River Regatta

The second weekend of August Henry and I made the drive to Laughlin, NV for the 2012 River Regatta. Being new out here, I'd never heard of such a thing until my friend Jen at work told me about it. Every year, they have an 8 mile stretch of the Colorado River where you launch a float and spend the day floating down the river. It's closed off that day to boating, etc. so that it's safe for all the floaters. This year's float had over 40,000 participants! Now that's a lot of people! Having never floated the river I wasn't sure what to expect but it was awesome and I hope to get to do it again next year! Going into it I'd pictured the river being murky and dark, kind of like how the Mississippi River is back home in Memphis. Boy was I wrong! The water was super clear and I had no problem being able to see my feet in the water. That's a big thing for me-I hate swimming in water where I can't see my feet. I'm a great swimmer and all but there's just something about not being able to see my feet that freaks me out a little. We had a minor issue with one of our floats (we had two giant ones) and it deflated, sinking after a little while. No worries though, we had a blast and just piled on to the other giant float for the rest of the time. It was more funny than anything really. None of us even really cared because we were having so much fun! Later that night, when I was laying in bed, I swear I could still feel like I was floating down the river. So, River Regatta-crossing it off my list and hoping to do it again next year!

Group shot as we prepared to relaunch after stopping to try and re-inflate our failing floatie. Note the hat, shirt and cup I have in this picture. None of which made it home with me.