I was gifted Dear Bob and Sue by my parents a few years ago for Christmas. "Their stories, encounters, laughter and goal of seeing all of the US National Parks sounded and reminded me a lot like you and Ted" my mother noted. As we planned our trip to Dry Tortuga National Park, I packed the book and enjoyed the quick read. She was right, there were a lot of laugh out loud stories and memories where we both said, "we've done that". The book also reminded us of our wrong turns, dirt roads, and even bumps in the road (that were of course no ones fault...), but most of all, the laughter and memories formed along the way.
After reading about their aspirations to raft the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Ted was inspired to purchase another book written by the authors Matt and Karen called Dories, Ho! (he is also looking to sign up for a rafting school to be able to self navigate whitewater in the future, but more to come on that next spring). The Grand Canyon remains on our NPS bucket list and now rafting the Grand Canyon has been added to the list! Havasu Falls, Canyon and Creek was already on the cool things to do bucket list before the float was added, but the two trips will most likely have to be two separate trips due to the time requirements and strenuous hiking. If your not familiar with Havasu Falls, click HERE and HERE for some google photos. Unfortunately both trips will require reservations months if not years in advance and COVID has put a back log on reservations and has extended the already long list of requests. We had hoped to do this trip in 2022, but we are now on the OARS wait list for rafting, aka dory trip for 2023. Which I guess gives us plenty of time to save for this eight day float trip. If your interested to see what we are signing up for...check out the Grand Canyon Dories – Pipe Creek to Whitmore Wash trip at https://www.oars.com/grandcanyon/dories/. What is a dory and why you ask? Ted is interested in the dories because they are a wood boat, the way the river was originally pioneered. Traditional rafts give way and roll with the river, where in a dory, you essentially feel and some what fight the river. Read more about the history of dories HERE or the short dory and grand canyon documentary below. The video provides some great views of the Grand Canyon, showcases what we are signing up for by rafting the Colorado River, history of dories and the importance of conservation to protect and preserve this amazing place called Earth.
If you are looking to check out National Parks or other amazing green and blue spaces, we would be happy to provide you with unsolicited recommendations and what tourist traps to consider avoiding. However, in lieu of our testimonials I would recommend checking out the book or the Dear Bob and Sue podcast and listen to the region and or park your visiting for some humorous stories, tips and tricks.
Until next time,
Pack it in, pack it out. And enjoy this journey called life.
Ted and Erin
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