Tubes and Sunshine

We got to sleep in today!  Yay! (Praise the LORD - I woke up migraining and needed extra sleep...)(BTW - this post will not be as clever, nor proper grammer due to the pain destroying brain cells and neural pathways at an alarming rate..) We're still stuck on California time - no sense in adjusting for just a week.
  Borrowed some river inner-tubes from one of Laura's friends here in the village and headed for the Saluda River again.   The way the river curves and flows, you can park here at the zoo and walk a ways up the river-bank and launch your tubes and float for over 2 hours before disembarking at nearly the same spot that you park your car.  It's so much fun!  I'd do it all the time if I lived here.  Just the right price too : FREE  :)
  So we parked behind a warehouse, inflated the tubes and hiked through the parking lots.  We only hiked about 20 minutes up the bank and our tubes weren't heavy.  A nice guy showed us the little beachy spot where we could safely launch.  In we went (not without difficulty flopping into the tubes properly), passed out the Mello Yellos (East Coast Mountain Dew) and trail mix, then paddled out into the current.
  We floated for over 2 hours in the gentle and wide river, chatting and giggling and screaming and splashing; acting like little girly sisters in general.  There were some little tiny white water rapids that we rode down (well, Laura got beached on a huge rock in the center and yanked me to a stop, then Kat scraped her rear end all the way down cuz her tube didn't have a bottom like ours), but that was the only fast part. It was so smooth and serene.  We changed positions and got pretty much evenly tanned.  Scared ourselves when we saw snapping turtles skimming the water and thought that maybe they were Saluda Crocodiles... Lol.  None of us capsizes or fell in at the wrong time or got eaten by snapping turtles.  Got some great photos with the waterproof camera and got some great sun, tan and exercise!  Loved it.
  The hike back was nice too - had to climb through the fence and over the railroad tracks (we felt like we were doing something wrong... Lol...).  Exhausted, slightly sunburnt (Laura is FRIED - as usual), but feeling fabulous.  Spent our last day here very very well.  Kat is being loud (as usual) in the kitchen making us Cinnamon Rolls, I'm on the couch migraining, and Laura is supervising.
  Like I said yesterday, what a great week it has been.  I love my sisters and my brother-in-law.  I have enjoyed the East Coast, but not enough to ever move here.
  And I am ready to go home to my desert and my Tehachapi mountains and see my husband and children.  This has been an exciting and enriching experience and adventure.  We fly back early tomorrow morning, and we are excited for another flying experience.  We're going to walk through security expertly this time though - and I won't put my hands in the air like a criminal.  :)