Water, Rain, and Mist

I've never been as drenched as I was this weekend.
This weekend the Shoup's came to NY where it rained the entire time. But that's not why I got so wet. We spent a day at Niagara Falls where we got splashed by the waterfall from the Cave of the Winds, sprinkled with mist upon the Maid of the Mist, and completely soaked on the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour. The falls were beautiful and the attractions we a lot of fun. The biggest adventure for me was the Whirlpool Jet Boat Tour that took us out on the raging waters of Niagara River white-water rafting style, except with out the raft and paddles.
When you get there, they make you sign a form, which we rushed through to catch the tour, but I'm sure it said something along the lines of " This tour will have you praying more in one hour than you have prayed in your whole life. If you aren't close with God now, you will be in a few minutes. By boarding the jet boat, you are agreeing to probably the craziest thing in the whole world, and we can't be held responsible for the words that come out of your mouth when you come face to face with the raging rapids. If you bring a small chid, you may want to put earplugs in his/her ears. By signing this form, you are basically signing your life away, and therefore, we encourage you to upgrade your life insurance plan prior to taking this tour. Enjoy the ride!"
My dear husband suggested we take the front seat of the boat that would eventually charge through class 5 rapids (class 6 being the highest and pretty much impossible to run). So we donned the wool sweaters they give you because not only are you going on crazy huge rapids, but the water that will be drenching you is frigid. Then they give you a windbreaker that is basically a joke because you think it will keep the water off of you, but there's no hope of that happening. Next, is the only mandatory piece of equipment - a life jacket. This so called "life" jacket hangs around your throat making it harder to take those big deep breaths that are important right before a gigantic rapid hits you fully in the face. Then you get on the boat where there are no seat belts and shallow walls. Clearly it was designed so you wouldn't miss a single drop of water. The tour advertises 3 runs through the class 5 rapid aptly named "Devil's Hole" but lucky for us, we had time to take a "bonus" ride. I swear, if Eric hadn't been sitting right next to me, I would have believed it was his ploy to get rid of me (and after only 2 years of marriage!). But somehow we made it through and ended up having a ton of fun!
When we got back to Ithaca, we had lots of rain. We sloshed through the mud to get to the Farmer's Market, braved the rain and humidity on the wine trail, and "swam" through downtown for dinner. But everything was great and we had a blast with Eric's parents. The only thing that could have made it better is if we could have had more time to spend with them. It was a quick, action-packed trip, but it was so worth it to see our family.