Hello River

It's hot. Oh boy is it hot.

Especially as we just came from the wintry southern hemisphere!

Today should reach the high 30's centigrade (100's f)

What to do?

White Water Rafting on the American River.... As you do...

The last time I went white water rafting I think I was about 15 and exploring Australia for the first time, and boy it was fun. This time it's me and Randall, Liana and Liam, my sister and hubby, my bestie Cathy and her boyfriend and other assortment of cousins and nephews....

We have enough for a few raft fulls just us! But many people are lined up for the river ride today. This is the thing to do on a hot summer Saturday! The river is dammed upstream and they let the water out at certain times of the day.... So we wait for the river and enjoy a picnic lunch. Pretty soon the rush and the roar of the river is clear and we are herded down to the awaiting rafts for a briefing. This is pretty standard stuff for our river guides. Randall and the kids get an old salt as a guide while I ended up in the boat with a guide who can't be too much older than Liana herself, but seems very confident....

Let's hope so, because I suddenly have one of my manic mummy moments and can just about see one of my precious children getting thrown from the raft and sucked into some underwater hole, held under by the swift current. Drowning. Oh god. What the heck is wrong with me? How about I put those thoughts aside and listen to the reasonable side of my brain. Which clearly states that a) thousands of people do this every day with no problem b) I've done it before and it's both fun and safe c) they wouldn't take this many tourists if it was in any way unsafe, after all this is America the land of the law suit ya know! and d) my kids are both level headed confident swimmers who are capable of taking care of themselves in the unlikely situation that they get thrown from a boat....

Ok, I really tried to listen. I decide that I need to just pretend I am that 15 year old person that didn't have fear and was interested in experiencing life, not being paralized with fear! Gosh, what happened to me? Do all parents have this transformation????

And so we push off.

It feels so good to be on the river.

It starts off so calmly, floating gently down the river, kind of like a ride in Disneyland! It's easy to admire the golden hills, the blue sky and the clear water. We are a bit baked by the sun and soon we hit a small rapid and the river guide tells us to jump in. So instead of white water rafting our first rapid, we end up white water floating it. All good. The river is freezing. The cold hits your bones!

Keeping us cool for the hours ahead of us.

We do hit bigger rapids. As the river meanders down, the valley gradually gets steeper and steeper, and the rapids get longer... Finally we hit the gorge and it's a series of grade 3 and 4 rapids which have us wet, screaming and laughing all at once! (The three hour build up to it made me forget the silly mummy that started out and allowed me to just relax and have fun, thank god!)

Five hours of wet and wild fun later we board a bus back to Coloma.

As we drag our sun burned selves back to the cabin we realize that someone has done a raid on Costco and that there is more food piled up at our house than can possibly be consumed in the next three days! But never the less. We try!

I don't get a shower till well after midnight that night. I was too busy eating, swapping stories with my family and challenging various cousins to Banangram tournaments. (An absolutely addictive game - something like scrabble, only better!)

But when I closed my eyes all I could see were rolling yellow hills and languid waters that started us off on our raft this morning.

Ah, nature. You can calm anything. Even a mum's loss of herself.

Coloma, Califonia - Family Reunion!

It's been years and years since my mom's side of the family were all together.

As children all of us cousins would have big gatherings over easter and fiercely compete over who was going to find the most Easter eggs. But then we all grew up and got busy with life. But now we are all in the parenthood phase of our lives and it seems only right that we have gravitated towards one another again. And it is so very natural that our kids should all laugh and play together, as we once did.

And so we headed east from the out skirts of San Francisco and through the wide, dry and hot Central Valley of California. Past Sacramento, the state's capital city, and up into the foothills of the mountains that rise up in the east. The foothills here are dusty and covered with oak trees. The rivers that run through it are filled with snow melt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains. And once upon a time those rivers brought something else with them besides the all important ingredient of water... Gold...

But more on that interestingly shiny phenomenon later in the week. For now our family was happy to be transversing the Central Valley and finding our way to the small river resort of Coloma California. The town sits on the sight of the happy incident of the discovery of the first Gold Nugget. It's been deemed a historic site and is part of the national park system. Old remnants of the mill and miners equipment lie along the river, reminding us of the gold rush of 1849.....

My sister has been the instigator of this family reunion. And it was the perfect choice for our families all to come together in as we all share the summer memories of gold panning from our youths. I suppose it is natural when the generation before you passes on the balance of power shifts and a new shuffling comes about. My sister brings her quiet matriarchal mark to the family and if it weren't for her there wouldn't be 50 plus people coming from all over the United States to descend upon this sleepy little camp sight. Quite a feat really, especially when you think of the logistics of where everyone is coming from. Even though we get the award for longest distance traveled, a good many US states are represented: Utah, California, Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, New York.... 

I have always envied families that live close together and enjoy Sunday roasts and can watch every soccer match and ballet show. But fate didn't give that to me, and I supose that is what I am creating in my own lovely little family unit. But then I supose the grass is always greener and for me the idea of coming together after so long apart has such a charge that it must come from my childhood. Look out if there are any Cadburry Chocolate eggs!

Once we cross over the American river via a narrow one laned cement bridge we find our campsite sitting right on the river. Sweet! We are booked into what I think is just a cabin, but in reality when we get there we find it is actually an old care-takers house - complete with air conditioning, full kitchen, two bedrooms and a huge living room and wrap around porch! We have just scored "the" place to be for the weekend. Enough room for everyone to squeeze in and jostle around in good humored comradery.

And no sooner had we dropped our bags than we hit the river and start finding the cousins.... There is something very special about blood links, and within oh, about 20 seconds everyone had found friends and were busy in their "getting to know you". Commence a black berry picking good time!

And so the family reunion begins.....