like a really huge fish he was struggling with too....

This is the pilot of our boat.... he may look innocence... but don't let his looks fool you.... There's a very devious mind at work in there.... Very devious indeed.....

And it wasn't long before we found out just how devious..... It seemed like one moment we're peacefully floating along on the river taking in the sites about us, and before we knew what was happening, our good ole pilot sped things up a tad and we found ourselves bouncing down the river at breakneck speed... I thought for sure my back was thrown out of alignment .... But there was more to come.... As quickly as he took off.... he just as quickly brought our boat to a screeching halt, and with a swipe of his hands, spun her around in such a fashion that as I looked to my left I saw this huge wave of water coming right at me... Before I had a chance to react, I was drenched... right along with everyone else... (Oh yeah, did I mention our nice "captain" suggested that our little group might enjoy setting in the front row, which we later found out was the worst place to be.... Oh, yeah... You want to talk about devious minds... there's one for you).....

Here's Val using Steve's hair to dry her face....

And now a little breather before the next assault, our captain takes us closer to shore where we see these neat little boat houses.... Each one unique in its own way.... They're hooked to these tall posts so that as the river rises (and it has been known to)... They will be held in place as they rise right along with it....

Note the 96' marked at the top of this pole??... That's showing how high the river rose at one time.....

After a few more sites along the river and a few more drenching turn abouts.... our ride was over .... Didn't take any brains to figure out there would be no dining out for our little group.... There wasn't a dry area on any of us....

I think Bruce got hit the worse.... He could wring the water right out of his shorts, and there was still plenty left in them when he was done....

His shorts were so wet, they nearly hung to his ankles.... His sneakers were soaked through and through... He had to go out and buy a new pair the next day...

Wet.... Tired..... and ready for some dry clothing..... We all agreed instead of dinner out, ordering in pizza was more than satisfactory for us.... We just wanted to get home and dry off.....

So..... What's next John?......Cindy....??? Bungee Jumping??