Typically, people booking our trips plan months in advance, it’s not exactly something you can drop what your doing and the next day take off on a 3-Day whitewater trip. Some diligence, questioning and lots of preparation goes into it. However, that’s not always reality. I have always been a last minute planner, I can’t foresee what’s coming in my life for much further than two weeks out. That has always been the case for me, except when it comes to booking trips for our company, that I can do up to two years in advance, the nitty gritty may not be planned out, but the general outline is there. That comes with the territory I suppose, but it also takes some of the rush in packing and the thrill in knowing in just a few short hours, your plans went from another mundane day to a fun filled adventure! So, when we got a call last Sunday afternoon from someone interested in a Salmon River rafting trip for the very next day, I was thrilled, it was crunch time!
Parker was doing some yard work and I was working on that weeks blog post, when he came dashing up the stairs and said, “Hey, I just booked a Salmon River rafting trip for tomorrow!” I was sure he was joking and told him he wasn’t getting out of yard work that easily! He assured me that he did in fact book a trip, and I needed to call her to work out all the details and get payment. So, I did and we were set, plans were made to meet them for coffee in the morning to give our pre-trip safety talk and we’d be off down the river! In our warehouse, we have a general supply of food and treats for trips, but we always have shopping to do the day before to get things like bread, meat, cheese and fresh fruit, so we headed up the canyon and grabbed what we needed for the day.
In less time than it takes to mow the lawn, we had the cooler packed, the boat blown up and life jackets loaded. We even had time to finish our yard work and blog post. When you go rafting for a living, packing and unpacking becomes second nature, being married, we have been together long enough that we can work together quickly and efficiently to get the job at hand done!
So, the next morning, we had a cup of coffee with some great folks from Texas, they were in Idaho for the annual Weiser Fiddle Festival. They were very talented folks and we were thankful to spend the day floating the river and getting to know them. The Salmon River rafting trip went off without a hitch, we had a great lunch enjoyed riverside and the weather was perfect- not too hot and not too cold, but just right! So, the next time you are looking for a last minute adventure in Idaho, be sure to call us because it’s nice to mix it up every now and then, come float through the Green Canyon of the Salmon River!
See you on the river…
