The injury

Friday was a day to remember. Rafting. I was a bit apprehensive because like most everything so far I had never done it. The bus ride was fun and I met a couple from  Spring Texas...small world. The bus had pictures of past river rafting experiences so we were getting excited. When we were there we split into rafts of six. I was in a raft with Samantha, Joey, Randy, Brittney, and Ludrick (our Costa Rican guide for the whole trip). We geared up with a life jacket a helmet and a paddle. Once we were in the water it was time to learn commands. Lean in means lean into the middle. Get down means sit in the middle. When it was time to paddle he would say left front or back and right front or back depending on which way he wanted the raft to float. We finally took off and it was like a park ride that you were in control of. We counted rows (1&2) so we could be in sync and gain more momentum. The first set of rapids were class two and three and it was there we lost our first passenger. We hit a big rapid and Britney couldn't hold on anymore and fell out. We all kinda freaked out but another raft picked her up and we collected her once we caught up. Every now and then we would get stuck on top of a rock and have to jump to get off. Then it happened. We hit a big rock and the raft went vertical. One second we were all in and the next second 5 out of the 7 of us were out. One of the 5 was even the guide! Joey caught it all on his go pro camera! In the video he was rowing and the raft went vertical. He looked back and nobody was there...he turned back forward and 4 blue helmets went bobbing down the river. The next thing we know we are being pulled into a raft. I was pulled in and Ludrick was pulled in and placed right on top of me..haha!! We a were all laughing and proud that we made it out alive!! 4 of us were pulled into a raft making a total of 10 people in ONE raft!!! We gathered ourselves and got back into our own raft. My toe was throbbing but I had to shove it back under the part of the raft that helped u stay in. We made a pit stop where we were given some fruit for a snack. It was then that I observed a few new bruises on my shins.

The scratches are from surfing but the shin bruises are all from rafting

 Sally (our unofficial trip nurse) wanted to look at my toe and determined it was jammed. I sat there on the bank and took some deep breaths and then she did it!!! She pulled hard to get it to unjam! It was terrible. She pulled one more time to make sure and the pain instantly eased up and the swelling started to decrease. I was brought my fruit by the guides and they told me I was the princess...haha! We got back into the raft and finished with some class 1&2 rapids. When we reached the end there were bathrooms water and beer waiting. It was an amazing experience that I hope I get to do someday again. Despite jamming my toe (which still hurts 3 days later) it was a blast!!!!

Bruising a few days after I jammed it