Hartford Tennessee: After our White Water Rafting Adventure

One of the many highlights of our summer vacay this year is white water rafting.  We booked our  itinerary online so it was scheduled before we went on our road trip.  We did it on the  third day  of our Tennessee adventure.

Our sense of direction is not great even with  GPS, we always get lost lol.  But it is part of the fun  for us.  Both hubby and I don't have the best when it comes to  direction so we rely on  the GPS to  guide us but sometimes the GPS have delayed reaction for some reason and we  missed an exit or something like that and my husband ain't always happy but as long as we get to our destination safely, small bumps along the way  doesn't really matter.  It is part of learning and fun.

When we booked  our trip online, we were advised  not to use  a GPS in getting there  and use the map that they are going to send us via email but we never got their email so yes, we used  our GPS.  I guess a lot of people get lost in going there  so that's why they don't advise the use of the  GPS navigation, in our case, we didn't have a choice.

Anyway, we passed by our destination since our GPS pointed us to a car garage with a bunch of  men working on cars lol.  We continued driving but turned around as we knew we were lost and the signal of the GPS was  going off and on.

We left very  early that day even though our scheduled  time for the rafting was in the afternoon.  We always allot some extra time for situations like getting lost and other  unexpected  stuff so I am so glad we did that because  someone cancelled for an early  schedule so we got to go earlier than scheduled.

It's funny, we  couldn't find the right place so we called someone from that place but  she sounded like she didn't know what she was doing and  what to tell us so we just figured it out ourselves.  It was actually where we were at the first time, we just did not see the  sign.

The check in process is very easy! We were given some  waivers and filled them out then they took our car key after  we secured everything in the car as we are not allowed to bring anything. They will give  your car keys when you came back.

About 15 minutes prior to our trip, all rafters were called over for some basic rules, to get assigned a guide and to be given the  equipment needed. The rafting  equipment includes  helmet, floating jacket,  and paddle.  Our guide, Bill was awesome, he  made our first experience a blast.  We all rode a bus to our drop in location where the guides kept us entertained with funny stories as well as some information about our environment. We were briefed what to do just in case we  fall out from the raft.  The first and most important thing is not to panic, we have life jacket on so we will sure float no matter what.

Once we got off the bus, we headed to our guide's assigned raft before we put into the water. Our guide, once again  explained to us  everything that we need to know before we get into our raft.  He showed us where to put our feet, things that we should avoid  with the paddle, and my kids were given a specific instruction as they weren't paddling.  They have a rope in front of them to hold on to for rough rapids.

One of the biggest advantages of using Rafting in the Smokies is that you complete the adventure where  you checked in. 

We get to  take some photos after we changed to our dry clothes.

See the small sign right there?  We missed that because it wasn't really visible from the road.  They should  make a big sign so that  people  won't miss  where to  go.  But anyway, it was a fun trip and we would love to do it again if we ever go to Tennessee.  We will probably do the upper  part of Pigeon river when the kids are  older.

After we left, we decided to  have a little  short trip to North Carolina since it was near Hartford anyway.  The kids were tired and  overheated so we didn't really do anything there.  We just ate at one of their DQ and we came back to Pigeon Forge.