21 Days on the Grand

2008-01-11 6:36 pm

A dream fulfilled

by Leslie Dopp

Well we finally did it! We became part of the lucky who get to experience this amazing place. The Grand had been waiting for us for 8 years and we finally got our chance to go. I put my name on the wait list in 1998 with much anticipation and hope. The wait list did not get any shorter and our frustration got more intense. I mean come on...I'm the only raft guide in the United States who hasn't been down the Grand Canyon! And then you would hear of random non-raft guides getting to go 4 and 5 times! It wasn't fair!

But then somehow the Universe heard my message and gave me her answer. The Lottery! The National Park Service decided to get rid of the too long wait list and go to a lottery system. I can win the lottery! I've had pretty good luck lately winning things so this one has got to work.

My husband Matt and I both put in for the lottery starting in 2005. We applied and didn't win. We did the same thing for the next year's lottery in 2006. Didn't win. We were pretty bummed. We then realized that they had "follow up" lotteries. What was that? It was when people who had won the lottery and then canceled their date at the last minute. We could get lucky here...

I sat there at the computer in shock and disbelief. We are going to the Grand Canyon! Wow. I couldn't believe it. I then realized we had a lot of work to do with only 2 months to plan the trip of a lifetime. We scrambled to find people to go who didn't have to work and had a $1000 to spare. We then had to find someone to do our food and shuttle. We ended up getting 12 people to go all together, some from Ashland and Kokopelli River Guides, others from Seattle, Bend, and Colorado. We had PRO do our food and shuttle and we brought all of our own 14' to 16' rafts. The stars were aligned and it all worked out.

I have to say that this was the perfect trip. We went for 21 days rafting and kayaking from Oct 27th through Nov 16th under sunny skies with temperatures in the 60's and 70's with only one night of drizzle and sleeping under star drenched skies. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. The Universe gave me what I asked for- a dream of a lifetime.

I'll be back..

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Kokopelli River Guides provides half day, full day, and overnight whitewater rafting, paddling, kayaking,and kayak lessons on
Southern Oregon’s Rogue and Owyhee rivers and Northern California’s Klamath, California Salmon, and Scott rivers near Ashland, Oregon for the vacation traveler.
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