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Naked in the Hallway Installment 5 - The Nantahala

Every year we took a rafting trip down the Nantahala River on one of those big rafts with inflatable sides.  I'd tuck my tennis - shoed feet under it, in the hope that it would prevent me from being flung into the icy cold water.   My big brother thought it would be hilarious to send us down the rapids backward, removing all chance of steering ourselves as we'd been instructed under the cover of the Nantahala Outdoor Center's educational shelter.  Before loading up on the old school buses to be shuttled to the put in site, we'd sat on wooden benches listening to the do's and don'ts of the trip.  I'm pretty certain we were not instructed to go down the rapids backwards and pretty certain we were instructed to avoid the eddy on the right side of the rapids in front of a large rock because if we fell out, we could pulled under and into a washing machine like vortex which would spin us around and around under the water and may even be drowned. 

Did I mention that the water was cold?  It was so cold it made my feet tingle like the time I was the Teddy Bear in the Nutcracker and had to sit Indian style, you know, crossed-legged, under the ginormous fake Christmas tree for the near entirety of the first act so that when it finally came time for me to stand up and do my little dance I kept falling back down.  It was as if someone had swapped out my good, useful leg for a deformed wooden one that tingled painfully every time I tried to bare weight on it.  Pulling that raft up onto the bank, I felt the squish of the water being forced out of my socks and the tingle of my freezing feet.

The Nantahala Outdoor Center is a good 3 hours from our home in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina, even if Google Maps says it only 1 h 37 min.  That meant I had to get up a good 2 hours earlier than I wanted to and when you have to get up too soon, a headache is sure to follow.  And when you're driving down those windy roads with a headache and a grownup suggests you play cards to pass the time, you'd be good to heed my advise - just say no, thank you and keep your eyes on the road.  If like me, you agree to the card playing, you will soon find yourself with a good case of car sickness.  The thing is, by the time you feel the car sickness, it's too late.  The best you can hope for is containment. 

It's almost not worth the trip, but if you make it, at the end of the day there will be a stop at The Jarrett House Inn and Restaurant, where you will be served all the southern fried chicken , hot biscuits, green beans and candied apples you can eat.  Exhausted and sated, you'll fall asleep in the backseat seat as the sun slips over the horizon.

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