Tubing!

My Department Chair lives on a really cool little "island" along Big Chico Creek and she invited us to go "tubing" with her last week. Now, in Indiana the only tubing we really do is being dragged behind a high power boat but here in California they've perfected the ultimate living "lazy river" style of tubing. Much more relaxing and less likely to give you whiplash. Not to say that it is 100% safe...you could definitely crash into lots of water hazards, but overall, but more relaxing and enjoyable.

We went on one run from Mary's house to the covered bridge, which took about 30-40 minutes. She was a great teacher and gave us a lot of good tips. We had such a great time and loved it so much that we went down the run a second time and this time Mary drove down to the bridge before we got there  so she could snap some pictures of us on our tubes.

Here's me paddling like mad to stay away from the big rocks. The first time I got sucked in, but luckily the rapids and current aren't too big so I just bounced off them with my feet. The second time I got close, but my arms kept me far enough away that I just floated by.

Most of the time you just get to chill and float. Occasionally you have to do a "starfish" move to get your butt up and away from some of the bigger rocks in shallow water. 

And here's Ange floating along. This was after she hit a "snag" and got dumped out of her tube. She recovered nicely.

More floating leisurely...but about to pull a starfish move. No butt bruises for me!

Ange waving for the camera!

 

Two happy tubers coming out of the water with our tubes!

Piling into the back of their truck with the tubes for the short drive back to the house. We will definitely be taking part in this activity again! It was super fun!