Rafting Trip and Mistakes

Yesterday was our day for the rafting trip and boy, was it fun. There were actually 2 trips that this company (Wyoming River Trips) offers - one is a short 1 hour float and the second, the trip we took, is a 2 1/2 hour float that is about 12 miles on the Shoshone River. The trip was totally free for us, except for a tip for the Guide, which made it all the more worthwhile. Prior to the departure of the trip, we were told that, unless your camera was waterproof, that you should leave it behind. They take one group photo right after the launch which is available at $11, and is the one below:

You can see us in the back row with Karen. Her husband George is in the row just in front of us. He is sitting between two men that were visiting from Italy and are staying in our cabins. The people on the outside of each row are given paddles to help out during the float. There were several mistakes in preparation that we (Josie and I) made. The first one was that we didn't dress properly. We wore tennis shoes with socks - dumb. We also wore long sleeve shirts and pants - also dumb, although George also was dressed like us. The BIG mistake for me was carrying my cards in my pocket instead of leaving them in the car. At some point during the float, all my cards fell out of my pocket and into the river. That included, among other things: my drivers license, bank debit card, Roadside Assistance card, Costco card, Sam's Club card, medical card, Golden Age Passport card, Yellowstone Association card for discounts at the Yellowstone gift shops and my free pass to the Cody Nightly Rodeo. There was also a credit card and some other cards but I was devastated and didn't enjoy the remaining portion of the trip once I discovered they were gone, which was just past the halfway point of the trip.

We finished the trip - all completely soaked - around 12:30 PM. I'm sure that the loss of my cards probably put a damper on the trip for Josie, Karen and George, since it was obvious that I wasn't too happy. In spite of the loss, we will all do the trip again. It was exciting and beautiful and we saw many deer grazing along the shore in addition to floating through some canyon areas over some pretty rough rapids.

Needless to say, I spent the whole afternoon notifying companies of the lost cards and getting replacements sent. The problem there is that most of the replacements - especially bank and credit cards - will go to our Florida address, which is our permanent mailing address. That means a delay of probably 1 week before I see them. Oh, well. Live and learn.

Our trip to Billings today to visit Costco is still on. I can get a Costco replacement card there and Josie still has one that we can use. I also have a spare drivers license with our old address in Arizona on it that I didn't discard or give back to the State, so I can still legally drive. It has the same license number and expiration, but with a different address. Let's hope that today ends with a better outcome...