Day 10

Trying to get out of the house took longer than expected, but I suppose that’s expected at this point? This time, however, it was because we couldn’t find Andrew’s retainer. Losing his retainer isn’t new; those of you who know me know that he loses it all. the. dang. time. We finally gave up after coming to the conclusion that it had been thrown away in the trash. You may have heard a scream of frustration across the country; that would have been me. At this rate, in a year we will have spent more on new retainers than we did on his entire braces!

Before we left, we spent twenty minutes getting the kids sunscreened head to toe and putting swimsuits on everyone. We’re headed to Ellensburg to raft down the Yakima River: Jeff & I, and our 6 kids; my mom and her husband; my brother Zach, his wife Sarah, and their 2- & 4-yos; my sister Jami and her 2yo; and my stepbrother’s oldest, Benjamin, who’s a year older than Andrew. At least, that was the plan…but it started looking a bit chilly as we got closer, so I was less sure.

When we got there and found a place to put in at an RV park, after much debate and discussion, Jeff and I decided to just keep going across the mountains and not take the kids rafting. Andrew and Jaden were disappointed, especially since we were all ready to go. The wind is cool, though, and the water was icy. Aspen, Levi, and Lily would have been much too cold. Walter and Zach still really wanted to go, so we decided to take Alyson (the 4yo) with us, and Mom and Jami took Josh (2yo) in their car so that Zach, Sarah, Walter, and Benjamin could go, and then they’d catch up with us later.

I have to tell you, the Lord was watching over us in prompting that decision. Although the water is smooth, the four of them came to a logjam not long after putting in. Zachary was pulled under the logjam and separated from the others. They got out, heard him yelling further downstream, and put back in, assuming they’d catch up with him. Somehow, though, they missed each other, and when Zach couldn’t find anyone, he got out, found someone nearby, and called 911. He got to spend an hour and a half watching 40-50 Search and Rescue team members looking for his wife, stepdad, and nephew, thinking they were stuck somewhere and probably dead. The search team even had out 15-foot poles with hooks that were used to probe log jams, looking for bodies. The local news even came out to cover the story.

Sarah, Walter, and Benjamin were found safe and sound, but as it turns out, the logjam Zach was pulled under is in the same place that another family we know nearly lost a couple people to drowning as well. This news article quotes a woman who says she told us that the river wasn’t safe and that she wouldn’t go tubing there, but she is lying through her teeth! She originally wanted to charge us $10 per person to leave a car there and go, and then changed it to $10 per car when Zach said we’d rather find another spot than pay that much. She actually told him it was a great spot to put in and that we’d be fine tubing there. Zach is pretty angry that she’s changed her story for the news, but what can you do? I hope karma comes around and bites her in the a$$.

Anyway, we're at my sister Stephani's house now. We'll be sleeping here for the next four nights or so and making day trips around this part of the state. Total miles today: 245, Othello to Olympia.