This summer has been a brutal heatwave with high temperatures coursing through the valley. Talk about being able to cook a roast inside your car or fry some eggs on the sidewalk! I’ve never personally never attempted those things, but have watched videos of people who have and it’s incredible. Speaking of roasting.. I got roasted, literally! I recently purchased a little inflatable 3 person boat, that I got on Prime Day 🙂 My friend Sussy and I had a great kayaking adventure a couple months back and we were hooked! That was my inspiration to purchase some sort of watercraft. I decided to start with something manageable, transportable, and not too expensive, to determine if this was just a phase or something I would really get into. My brother and I had gone rafting on a lake when we were younger. I remember the feeling of tranquilty and freedom, sitting on top of that raft, staring into the crystal clear water. I was eager to relive those nostalgic memories.

So our story begins on a quiet, serene morning. Sussy and I decided to venture out to the Colorado River and chose a place called Eagle Wash , which is a little cove just past Nelson’s Landing, NV. It’s a popular place along the river where many people go to have picnics, set up canopies and lounge chairs, or to just take a nice refreshing dip to cool off on a hot summer’s day. When we arrived, we had the entire place to ourselves. Perfect! We unloaded our boat and got our gear ready to head down to the shoreline. We put our life jackets on and set off into the calm waters of the Colorado River. If you have never been on a raft, dinghy boat ,or kayak, that requires rowing with oars, well let me tell you friends, it’s no easy feat! You have to have some coordination and sense of direction to get the boat moving in the right direction. We glided along the banks of the river, as we watched a boat pass by some distance away . Slow waves gently rolled towards us, created by the passing vessel, and rocked our little boat along the river. We came upon on the first cove we wanted to explore, Techatticup Cove. We took a dip in the suprisingly warm bath like water and basked in the glowing sunshine.

After sometime, we headed to our next destination up the river to Oro Cove. There are two little coves that split off to the left and right that make up Oro Cove, we decided to venture to the right to a little rocky beach. We pulled the boat up on shore and headed into the inviting water. We observed fish swimming a few feet below us and floated happily on our backs in our life jackets. We had purchased our bright lime green life jackets at Walmart a few weeks prior and I have to say that it is the best $35 I’ve ever spent! After frolicking in the water for a good 45 minutes, we decided we should head back, because at this point we had been on the water for almost three hours. Although we had applied sunscreen, I didn’t want to get burned, so we continued to re-apply sunscreen a few more times. As we re-entered the main body of the river, I observed the water was a little choppy and the wind was blowing against us. I had originally decided to row up the river, in hopes of having a nice easy float down, back to our starting point. As we continued downstream, the wind got stronger. I literally felt as if we were getting nowhere! If I stopped to take a short break, we would be pushed back eight to ten feet from where we just were. It was very disheartening.

I could feel the pain in my shoulders and my exposed skin burning ,as I pushed forward and continued to row. As the wind got stronger, I could see the water lapping and crashing against the banks of the river. Slowly at first, it hit me.. I started feeling very nauseated with every wave that hit our boat. My skin was on fire, so we pulled up along the bank to jump into the water, and find some relief from the scorching sun. After what seemed like forever, we came upon Eagle Wash, our starting point. There were many families and a few couples, swimming in the water, enjoying the sunny afternoon. I was exhausted and turned to my friend and said ” I just can’t row anymore, I’m so tired.” Sussy jumped in the water and started to pull the boat forward, towards the shore. I layed in the boat, like a fish out water, trying to get a hold of myself and recover. After a few minutes, I sat back up and found my last bit of strength to row toward the shore. I stumbled out of the boat and felt the slippery rocks beneath my feet. Finally, land! We pulled the boat upon the shore and recentered ourselves for a quick minute. The feeling of nausea was so overwhelming! We started to trek back to our vehicle and had to stop several times to take small, short breaks. The sun was pounding down on us and half way to the car, we decided to take everyhting inside the boat out and carry it to the car. We released the air valves and let the boat deflate. I started up the car, blasted the A/C and went back to retrieve the boat. It was about three- fourths deflated when we put it in the trunk, but at this point, I didnt care. We were overheated, starving and glad to be back on solid ground. We haphazardly folded the boat in half and stuffed it in the trunk.

Down the winding road we traveled , headed back to town. We stopped at a gas station and I purchased Dramamine and Tylenol. My head was pounding and mixed with nausea, it was a double whammy. We stopped and had lunch at a little casino cafe on the way home. What a day this had been! The morning had started out calm and peaceful and by mid-day, we were battling torrent winds with crashing waves. Even though the winds were seemingly light, on a body of water with an inflatable watercraft, it’s a rocky water carnival ride. A warning to heed: If you plan on venturing out on a little boating adventure of your own, check the weather and WIND conditions! It will save you a lot of work and unnecessary sea-sickness ( if you get motion sickness easily). Remember to bring sunscreen, lots of water, some snacks, a hat and some Dramamine just in case! I have to say though, it was a wonderful experience, except that last two or so hours. We will be heading out again in early September, so I can let my skin heal. It’s been a couple of weeks and I am still peeling! Do you have similar stories to share? Let me know in the comments! Until next time friends, stay cool and let the ” journei” take you beyond!