Montrose, CO ~ Day 2 Rafting, A Bear & Fireworks!

July 4, 2013 ~ Happy July 4th everyone! What a perfect day to spend with friends! It's so weird to have a hot day with no humidity... in fact I like it! With Whitnee's older kids (Elaine and Conner) going to their dad's for the day and little man staying with his Uncle Gary and Aunt Cindy we decided to head out on a rafting adventure!

We forgot about the parade going on and luckily we found a parking close by. It was really cool to see so many families come out for this and I wish we had known about the parade as we could have went rafting later.

We headed into a shop called Toad's Guide Shop. (We wanted to go white water rafting but on a holiday weekend we would have to travel to find a good one and it would be a 1/2 day adventure or a full day adventure. We didn't have a whole lot of time to spend with Paul and Whitnee so we decided to go for a raft tour which is more than floating but less than white water rafting.... a nice mix in the middle) We headed inside and met Tim Kenney (owner) and Tyler (our guide). They got us fitted with oars, life jackets and boots for Whitnee (apparently when her husband called to see what you wear and they said water shoes that have straps because your feet will get wet but no flip flops didn't really occur to him that he might need to take her to get some shoes.... Boys... what are we gonna do with them!?!?) Whitnee tried on one of the boots to make sure it was the right size and we loaded up in the van and headed to our starting point.

So this is where things got fun! Apparently Whitnee did not try on both boots or she would have known she had 2 left boots. 

She quickly got the name "Lefty"

 Brandon on the other hand got his life jacket mixed up with Paul's life jacket and looked like Chris Farley from Tommy Boy. You know... the part where he puts on Richards jacket and sings "Fat Guy in a Little Jacket".  (Sorry no picture as we were laughting too hard and he quickly took it off as he knew his shutterbug wife was going to capture this moment... so you just have to imagine the view)

(Here's the link... http://youtu.be/ohz8_IafGwE which is too funny not to watch and this was something we all laughed about!) Brandon quickly got the nickname "Farley"! 

After a few quick instructions from Tyler we were ready to rock! 

 

 "Farley"

"Serious Paul"

"Shutterbug"

"Lefty"

It was a lot of fun and although it wasn't "white water rafting" it was a blast. We were on the Uncompahgre River and it was faster than a float trip and we did have to push through certain areas where the water was rough. (Well I got out of paddling because Paul was in front of me and it was just easier for him to do all the work up front rather than me getting confused on pushing or pulling back so I just took pictures! Imagine that!)

Tyler was an awesome raft guide! 

Here's some of the views from our ride....

As you can see it was pretty cool with a nice mix of calm and choppy water. The scenery was pretty (except for the junk yard you pass) and a fisherman that scared us when we popped around the corner! 

When we got to our stopping point we had to cross a lake...

 "Lefty" and her hubby.... he's extra special!

The boys carried our raft while the girls watched! 

(Well of course I took a few more pictures)

The guys got things ready for Tim to come back and pick us up.

When Tim arrived he brought Pato (Spanish for "duck"), his service dog! 

 What an awesome dog who loves people! 

Tim Kenney and Pada! 

Tim joined the military at age 42... super nice guy and awesome day to spend with one of our veterans! If you are ever in Montrose, CO and just have about 2 hours to spend then call Tim's shop and tell him the Spry's sent you! 

Toad's Guide Shop

309 E Main

Montrose, CO 81401

970-249-0408

After everyone got cleaned up and picked up Damon we headed down to Ouray, CO.

(Which is about 45 minutes from Montrose)

Ouray is known as the "Switzerland of America" because of its setting at the narrow head of a valley, enclosed on three and a half sides by steep mountains.

He is 100% boy and just like his daddy! 

They have some of the neatest flower displays using old stuff... Loved it! 

We did some window shopping and I loved this boot!

Loved this piece too! 

(Reminded me of Roni's dad who was taken much too soon and his love of guitars)

Oh and I loved these blue things... such a neat little town! 

We made reservations for dinner at The Outlaw which is a great little steakhouse... YUM!

The Lear's and The Spry's! 
Once our bellies were full it was time to head back to Montrose!

As we were driving back through Ridgeway headed to Montrose Brandon noticed a minivan on the side of the road. He said "I wonder what they are looking at" and just about that time we see a big black object run up this embankment through the weeds and then BAM! That black object was a black bear and we had just hit it! It all happened so quickly and we didn't know for sure if we had killed it or if it was hurt but we knew some damage had been done. (We were going 62 mph) We turned around up the road and went back. The people in the minivan saw it happen and a lady behind us saw it happen. We called 9-1-1 because we didn't know about the bear and needed to have them dispatch an officer to handle the situation if need be. Once we got out of the car (everyone was ok) we noticed it did some good damage to the Tahoe. It was all cosmetic and it was still drivable but it broke the passenger side front bumper, ripped the entire fender well out from the inside of the passenger front wheel, dented the front fender and dented the two passengers doors. I think it was safe to say:
Tahoe 1 - Bear 0

Front passenger bumper

Front passenger fender and doors

Can't help but laugh on this one... ripped the whole dang thing out from under the front fender!

The lady that lived where this all happened was in the barn and said all of her animals were going nuts (these two critters were going crazy) and then she heard a loud noise and saw the bear limping back to the water on the other side of her property. (Not so sure the bear made it but it took off... certainly has one heck of a headache I am sure)

After a day like this we thought our rental might look like the car in Tommy Boy when the deer they hit wakes up.... Ha!
http://youtu.be/QbSFxlfuf9s
(Watch the video clip on the link above)

With all that crazy ride back home we decided that we needed some ice-cream!
(This was a really nice Russell Stover's store)

Damon is such a funny kid. He loves to hit his cup to your cup and say "Cheers"! He also likes to show you his muscles then give them a little kiss. Another cute thing he does is bumps knuckles and then blows it up! I love listening to him talk.... kid goes non-stop! Most is jibber jabber but there is a lot you do understand. He loved to share with Brandon and he would offer him something and then say "Reach Brandon Reach"! So funny!

We went back to the hotel and waited for it to get dark enough for the fireworks to start...
I got some pretty cute pictures of Damon while he was showing off for us!

I told you he is a funny kid!

Then we heard fireworks going off so we headed outside! 

(It's hard to take pictures of fireworks for this amateur)

Now this is good ol' redneck firework watchin' from the parking lot of Holiday Inn Express!

I think it's safe to say that these two are buddies!

It was a wild and crazy day but we truly enjoyed spending time with these guys!
Now for a little shut eye so we can start another crazy adventure tomorrow!