Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

From June 28th through July 3rd, I had the privilege of being on a raft on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This was part of a family trip “for the guys.” On a trip put together by my father-in-law Allan, his two sons, me (a son in law), my three sons, two other grandsons, one grandson-in-law, and one great grandson spent five days and five nights on the Colorado River. These blog posts are part of the story.

The question people asked me on my return from the rafting trip:

So how was it?

My first answer was, “It was an ordeal.”

The trip was difficult. The water was too cold to enjoy. The sun was really hot. We camped at night on sandy beaches in the wind – the resultant mix of sand and wind was predictable. I didn’t sleep well at night. Looking at my journal notes, I took Tylenol before going to bed four nights and Excedrin three mornings when I woke.

The food was great.

There was fun. Everyday had something that I enjoyed or that was someone’s favorite. We rafted on calm water, splashed through rapids, hiked in side canyons, dove into pools in those side canyons, sat around and ate and chatted, and camped under the stars. There was something for everyone.

Everyone on the trip – all 30 individuals – enjoyed parts of the trip. Funny thing, on the morning that we left the river, no one said, “I want to stay a few more days.”

The scenery was unique. If you like to look at rocks, if you like geology, this is the single best place on the planet.

There is one great good of this trip. I learned it one evening while we were sitting around waiting for dinner. The mother of the Canadian tomato farmer sat next to my son # 2.  She was asking him questions while my nephews sat out of sight making faces. She asked how often he saw his cousins. His answer was, “Every year or two.”

That was it. These cousins catch glimpses of one another every year or two at Christmas or a wedding or something. And those are just glimpses, nothing more than, “Hi, how are you?”

On this trip, they were together every waking moment of the day for five days in a row. There was no place to go, no excuse for running to Wal-Mart or the mall, no movie on TV to quiet the conversation. They were together.

That is the great good of such a trip. You are with people all day for five days. I haven’t thought of another place or circumstance to vacation where you are with someone all the time.

So,

How was it?

It had its good and bad moments. It had its fun. It had its one great good. Something that I cannot deny, I wrote 30 blog posts about the trip. Everything I write the rest of my life will be influenced by the week. I guess that summarizes it for me. It was a big experience that added to both the breadth and depth of my life.

That is pretty good after all.