Making Friends

On the road you often need a large open space or a park for the little ones to run around in the evening. (Especially when the littlest one sleeps through dinner!) In Redding I was lucky to find a very large park near our hotel. We shared the park with a few statues. My oldest, generally shy of strangers, found this one to be quite friendly.

Thanks to Debbie at Delicious Baby for hosting Photo Friday. Be sure to check out her site for more travel photos.

Whitewater Adventures – Water Confidence Required

Last year my husband and I won a two-day rafting trip along Cache Creek sponsored by Whitewater Adventures. It was too late in the season to sign up then, so this year we got to “cache in” on our prize.

I have been on a few guided white-water trips in the past. By that I mean the kind where there are six passengers in the boat and an experienced guide who is doing the steering. Everyone wears helmets and life jackets, and paddles like crazy when you come to a class-III or class-IV rapid. It is terrifying in a fun way, but you have five other new best friends in the boat screaming with you. I was excited about our upcoming trip until my husband pointed out one major difference at this place… there are no guides. That’s right, the rapids are smaller, but you are on your own.

Cache Creek is the outflow of Clearlake, Ca. and flows into the Sacramento River. It rarely dries when many other rivers in the area do, and drops about 20 feet per mile, making it a really fun run. Because most of the rapids are categorized class-II with one class-III, the two commercial companies of the area do not offer guides in the boats. They give you a 30-minute talk before you head out on how to get unstuck should your boat lodge on some rocks and what to do if you find yourself in the water. Then you are provided with a boat (either a raft that accommodates 3-5 people or a two-man inflatable kayak), a paddle, a life-jacket, lunch, and a smile. During the safety talk you are warned of where the hardest rapid is, and told that a staff person will be pointing to where your boat ought to be to approach that rapid (as pictured). Staff are also stationed at the bottom of the two trickiest runs to pull out swimmers who may need assistance. You are given about six hours to complete the run (which took us three hours including stops) before food is provided and later, some nightly activities.

We pulled up to the parking lot on Saturday morning to learn of  another big difference. Unlike past rafting trips I have been on where you get to know the other 18-24 rafters pretty well, here there were about 500 “new best friends” joining us on this trip. It was a light weekend, according to the guy directing traffic. Often there are up to 800 people. I do give props to the staff, they were efficient at managing such a large crowd. After signing your living will – I mean your waiver – and loading your camping gear onto a truck, five or six buses shuttle folks to the drop off point where you receive some saftey instructions and your equipment. 

The website says not to bring alcohol, as “booze and rapids don’t mix”. Common sense says neither does alcohol and the nearly hundred degree weather that we had.  Regardless, this was closer to a rave in the woods than the trip of  “solitude and serenity” as described on the website. I should have guessed with descriptions of night activities such as ”dancing at the camp disco with bubbles, foggers, lasers, spinner strobes and cages”.  They also list volleyball and horseshoe as activities, but I never saw any of that. I don’t mind a party, but there were people who could barely stand up before dinner. I later learned that the ambulance siren I heard while on the river was called because someone from our group had passed out along the run. 

I mention this for a few reasons. First, if you are bringing your family here (under 12 not permitted) you may want to know ahead of time what the scene is like.

Secondly are my concerns about safety. Having several bus loads of drunken rafters heading into the water at the same time was pretty sketchy at the first few rapids. My husband and I tried to put in early, but still had rafts piled on top of us as we tried to free ourselves on the first set of rocks we encountered. I think had the staff got involved in spacing out the boats as they launched, there wouldn’t have been so many problems right out of the gate.  (The congestion seemed to work itself out further down the river, but with two businesses running about 500 rafters each, there were more than a few pileups.)

I rarely saw or got any directions from guides along the route.  Knowing that a large percentage of their clientele are inebriated and/or inexperienced at maneuvering a boat, I would have felt better knowing that at least someone was  nearby to assist when needed, aside from those points nearest the two toughest rapids.  Twice I saw rafters, floating without their boats, who needed help getting situated again. No staff person was around. At the end of the run I got caught in a current that pulled me under the water for a much longer amount of time than I am comfortable with. This scared me so much that I opted to go home before the second day’s repeat of the same run. There were plenty of boats that dumped at that spot, but still no staff nearby.

I acknowledge that I am not someone who enjoys the thrill of being scared all that much. As I stood at the beach after returning our boat, I heard more than a few people talk about one part of the run or another that scared them; getting trapped under a boat, getting caught in a fast current, etc. Maybe this is what brings them back year after year. Not me.

This run is supposed to be easy and interesting enough to be approachable for novice rafters. This may make it an attractive idea for a fun weekend. For the price you get quite a deal;  boating equipment, staff to shlep your stuff to a campsite, meals and entertainment. I can see how coming with a group of friends can make for a really good time. My advice is to be sure you have some good (sober) swimmers with you.  Maybe even make some friends on the bus and go down the river together. At least with another boat nearby you will have a direction to swim.

Today is Spotlight Thursday at Trekaroo. Check out their site for more travel highlights.

5 Best Toddler Games to Take Traveling

In preparing to spend nearly a month on the road with my 5 and 3 year olds, I consider games a must-have on our trip. Luckily for me my husband is a board game enthusiast, we have a rich field of games in our home to choose from. Here are a few that will be coming with us. They have been selected based on appropriateness for young kids to play and box size.

 1) Incan Gold

You and your fellow adventurers are exploring an ancient Incan temple. At every turn you must decide to play it safe by returning to camp with the treasure you’ve gathered so far; or wager it all and keep exploring. On each turn a card reveals whether you have found gems or if something dangerous is following you. Every player decides secretly to run or to stay for the next turn. Those who run keep their treasures. Those who stay may find more gems, or may fall victim to giant spiders, wandering mummies, fire spouts, or venomous snakes.

Publisher: Gryphon Games
Ages: the box says 8+ but even our three year old can play along.
Players: Plays best with a minimum of three people.
Pros: Only one decision is made at a turn (stay or go) so it plays pretty fast.
Cons: There are small bits so it may be inappropriate for those who are prone to put things in their mouth.

 2) Animal upon Animal

Players build a pyramid using animal pieces. If, when placing your piece, the stack topples, you must acquire some of those pieces into your hand. A roll of a dice decides how many animals you must stack on the pyramid, or whether you can make your opponent stack your pieces for you.

Publisher: HABA
Ages: 4 and up.
Players: 2-4
Pros: No thinking necessary. Great animal parts, they can easily double for imaginary play.
Cons: With 29 pieces, you may need to take care not to lose any.

3) Blokus

Each player gets a set of differently shaped tiles. Players take turns trying to place all of their pieces onto the board and simultaneously try to block their opponent from having access to do the same. To place a piece, a corner of that tile must touch a corner of another tile of the same color on the board. They cannot be directly adjacent, in other words, the sides can’t touch.

 Publisher: Strata Gems
Ages: 5 and up
Players: Travel game requires 2 players; original game plays 2, 3, or 4.
Pros: The pieces are fun to play with, regardless of the rules. Not boring to adults.
Cons: The travel sized game is a two-player game only. The actual game can play 2, 3 or 4 people, but the box is gigantic.

4) Hey That’s My Fish!

Tiles that each contain a picture of either one, two, or three fish are placed together to represent a pack of sea ice. Each player has a few penguins that he can use to hop around the ice, catching fish. Each time a penguin moves, the tile beneath him is removed, creating holes in the ice. Since these penguins don’t swim, you can make enough holes to create an island, leaving your opponent stranded with limited fish.

Publisher: Phalanx Games
Ages: 5+ (box says 8 but I think 5 year olds would do fine.)
Players: 2-8
Pros: Easy to play. Our three –year-old plays but just doesn’t have strategy down.
Cons: The set-up (placing all the tiles together) can be tedious.

5) Coloretto

Technically, this is a card game and not a board game. It has no words, ideal for pre-readers, and yet is interesting enough for adults to want to participate. The object is to collect several cards of a given color, but not get stuck with cards of a color you are not collecting. The strategy is in the beginning of each turn, where each player creates piles that ideally contain cards you want, but other players can add to that pile cards that you don’t want. Though this may sound confusing, once you play one round it is easy to understand.  I was surprised at how easily my youngest picked up on this concept and put some thought into his decisions.

Publisher: Rio Grande Games
Ages: 5+ (box says 8, but I think it’s playable for much younger ages provided you help them add up their points)
Players: 2-5
Pros:  After each hand you accumulate points. The hands play pretty quickly, so really you can stop at any time, regardless of points.
Cons: The requirement to tally points at the end may be difficult for those younger than first grade.

photo credits: gameboardgeek.com and parentsconnect.com

Finding fun at the State Fair

For those local yocals who are thinking about the California State Fair, (nevermind what you were thinking) you may want to check out my articles at Davis Life Magazine.

( Part 1: http://www.davislifemagazine.com/2010/07/state-fair-for-pennies-or-less/  or Part 2:    http://www.davislifemagazine.com/2010/07/finding-fun-at-the-state-fair/ )  I have not been there since I was a kid, and was surprised at how much more is being offered nowadays.

Also, congratulations to Marc who will shortly be receiving a complimentary copy of  The Best of Friends. Thanks again to the author, Mimi K. for providing this book to give away. Marc, I will be contacting you shortly.

photo credit: RachelS543

Book Giveaway

You may remember me talking earlier about how excited I am to be staying on a farm soon. Although I can tell the kids how cool this (or any part of our upcoming trip) will be, it’s hard for them to get excited about something they’ve never seen before. That’s why I love shopping for pre-trip books. Stories and pictures are great for building some anticipation. I also love finding a few lightweight books to bring along as new surprises for bedtime.

On my last trip I brought along a wonderful book called The Best of Friends. It was given to me by the author, Mimi Keener. Inside is a compilation of adventures from the perspective of Marion and Michael, twins who grow up on a small farm in Iowa. Marion and Michael, just eight years old during a time before computers or cell phones, take on superhero identities as they explore the world around them. Each chapter is its own short story, which makes it a perfect bedtime book. I will be pulling it out again before our upcoming farm stay, but it really is a great book about growing up which can be enjoyed at any time.

A website that is great for finding destination kid books is Travel for Kids. Simply click on your destination and you’ll find recommended books for different ages. I have used this site to find good books for our upcoming west coast trip. Another site, Kids Love Travel, offers destination specific books geared more toward the mid-Atlantic region.

Honestly, I can’t wait for the new books I ordered to come in. But what is even better than getting new books is that Mimi K. has offered a signed copy of her book, The Best of Friends, for me to give away. Whether you are traveling or not this is a great book for all ages. It is hardback and the illustrations are fantastic. So from now until July 19th, leave a comment here and include your favorite kid book. It can be a book that is specific to a destination or a book that you enjoy taking with you on trips. Each comment will receive one chance to win The Best of Friends. Check back here on the 20th to find out the winner and for a compilation of the books that were recommended.

I am participating in the Mondays are for Dreaming posts, hosted by Mara at Mother of All Trips. Stop by her website to read more travel dreams.