White Water Rafting in Columbus GA

We decided to use our gift card, from Grandma Sharon, to go whitewater rafting down in Columbus Georgia on the Chattahoochee river. Sharon gave it to us for a Christmas present last December which was really cool. The course is man made I believe and includes class 2, 3,4, and 5 rapids. We did the challenge level at 5 o'clock which is after they open the damn for the more adventurous ride. It was a beautiful memorial day weekend. We really had perfect weather for it.

 

The shop

Family didn't approve but I thought this would be a great yard work hat.

We were all looking forward to the rafting...except maybe for Drew. He evidently did have a positive kayaking experience when he was in scouts. The way he tells it - it involved much crying and fearing for his life. So he was definitely the most nervous of us. We rafted down the river 2 times. A bus ferries us back and forth to the start. Our first time down we did some of the smaller rapids and got out of the raft to cool off and float down the "lazy river." Most of the ride really is just a peace float down the river in the raft. There is just a few specific spots where you hit the rapids. Drew and I enjoyed the time in the water and we did it twice when offered the opportunity. Emily preferred to stay in the raft.

At one of the smaller rapids I think our guide purposely turned our raft a bit sideways to slam us into a small wave. All 3 guys fell out of the right side of the boat. I probably could have stayed in if I really fought it but it seem easier to not resist and just join them in the water. The water was calm where we landed and we just floated on top and then climbed back in the raft.

We also did some "surfing" of the rapids by paddling back upstream to them and then kind of riding across them from left to right. It was a little unnerving but a lot of fun.

Us on the approach to a class 5 rapid! Drew and I in back. Emily and Diane in front.

You can't see but you might be able to tell from Diane's and Emily's faces... we are about to hit a wall of water.

Looks like Drew is pinching off a turd. :)

The class 5 rapid: Diane and Emily fell into the bottom of the boat with Diane landing on Emily but they both battled through it (see below). That's more than I can say for myself. I don't remember much - just the sensation of being pounded by water and then instantly underwater and being thrown around in every direction (like in a washing machine) before being spit out at the bottom of the rapid. The sea was angry that day my friends :) (kids won't get that reference). They told us what to expect if it happened and their description was about right. But I was still starting to panic about holding my breath any longer (about 6 seconds) and finding the surface when I finally made it and then swam to the side.

 

Going vertical! You can see I'm on my way out (bottom left). Drew said the guide pushed him back in.

As we started to emerge from the madness Drew yelled "We lost daddy!"

Columbus was a small, cute town. Seemed like there was lots of activities and shops in downtown in the area near the Whitewater Express shop. We walked to several restaurants (had pizza for an early dinner) and there was some live music going on when we left around 9 pm that night. They also have a trail that runs along the river and I think our guide said is was about 26 miles long. Lot's of stuff do in the area. Would probably be fun to spend a day or weekend there...but maybe not raft. I think I've had my fill of that for a while :)

Our Birthday!

I took the day off work and Diane and I enjoyed some Mexican food and margaritas for lunch. We had a great time and day. I ate too much as always (mostly cheese dip and chips). We turned the big 44 and 45!

Slightly blurry selfie.

Emily 8th Grade Award Ceremony

Wow, another school year gone. They just keep getting faster and faster. This was Emily's last year in middle school. Next year we'll have two kids in high school! I can't believe it. These are a few photos from Emily's 8th grad award ceremony (they don't do these in high school). Emily and Drew both had great school years once again. We are so proud of them. Emily got straight As and I think Drew got As and maybe one B although we haven't seen official report card yet. Drew took two AP classes this year (Environmental Science and Biology) and took the AP exams for college credit but we won't find out how he did on those until July. I'm sure he did fine.
Next year Drew will be a Junior and Emily a Freshman. Can't wait to see how Emily likes getting up at 5 am with Drew and I. That is not going to go over well.
Just had our neighborhood memorial day pool party today. Let the summer begin!

Emily with friends before the ceremony

Emily and I before the show.

 

Emily receiving one of her awards

Holding up all her awards after the ceremony.

2016 GA Renaissance Festival

We spent the day yesterday at the Renaissance Festival. Diane had been wanting to do it for years and for some reason I've been dragging my feet and just wasn't terribly interested. Then Drew mentioned it a couple months ago and I decided it was time to do it. I think it started in April and is open on weekends through the summer. I think it would be miserable on a hot, summer, Georgia day...but we had the perfect day for it. The high was in the low 70s with plenty of sun. And it hadn't rained in a while so mud wasn't an issue (I've heard it can be a mess).

Emily and Diane on a pirate ship ride.

There is a ton of things to do at the festival. It is not cheap. You pay about $20/person to get in and the food and all the rides/games cost extra. And there are shops everywhere selling pipes, handmade clay pottery, soaps, oils, costume cloths, jewelry and more. Drew and I got some really cool necklaces' ($20 each) made of bronze. You basically pick the type of medal you want (bronze, silver or gold) and the design you want on each side of the pendant. Then you want them imprint the pendant with the design you want by dropping a huge weight down on it. It is pretty cool and they have so many cool designs to pick from.

Drew's bronze pendant showing Archangel Michael

Emily got some elf ears which the color match to your skin tone and then glue on. And she got a henna tattoo on her wrist. So she was in the spirit of things :)

Emily battling Jacob's Ladder

It's not easy!

Emily Henna tattoo the next day.

We saw a few shows including knife throwing, wheel of death, jousting, and birds of prey. They were all very entertaining. The bird show was educational and cool. It is always so impressive seeing those birds up close. All the shows are free but the do ask for donations at the end of each show.

There was also a reptile booth set up where you could go see snakes, lizards, and turtles. They had a few different snakes you could hold including some beautiful carpet pythons from Australia.

A little camel ride...check out Emily's elf ears :)

Did I mention the people watching? Wow! These people really get into their costumes and I'm not just talking about the people who work there. Lots of the attendees were dressed too. And the cleavage! I like to keep these posts PG but the cleavage displays just must be mentioned (even Diane was impressed). That alone might be worth the cost of admission.

Well, it was a pricy day but definitely worth it. We all had a great time and that gets harder and harder to do with two teenagers. Who knows, maybe we'll do it again next year.

Rob Zombie and Disturbed; May 6th

Our second show this week was to see Rob Zombie and Disturbed at Lakewood (Aaron's) Amphitheater and it was a doozy. It is an outdoor venue and we had perfect weather. Drew and I had seats that were under the roof so we would have had cover if there was any rain. We also noticed there was some huge fans up in the ceiling which I bet come in handy later in the summer.

This was a Show with a capital "S." Saint Asonia was the opening band and featured the former lead singer of Three Days Grace, Adam Gontier. He announced he is just about to move to Atlanta actually. They were enjoyable but the only songs Drew and I knew was when they would play songs from their previous bands. They are touring in support of their first album.

This was my first time seeing Rob Zombie (or Disturbed for tht matter) and I had heard he puts on an amazing show. It was! As he said, we weren't their to just rock - but to party! It was an audio and visual delight.  Great stage props, lights, huge balloons being tossed around the crowd, and a giant alien came out during "Well, Everybody is Fucking in a U.F.O." I also love his guitarist John 5 and have some of his solo CDs. He is just amazing. He has the coolest guitars: some light up, have a TV screen, or look like a lava lamp....just totally insane. In addition to crazy makeup, John 5 and the bass player (Piggy D) would occasionally have some pretty freaky masks on. They all made use of the whole stage and moved around a lot. Zombie would run around and throw a leg up on a prop and then make some wavy arm motions that for some reason reminded me of surfing. They played all the classics and a lot from the new album; The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser. They ended the show with my favorite - Dragula.


The Zombie stage with huge video in background.

Not a great photo...but Zombie in action with the crazy stage and lights.

John 5

Then Disturbed came out and delivered their powerful brand of metal and a heavy dose of fire. They are touring in support of the newest album, Immortalized. I've never seen so much flames and pyrotechnics. Drew and I could feel the heat on our faces. David Draiman and the whole band sounded incredible. I thought David might not come across as well live but damn he sounded great. And the cover of Simon & Garfunkel's Sound of Silence was awesome. We were loving every minute of it. Drew new more of the Disturbed songs compared to the other bands so he was digging that. He has been singing Disturbed songs continually since the show.

Disturbed in action. The backdrop changed numerous times.

David on the big screen with all the camera lights during Sound of Silence I think.

No waffle house after this venture. I couldn't do 2 am two weeks in a row.
Just an incredible evening though. Drew got a Zombie and Disturbed shirt. I paid for one so I get to wear it on occasion if needed for a show :)
I would definitely go see those bands again. Wow.

Sevendust; April 29th

It has been an awesome spring of Heavy Metal for Drew and I. We just went to back to back Friday night concerts. So time to post a few pictures and catch up.

Our first concert was to see a band that I have wanted to see for a while and originates from Atlanta - Sevendust. To make it even cooler, their newest album, Kill the Flaw, was nominated for a Grammy this year. the show was at Center Stage theater, and they had 3 bands open up for them: Westfield Massacre, Like a Storm, and Trivium. It was our fist time at Center Stage and it was a very nice venue. Seemed a bit bigger than the Variety Playhouse and a bit nicer (newer) inside. I think it seats around 1,000 people and there really isn't any bad seats. It was general admission and we grabbed some nice seats a bit to the right of the stage.

We had a great time. We enjoyed all the opening bands. Like a Storms was from New Zealand and they actually play a didgeridoo on their album and the lead singer plays it live during the show. Definitely the first time I've ever seen that and it actually sounded really cool. Who would have thought? Drew really liked them and bought their shirt in addition to a Sevendust shirt.

Trivium and Sevendust definitely brought the energy up another level. Did I mention it was sold out? There was a lot of mosh pit action and crowd surfing during Trivium which their lead singer certainly encouraged. He had a great presence and was very entertaining. He was throwing his elbow up like a violent chicken wing a lot and sticking out his tongue like Gene Simmons. It was Drew's first time seeing a mosh pit and my first time since I was a kid. Damn it looked violent. I don't know how I used to do that. No way either of use was going to jump into that. There was some huge shirtless dudes flying around down their.

Sevendust started the show behind a huge sheet hanging from the rafters which was illuminated with green lights so you could only see the shadows of the band members behind it. They actually sang the whole opening song (Not Today) that way I think. I know they played at least 3 songs off the new album which I love: Not Today, Death Dance, and Thank You. They ended the show with Thank You which was perfect. Not sure if I missed any others. The lead singer, Lajon Witherspoon, told lots of stories of the clubs they used to play in when starting out and Atlanta. The crowd was loving the reminiscing and kick ass show. I'll so glad it was sold out for them in their home town.


I know it's a horrible picture but I had to show at least one image of Sevendust.

I actually found out after the fact the mother of the drummer used to (or maybe still does) attend the Shambhala Meditation Center that I go to. Small world. Maybe we could have a little show at the center :)


Drew and I at Waffle House after the show.

I had promised Drew that we would go to the Waffle House after the show and we did. We got their around 1 a.m. and got the last table. Can you believe that? I was afraid it might be a bunch of drunk people but it didn't seem to be. Just great mix of people eating and drinking coffee. I didn't get to bed until about 2 a.m. Man I am too old for this but it was so much fun.