You and I Are Too Old to Stop Playing: When Grands and the Kids Get Together

You're Too Old to Spend the Rest of Your Life on the Couch: Let's Adventure!

John and Virginia, late 70s, with the paddle boat

Even better, let’s hit the river!

“We don’t stop playing as we get old; get old when we stop playing”

-Bertrand Russell

Do you have what it takes to do a lengthy river rafting trip in wild Idaho?

You might not think so, but you likely do. With the right outfit, great guides, a sense of humor and good company, age doesn’t have to be a factor at all. In fact, age becomes a major factor when you need a sense of humor in the wild.

I spent six days on the Lower Salmon with two families, three guides and a guide/educator. Here’s a little of how that went for all of us. Names of the grandchildren have been changed for privacy.

John and Virginia have eight grandchildren. Two of them, cousins Daniel,14, and Ethan, 12, were lucky enough to come along on a grand adventure via Road Scholar, a week-long journey on the Lower Salmon during the height of the July summer. The trip was guided by Oregon River Experiences, who specializes in the older adventure traveler.

Kaelan, in the boat, giving a safety briefing before we start our trip

We were joined by another grandmother, Julie, a petite, energetic woman from the Philippines, and her granddaughter, Tessa, 13. The kids were well-matched for this trip not only in age but also in temperament: competitive, funny, and terribly concerned with impressing each other and us.

Ethan’s cousin Daniel is, at 14, already 6’3” and skyrocketing. I swear he grew another inch by the time our trip was over.

The kids were adventurous enough to be delighted, with plenty of curiosity about their surroundings to be fully engaged and not miss their devices. Tessa had loaded her device into her personal dry bag provided by the crew for our goods. It didn’t get much use. The device, that is.

I met all the other guests on this trip for the first time as our guide, Kaelan, gathered us in a Lewiston hotel conference room to go over the basics. Just as the day got really hot, we piled into a school bus for a two-hour trip to the put-in spot for our adventure.

Only a few days prior, Kaelan and our other guides, Ben, Lucy and our Road Scholar professor Eric had, in most cases, just come off the river with other clients. During high season, guides are often get minimal time to rest before they shop, pack and prep the boats for the next group, something I was to appreciate in full on this adventure.

Class II rapids on the Lower Salmon

You and your grandkids get to spend six remarkable days on one of the West’s incredible waterways, bounced and banged and buoyed by the waters.

You never know where the river is going to take you, physically, emotionally, mentally. That’s the whole point.

All three grandparents had traveled plenty, and were no strangers to different experiences. That said, if you’ve never been in this kind of outdoors for an extended stay, this isn’t glamping. It takes a minute to get used to the physical demands, particularly if you’re not accustomed to this kind of heat.

Still, a few grands were perfectly willing to try getting wet, taking a few short hikes and immersing themselves in the experience.

River rafting, especially on an extended trip like this, offers some unique experiences to the uninitiated.

Virginia(above) was introduced to the infamous groover, which would be her donnybrook for the duration of the trip. She'd had the original idea to do this trip, was accustomed to safaris with proper toilets and attendants who delivered warm water and soap each morning to her beautifully-appointed tent.

This wasn’t that. This was real camping. That said, a groover is one heck of a convenience out in the wild.

Groovers get their name from the original ammo boxes on which clients would sit to relieve themselves, leaving long grooves in their butt cheeks. Today’s groover is a modern porta-potty, but the smell hasn’t improved.

Normally, the guides place the device far enough away from the camp to be inoffensive, the path marked by an ammo box full of toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

Virginia, however, didn’t fancy hiking up the rocky hills in the dark, so the groover was moved closer to their tent for her safety and convenience.

That, unfortunately, had another unpleasant side effect. Later the groover was moved yet again, slightly further out, downwind and on a flatter sand bar. That particular night I was awakened by lively activity, including flashlights waving in all directions as both John and Virginia sought out the groover in the brush not far from my tent.

It was like a mini-rave but without the music.

Virginia never did come to love the groover. Nobody does, really, especially if you haul the thing when it’s full (I did, several times).

However there is this: no matter where the groover is placed, there is something wonderful about being able to sit comfortably, doing your business, surrounded by some of the most gorgeous scenery Mother Nature has to offer. It’s one heck of a view, as well as a way to exercise not only your legs but also your sense of humor.

That, of course, is the whole point.

No matter where you are or where you look, the view is magnificent.

The fun part is sharing this with your grandkids. The river constantly unfolds and reveals. As you travel, you are revealed to yourself and to others.

Perhaps that’s a river trip’s greatest gift, with Nature as the backdrop.

Daniel, Ethan and Tessa took turns in the play boats or “duckies”, inflatable kayaks which allowed them to maneuver through most of the rapids, with the occasional cold dunking. Tessa sometimes opted for the inflatable inner tube which the equipment boat pulled.

The grands and grandkids and our precious shade, taking a breather

Tessa in the inner tube and ducky on the water

As is almost always the case on the river, we witnessed a few folks get tossed into the churning drink and promptly popped back into the boat by our guides.

We saw Julie skid downriver in mid-current. I was on the equipment boat with Kaelan when Julie sped by. He plunged into the froth, then sharked his way to her to get her safely back into the paddleboat in a matter of seconds.

John found himself in the drink as well. Almost as soon as he was out of the boat, he was back in it, at the skilled hands of his guide.

That, despite having almost no rest days, working easily 14-16 hours every day on the river, trip after trip after trip. You come to appreciate your guides a great deal on such adventures, especially when they remain steadfastly cheerful and very aware of where everyone is for safety’s safe.

Everyone had gotten into the kind habit of helping out in the July heat, patiently setting up their tents or unloading the boats’ contents out so that snacks and meal prep could begin. Had people needed help with their tents, it was available, but the real pleasure is in learning to do it yourself.

That said, the more work we did, the faster food was prepared.

We ate sinfully good food prepared to each of our exacting standards. On such trips I can exist on apples and peanut butter, of which there was plenty. That makes me easy to feed compared to the sometimes complex dietary demands ranging from keto to vegan. Clients’ dietary demands can be extraordinarily challenging at times, but today’s rafting companies have capable and creative chefs.

If how much we piled on our plates first time around was any indication, that is. Sometimes with seconds, as we eyed each other, smiling guiltily.

It was food for the soul to watch stunning scenery pass by in a steady panorama. On Road Scholar trips, though, you’re treated to a real scholar. In this case, it was Eric, a professor and equally-capable river guide who gave us geology and history lessons every day after breakfast, and who piloted another equipment boat down the river.

Eric holding forth and staying cool during his morning session

Each day Eric built on our education, beginning with early earth formation and rocks. As we paddled through this part of Idaho, the scenery came alive as we were able to identify basalt formations and appreciate the forces which created the lands and river we paddled. Eric’s easy-going manner and endless good humor were balm on hot days when the air temperature was nearing 100 and the white sand was hot enough to turn our feet red.

typical basalt formation at the river’s edge

Eric taught us about early human activity, then colonization up to present day. We learned about the great floods which had shaped the plains and carved the hills and mountains that surrounded us. All the grands had lively questions, as did the kids, as history came alive, and we took pleasure in being able to better understand the beauty that surrounded us.

If you were lucky enough to wake up early, as I did, you got to see this every day:

Morning peeks over the mountain

Early morning quiet, before coffee

By the end of our trip, everyone was ready to head back to civilization. Well, perhaps not everyone. John good-naturedly posed for this shot after he’d helped flatten one of the paddleboats:

Always happy to help!

John and I share a military background, so the camping part of the trip was pure fun. He took a dip in the rapids with the kids during a planned swim over a Class II rapid. While he went downriver further than planned- as did I- the point is that he did it.

Above all, they did it. They shared a week in gorgeous country, played hard, got wet, got hot, most of us got dunked, cooled off, laughed harder, ate too well and experienced the West in ways that many don’t.

Those of us over fifty get to feel young again, in that way that Nature both challenges and rejuvenates.

Do you have what it takes to head to the wilderness for a rafting trip?

You don’t have to be Bear Grylls. You just need to be willing to have a some serious fun.

Let’s play.

the ever-cheerful Ben and part of our supplies

Thanks for coming along on this trip. I hope you got value, but above all I hope you’re inspired to do something just slightly more radical and exciting than usual. If this was fun please consider

If you know people who might be intrigued by this kind of adventure please kindly consider

Above all, let’s respect that time moves by faster than a Class V rapid. Plan to play and let’s do it today.