Safari So Good

1. “A journey is like marriage.
2. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” –

John Steinbeck

The Good

Idaho River Adventures/Dustin – what incredible planning and logistical coordination.  Everything went smoothly with no glitches (not any that were visible to my eye, anyway).

The Camraderie –  it began at orientation and continued to build through the week.  We were all so different, but it just didn’t matter.  There were no disagreements, no issues, no hard feelings.The Smiles and Laughter – Some began with big smiles; others had to let their stress go before their smiles showed up.  But by the end of the trip, the laughter was contagious and the smiles wide!
The Guides – I don’t think I have ever seen a group work as hard or as many hours as the guides on this trip!  They began before the rest of us were out of our tents and continued working as we sat around listening to music in the evening.  They were accommodating, good natured, funny, and thoughtful.  They rowed, carried large heavy bags, put up tents, put up a portable outhouse every afternoon, blew up and deflated kayaks, cooked and cleaned up 3 times a day.  I never heard one of them complain!  Not once.

The music!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
The Food – I gained 5 pounds in 6 days!  The food was plentiful and crazy delicious!  Some highlights included biscuits and sausage gravy, frittata, blueberry pancakes, English muffins, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos for breakfast; meat and cheese sandwiches, Asian noodle salad, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, guacamole tacos for lunch; lasagna, smoked pork chops, mashed potatoes, filet mignon, garlic bread for dinner; brownies, carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for dessert!  There were also snacks at lunch and while waiting for dinner that included fruit, veggies and dip, trail mix, peanut butter and jelly with bread, cheese, salami and crackers, quesadillas, jalapeño poppers, etc.
The rapids – So much fun!  Like the rides at Disneyland.
The river – the water was so clear and the springs so clean.  Our drinking water was replenished at the many fresh water springs we passed.
The views and the wildlife – many birds, a bear, otters, fish, an elk on the bus ride back to Boise, canyon walls spattered with fall colors, trees, streams, etc. etc. etc.

Filling a water bottle with fresh stream water.

The Bad
The cold – When one is wet and warm, it’s fun – like being a kid playing in the sprinklers on a warm Spring day. But, Holy Crap, when you are soaking wet from rain and rapids, bitter cold wind blowing on you turns the experience into an uncomfortable “Dear God, I’m probably going to get pneumonia!” kind of day.

No campfire – Due to dry conditions, we were not allowed to build a campfire for the first 3 nights.  That changed after it rained all day, allowing campfires the last 2 nights.

The sand – it was in our shoes, in the tents, sometimes in our sleeping bags, and even in our food (well, okay, admittedly the only time I had sand in my food was when I dropped my pickle and followed the 3 second rule for picking it back up and eating it).

The Ugly
Hygiene – I could have sworn I read somewhere on the Idaho River Adventures website that there would be warm showers available over the course of the week that we were on the river, but alas, that turned out not to be the case. Also, we were in the wilderness, sleeping on the ground, and wearing the same clothes everyday. The good news is nobody was showering, shaving, putting on makeup, or worried about fashion! The bad news is nobody was showering, shaving, putting on makeup, or worried about fashion! I remember when I was packing that I was thinking, “Gosh, this olive green T-shirt is the same color as these olive green pants — I hope that doesn’t look silly.” It is an understatement to say I had nothing to worry about! We did brush our teeth every day…

Here are some fun examples of our week in fashion (not ugly, but interesting)!

Love everything about this!

Ross is showing off his sense of fashion (clearly from the 60s).  And I was worried about green with green?

These are awesome – rainbow socks with flip flops!

“What’s in a life without Camaraderie?  For setting sail on a ship with a band of merry brothers by your side is much more gratifying than drifting aimlessly on a boat lost alone at sea.”

Saim A. Cheeda

We came from a variety of backgrounds and several states and for as many reasons as there were people.  States represented included California, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, South Carolina, Tennessee, and New York.  Some were still working and some were retired.  Some came alone and some came with a friend or group of friends.  Amazingly, we all got along great.  In spite of obvious differences, there were no issues, no complaints, no disagreements – nada!  In fact, over the course of the 7 days (including bus rides) we became fast friends.

Our New York friends, Hillary, Crystal, and Stephanie started and run their own business – The Egg Collective – quite a successful designing business based in Manhattan.  We googled it when we got home — they have been in Forbes magazine and featured at a Martha Stewart Convention.  They came to take a real break from work and get off the grid (which we we were, with no phones, no internet, no nothing).  They started out very reserved and you could feel the stress they carried with them.  I watched as all three of them began to open up and relax – laughing out loud and being as silly as the others by the end of the trip.  I hope that means they found the trip to be the genuine break that they were looking for.

I was somewhat envious, watching these three women and Lara, our young female guide.  When I was in school, in general girls were not encouraged to do much more than become a mother and homemaker, or a teacher, or a secretary.  Those were the obvious options if you were young in the 60’s.  These women met in college – all three studying architecture.  They pooled their vast knowledge and skills and opened their own business!  So brave and so successful.  Lara, the lone female guide, was strong and bright and not intimated in any way – carrying her fair share, paddling the Oar Boats, and just taking care of herself.  What an incredibly adventurous young woman.  I was so proud of her — as another woman and as a mother and grandmother.  I hope my granddaughters find their passion they way she obviously has done.  Kristy traveled to Boise by herself – that alone is a brave thing to do.  She was introspective and, I think, looking to find what is next for her.  She seemed more confident and ready to take on the world the day we parted.  Go forth, Kristy — demand that the world treat you with the respect you deserve and don’t let anybody or anything get in your way!

The gentlemen (and, in spite of the amount of marijuana and alcohol that was floating around, they were all gentlemen) were fun to be around – each with his own, unique personality.  Some were quietly observant and others were hilariously entertaining and one was quite the flirt with the ladies.  But no one was offensive or rude or grumpy.  This made the trip so much fun!

Karlene gathering her patience and working on relaxing as she acclimates to our new lifestyle of no hurries, no worries.

Coming ashore after our first afternoon rafting.

Berger, Doug, and Scott.

In the picture below – Stephanie on the ground, Lawrence, Hillary and Bob (waving) in front.  Karlene, Chuck, Michael and Trevor in back.  Each campsite was very different from the others.  This first site, our dining area was on the sandy beach and we walked up the hill to our tents.  It was a small hill, but carrying our large Red Bags up there and back down was a bit challenging (for us older folks).

At our first campsite. We were on the beach – our tents were up the hill.

The King Snake! These are good guys – they eat the rattlers.

Dustin goes above and beyond when he removes the King Snake from our dining area.

Nicki keeping an eye on the snake as it crawls over the pad where the instruments lay.

Kristy and Michael laughing about something. Karlene and Chuck in the background.

Me having lunch on the rocky beach. It was not easy getting up and down from sitting on the ground (but good exercise).

At the lunch stop and hike to hot springs.

We hiked to some hot springs. This is a bridge we crossed on the way there.

A view of the tributary we followed on the way to the hot springs.

We made it! It was very hot, you can see the steam rising from the hot pool.

It’s a hot tub party. You could smell and feel the sulfur in the water.

Ross enjoying the sun on a rock.

Lawrence and Bruce chatting nearby.

Some of the group walked to our next campsite from the lunch stop. It was about 3 miles.

Our first campfire. So warm and appreciated after a cold day of rafting.

Emily roasting a marshmallow, while Berger and Stephanie look on.

Dougie gives it a go, while Trevor just tries to stay warm.  He looks like he’s dressed for the snow.  Clearly, another Californian.

One stop we made was at a small store out in the middle of nowhere called the Flying B Ranch.  They had an outhouse and a couple of entryways made out of horseshoes.  I looked for some gloves, but they only had hats and lots of T-shirts.  And candy — one of the stoners bought $15 worth of candy, hmmm…

Michael heading toward the Flying B Ranch store through the first entry with horseshoe handles.

Stephanie coming through one of the horseshoe entrances.

A shot of the group around the fire on our last night together.

Trevor and Kristy posing for the camera.

Emily built a cairn at the river’s edge.

Hillary, Crystal, and Stephanie relax on a rock that fits them just right.

Crystal takes advantage of being ‘off the grid’ to do some reading.

The water was freezing, but Kristy and Trevor swam out to this rock to sun bathe.