The summer after my freshman year of high school my parents, my cousin Rance and I were all headed to Salida, Colorado for vacation. We were going to go river rafting the next day and I was worried. This was the first year we were going to raft a level five section of the Arkansas River which is the highest level of difficulty that commercial rafting companies can take groups down. This was our 9thrafting trip but our first level 5 trip.
We woke up early and drove to Buena Vista to meet with our guide from Buffalo Joe’s rafting company. We signed the waiver stating we know we could die and we know it is dangerous; but I never gave any thought to it since the river had always been a place of enjoyment.
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After arriving at the river we got the usual safety speech. The speech always scares me because they talk about all the ways you can drown in the river, but once I am actually there I forget the danger and just have fun. This trip was different thanks to the rapid called Frog Rock.
Rapids are generally named for what features in the landscape resemble. As we approached the rapid called Frog Rock our guide didn’t tell us how it got its name but he did tell us the reason we were not going to raft through it. The only way through the rapid is a basic level two move to avoid the boulder. Failure to execute the move means death. The Frog Rock boulder was undercut so that water would rush over top of it leaving an opening at the base of the rock where water would rush back in to fill. If you fell out during this rapid you would be pulled underneath the rock, unable to get out and drown. Our guide then told us about a group of guides from another rafting company. About two weeks before our rafting trip they decided that they could navigate around Frog Rock because of their experience. They didn’t maneuver the rock correctly and a 22 year old female guide was thrown out, pulled beneath the rock and died. Her body was still in the river during our rafting trip. The state authorities had not been able to retrieve it due to the continued height and speed of the river. Before we got to Frog Rock our guide pulled up to the bank, we all got out and walked through the forest and river bank while our guide navigated the rapid alone.
At the end of our trip there was a man-made rapid that our guide was going to take us surfing on. He warned us that the risk of falling out was pretty high. He gave us the option to stand on the bank but no one did. I had told the guide that I really didn’t want to fall out so he had me switch places with my cousin Rance. Once we were in the rapid our raft started to fill with water and the whole left side of our raft fell out. As I watched my parents and cousin disappear under the water and reappear fifty feet away in three seconds. That was the day I truly gained respect for the Arkansas River. The river has a mind of its own, you are at its mercy.
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A destiny I will never forget.
This was by far, the best vacation I have ever been on. I hope be awarded the scholarship so that I can go on to college, graduate with honors, and get a great job so that one day I can show my family what a great place Yellowstone National Park is. Thank you for considering my application!
I hope you enjoy my essay. Thank you for your time.
My favorite city so far!
It's such a beautiful place!
my trip.
Hey Everyone,
Thanks for checking out my blog. 🙂 I hope you enjoy.
With Much Appreciation,
– Zoe McDowell
hello
I have run short on space, yet I managed to squeeze in about 3/4ths of my trip.
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While visiting Paris the summer I was fourteen, I was captivated my by its beauty. The city's rich culture, diverse people, and turbulent history fascinated me and captured my imagination. It was there that I discovered the wonder of adventure, and my never-ending love of Paris.
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I encourage you, go on a mission trip! You will never regret it. If anything it can help you to figure out your place in this world.
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Hope you enjoyed my essay! Just wanted to share my beliefs and personal experience. 🙂
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My scholarship entry!
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My vacation to Spain in general was one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. The culture was rich and the archetecture was far more ornate than anything I've ever seen in the United States. I will defenately go back there some day if I am fortunate enough.
This particular blog was submitted as a scholarship essay to myfamilytravels.com, enjoy!
I truly am grateful for the wonderful opportunity I had to travel to Hong Kong for a month! I'll definitely think about living in Hong Kong in the future!
I hope people can read this travel blog and see for themselves how great the aftermath of war is. Because of war, these children have to suffer every single day. ):
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If you have ever wondered what a BIG city is, than New York City is the place for you to go! i had a blast there! Check it out!!
I had alot of fun writing this essay.
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it looks cool!
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My trip to London.
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this was a wonerful trip with friends & family
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I wish I could have written more about Germany, but summing up a vacation such as that in only 600 words seemed impossible to me. I would have never guessed I would have learned so much about myself there. We did activitivities I would never seen myself doing in a million years. Many of the students that went on the trip I would not normally be friends with, but at the end of the day no matter how different we were from one another, we were all friends and family to eachother and still keep in touch till this day. I don't know when I will be able to go on such an amazing adventure again, but my advice to whoever comes across this is, if you have the oppritunity, take it. Even if you are apprehensive, take the risk because I'm willing to bet you will learn so much more.
Thank you all for reading this and best of luck to everyone who entered this contest!
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