In 2017 we camped at Blue Lake Resort with 4 other families. To entice our teenagers to join us, we needed an exciting activity. It had to be thrilling enough for the young and young at heart and safe enough for those who didn’t want to admit they weren’t either of those. After much research we agreed river rafting fit the bill. Safety was a key factor, we had some nervous swimmers and some even more nervous moms, so we needed to go with a reputable company. Based on location and company reviews we decided to go with REO River Rafting.
Being a large group we booked the activity several months in advance. The company required we prepay to secure our spot and we were happy to accommodate. Due to the kids schedules we only had Saturday open so we went ahead and booked it. Everyone was very excited and it seemed to get the kids keen to attend.
A ROUGH START
As the trip approached we were all very excited. A couple of weeks out we received an email from the company advising they needed to move us to Sunday morning. We had been bumped for a bigger booking and the sad proof money talks $$$. This was very disappointing because we had booked and paid for 15 spots well in advance and the only day that worked was Saturday. The short notice didn’t give us time to book with another company and the solutions they offered were not ideal. After several back and forth emails we agreed to a time that was okay and a small discount was offered. We were not pleased but there wasn’t much we could do, the kids were exciting to raft and the company would not give us a booking on Saturday. What was even more disappointing was that 2 days before our trip one of our group injured their back and when we called to ask for a refund we were denied. It seemed they were able to make changes to the reservation but we were not. Not very impressive customer service but we had paid and needed to make the best of it.
BUT A STRONG FINISH
Our first job was to get all our gear. The system very efficient and they had suitable sizes to accommodate all of us. Once we geared up we headed off on our trip and had 3 rafts. The guides split our group by size and by options of who wanted the front (wet) seats and who wanted the safer ride. Of course the kids all wanted to be in the front. The rapids were perfect for our experience level and the guides were competent and fun. We had time to jump in and swim, time to splash fellow rafters and time to paddle hard through the rapids. As most companies, they had an employee taking photos from the banks and each boat was able to purchase their digital photos. All three boats purchased the package and it gave us great memories and lots of laughs.
After rafting our package offered a light lunch of sandwiches, salads and plenty of wasps. We also had time to look around the facilities. It’s a really neat set up. They had a hot tub, great fire pit seating area and volleyball nets for those who wanted to partake. The company also offers luxury yurts to book if you want a 2 or more day excursion. Some of the yurts over-looked the river bank and were very enticing. There is quite a variety of trips offered; yoga retreats, various lengths of rafting trips and romantic get aways. The options are not cheap but they look like a lot of fun and the yurts looked very comfortable. If this is a vacation that interests you it would be worth checking out
Even though we had a tough start to our adventure I would still recommend this activity and with some reservations I would also recommend the company. They could have done a few things to provide better customer service and had they handled the situation better this might have been a raving rafting review. At the end of the day we all left happy, had great memories and photos to take with us.
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