Week 29: Bonus Goal - Tube to Work Day

 'Nothing more Boulder than this' was the headline in the Colorado Daily describing Friday's "Tube to Work Day" (TTWD) at the Boulder Creek. Yeah, that's right. Tubing in work attire. Just the kind of off-the-wall odd celebration that I absolutely love!

This event hadn't made it on my 60 until 60 list, simply because I didn't know it existed but, as soon as I heard there were costumes and frivolity, of course, I had to do it!

I was very excited about my new flamingo inner tube filled with sparkles. I also bought myself a fun new wetsuit and was able to find a purple skirt and wear makeup (happy to have a chance to  'dress up for work' again!) My always-prepared fire-fighter housemate, John, loaned me a very pretty aqua and purple life-jacket and I had a purple bike helmet and old pink running shoes. (I was actually considering my hot pink high heel pumps, but.. let's be real.) Yes, I was feeling very chic for this adventure, looking oh-so-color-coordinated and ready to ride my cute new flamingo.

In my usual fashion, I put out an email to a bunch of friends to see who would join me, and in the usual fashion, hardly anyone even replied. But I was able to convince my friend, Adam, to do it with me.  I'm so proud of how I was able to capture his excitement with this photo:

And then, Darcy, a new friend and leader from the great organization, Walk-2-Connect, also sponsored a walk from Central Park to Eben G. Fine for the fun "Put in Party"! (Darcy provided most of the photos in this post!)

The "Put in Party" was filled with creatively dressed tubers and such a variety of unusual tubes. Whenever I'm at any kind of costume party, I vow to be more creative next year, but glad to be in the midst of people who love to play as much as I do.  And even though there were other pink flamingo tubes, mine was one of the few with sparkles.

Co-founders Jeff Kagan and Andy Gruel emcee'ed, announcing prizes and having us all recite the Tuber's Creed before throwing in the first "tuber" (potato) into the creek.

Yes! There was music and excitement in the air as I entered the creek riding my new flamingo, settling my butt in the middle hole and holding on to my flamingo's neck as I felt that first cold shock of water. Here we go!

Within one minute of heading down the creek, as I felt the rocks knocking around my tail bone, I had a thought: "What the HELL am I doing?"

Yeah... I was sort of picturing a lazy river kind of thing, with maybe a few Water-World-like thrills thrown in. I hadn't anticipated those sharp rocks or the very fast and scary rushing falls.  I'd been a little worried I might flip, but thought that if that happened, all I'd have to do was climb back in my tube and keep going!

Wrong.

Within the first few minutes of the ride, on the very first fall, my flamingo flipped and out I slipped, floundering around trying to get my bearings.

Within seconds, some strong arm was around me saying, 'I got you!' and was pulling me over to the side out of the creek. "MY FLAMINGO!!" I didn't say that out loud, but I sadly watched my flamingo keep going without me. I had so many future plans for us lounging around together at the Boulder Res..

However, I quickly put Flamingo out of my mind, as my hero rescuer got me safely out of the creek.  His arms were much stronger than Flamingo's neck. I know if he hadn't pulled me out, I would have chased after my precious flamingo, going down the creek without a tube and probably ended up in the emergency room.

I never even saw the face of my unsung hero because he was off rescuing someone else before I had the chance to thank him, but I must admit, it was a very romantic moment. It felt sort of fun to be a rescued damsel in distress. Too bad I had to miss out on the part where he kisses me and carries me off into the sunset....

As it turned out, Adam was having his own problems (he didn't have as nearly as romantic rescue experience as I did). His tube was not inflated enough and he'd already gotten several bruises, so we both exited the creek and walked back down to Central Park for the after-party.

It was disappointing to miss out on the main event, but I have to admit, the little bit of time I spent in the creek was enough for me to realize this is probably not something a person with a bad back should be doing.

The after party was fun, with food, and (one of my favorite things) a photo booth! Another friend, Brendan (who was the one who even told me about TTWD) had made it down the creek, and since Adam didn't want to do the photo booth with me (can you tell Adam is not into photos?) Brendan humored me.

He also sent out a picture from the Colorado Daily with a mermaid blowing bubbles, saying he was sorry he'd missed that.

What? Why didn't anyone tell me being a bubble-blowing mermaid on the sidelines was an option? I am definitely doing that next year!

What worked well

• Unique, fun event
• Loved costumes, creativity, music, party-like atmosphere
• Wonderful to get rescued so quickly. Feel so grateful for my nameless hero.
• Glorious hot, summer day
• So nice that Adam came with me and made the early exit with me
• I finally experienced 'tubing on the Boulder Creek' (at least for a few minutes!)
• Nice, hot day
• Great that I was able to meet up and walk to the Put-In with Darcy and she shared her photos (she's an awesome photographer!)
• Enjoyed the food and fun at the after-party

What could have been better

• A bit too dangerous for my fragile back
• Lost my pink flamingo tube
• Too bad I flipped and missed most of the experience