The car ride from the house to the river felt like it took forever. Everyone in the car was excited to get there. A river upstate; I could not wait to get there. I had already been at the lake before and I loved it. Once we got to the location, I almost died. The parking spot and the entrance to the river were separated by an intersection. We parked the car and crossed the intersection. Although no car was around, I expected that at any moment a car would come and kill me. I wasn’t usually this pessimistic and could cross NYC streets with no problem. We got to the entrance of the river and we all observed our surroundings with mixed emotions of fear and amazement. All of our eyes were glued to the view of the beautiful river with rocks, kids playing, families together; a beautiful sight until we slightly looked up. The path to the river had a steep hill, a wrong step would make you roll down until something stopped you. We started to hike down the hill.

Having watched Anaconda and Snakes on a Plane, I was expecting a snake to rise from under the dirt. The hill was filled with dirt, twigs and bugs. While walking down the hills I only had two thoughts- don't slip and die, it cause everybody to fall since I was the second to last person, and be aware of any snake or deadly animal that could appear from under the dirt. Then, all of a sudden I saw something move and I jumped, having a mini heart attack. I turned around ready to head back, but was stopped by my friend who stood there giving me the dirty eye. I knew what she was thinking, if I were to head back so would everyone else, thus ruining the trip. I sighed, carefully looked down, and saw a bird had moved. I figured out that I was panicking for no reason. This was a beautiful place and my fear was ruining the moment for me. I paused for a quick second, closed my eyes, breathed in the fresh air, and just heard the sound of the current waves making in the river. I opened my eyes and continued my way. By the time we reached the bottom of the path my fear was gone because I thought the hardest part was over, but I was wrong. Once we were out the hill, the river rocks were waiting for us. Again, a wrong step could make you twist your ankle or make you fall into the river. Finally after walking on the rocks, we acquired the perfect spot and everything was stunning. The struggle of getting to this specific spot had been worth it. I looked around me, I had never seen clear water. The water flowing over the rocks, people jumping into the water from the cliff, it was an experience that I would never forget.

I had just finished setting everything down when my friend splashed me with the cold freezing water. I yelped. Our group was now separated into two, the ones who got splashed and the ones who splashed the water. Then I made the choice to get into the water and feel the coldness at once rather than feel it every ten seconds. I saw that splashing people looked like fun. I decided that this would be the best way to get revenge. Staying at the river the whole day allowed everyone to bond with each other, share stories, learning more about each other. When it was decided to go home, I looked at the hill, terrified. To this day I don’t know what was more terrifying, the walk down or the walk up. I wouldn’t say that we walked, but rather, climbed the hill. Somehow I felt that we were all like monkeys trying to climb to the the top of the tree. Once at the top of the hill I felt the urge to running back down to the river. Although at first I only felt fear against the river, but after that day I felt that the river was the only thing we all could say that we truly shared. I wasn’t the only one who felt like that and it was planned to return the next day. Unfortunately it rained the whole week we were there. It was a good thing that we had gone that day. This day allowed me to realize the importance of being surrounded of those who care for you. These people make me who I am, without them I don’t know who I would be.