trip; I never wanted to go home. That trip was especially special because it was the first of the family rafting vacations after every one of our kids had left home.

My husband’s favorite of the family rafting vacations was the trip we took when our kids were all still in junior high and high school. We drove to Maine and rafted down the Kennebec and Penobscot Rivers. I had fun on that trip, too, but it was a long hard drive to Maine with four kids.

The rules for our family rafting vacations have evolved over the years. One of the biggest rules recently has been no cell phones. I cannot stand cell phones. My kids all have their own cell phones, of course, and my husband has one as well. I refuse to own one and collect them all from my family members at the beginning of the family rafting vacations.

My daughter’s favorite family rafting vacations were the two that we’ve taken in Arkansas. I’m not really sure why she is so taken with Arkansas. I liked the Buffalo River a lot and it had some surprising things, but I still liked the Rio Grande better. The most unusual thing about the family rafting vacations to Buffalo River in Arkansas was that we actually heard the bugle of a bull elk both times.

My husband and I are no longer the final decision makers about our family rafting vacations. Now that our children are all adults, they fully participate in the process. I voted no for the trip to Florida, but I was outvoted. The next one in our long line of family rafting vacations will occur next year in Florida.