On the 9th of July, we boarded the family van for our long drive to Norway, Michigan. The long car ride had us all desperate to stretch our legs. The car ride(which was SUPPOSED to take three hours)took four, because of all the breaks we kept stopping at, after the long and devastating car ride we finally arrived at our destination, Tarka’s Whitewater Journey. When we got out of the car, I realized that there were flying lights getting tossed back and forth, which I later learned were just badminton corks. I made my way over to the “flying lights” where Sahaj and Shashank were failing to hit the cork back and forth. Later on, through the night Sahaj and I were hitting the cork back and forth, which later turned into Sahaj and Aagaman vs Shashank and me. Finally, we stopped playing as we were all getting tired, I made my way over to Prisha and Aanya by the food table. I got my food and started to eat alongside Aanya and Prisha. That night was the best, as the dads were having their own conversations, just like the moms, and the little kids were running on the grass. The time arrived for us all go to sleep, so after the tiring day in the car, we said our goodnights as we all headed to sleep around 2:00 am.
“Wake up! Wake up!” my grandma said, as she shook me into consciousness, it was 10:00 in the morning and everyone was awake for the second day at the campsite. Well, everybody except Sahaj and Shashank. We all ate our breakfast as Aanya was holding the scary and disgusting chickens with Nova and Abby. I love eating chickens, but I do NOT like them alive, as they are disgusting creatures who decided to randomly peck me when I was three years old. Finally, it was rafting time! Tarka uncle inflated the rafts as we chose the three groups which would be going with. The first group was Sahaj, Shashank, Binod uncle, his family, as well as Roshan uncle and his family. Finally, mid-afternoon the first group came back riding on top of the stacked boats in the back of the truck. I boarded the truck with Aanya and Prisha along with their family as well as Jaya auntie and Hari uncle.
I stepped into the raft, excited for the new water journey we were going to approach today. Everyone boarded the boat, while Tarka uncle addressed us with safety instructions. Finally, we were approaching the big rapids, everyone was shook off how high the water was jumping. It could be seen from far away! I was paddling along with everyone else like Tarka uncle instructed. “Lean i- AHHHHHH!” we all screamed. The water hit us so suddenly that we were all shocked. The last rapid came by in a second we embraced ourselves preparing to get splashed again, expecting nothing to go wrong. I leaned in just like Tarka uncle said. Then, it happened: the force pulled me out of the raft, causing me to fall into the water. The look on my face was a look no one could ever replicate. I was so shocked I forgot how to blink and breathe. Thankfully Rita auntie was able to grab my hand at the last minute, so I was able to grab onto the rope surrounding the boat as my life vest kept me afloat. The water splashed me as some got into my mouth. Finally Tarka uncle was able to pull me out of the water by pulling me up by my life vest. As I finally sat down in my seat again, we all started laughing while everyone was asking me “Are you alright?!”. “It was so fun!”, I replied, as we all started laughing even more. Falling into the water was probably the most fun and the most dangerous thing that has ever happed to me. I can’t wait to go rafting again.