I have been going to Ashland for decades to see the plays. This year I decided to look for something a little different for my kids and me to enjoy. We have never done the river rafting, but now for sure they are going to push to have more trips in the future.
We were a party of 7, including 2 adults (myself and my 22-year old daughter), my 4 younger children, and my niece. My kids are ages 17, 17, 14, and 9 and my niece is 14. We all fit on one raft, with space for one more person. We had a super guide who kept us IN THE RAFT the whole time. Props to him!
We never floated for too long between rapids, just enough time for the guide to work on our timing for rowing, but not enough for people to get bored or too hot. On the class 4 rapids, my youngest sat in the middle of the boat and held on. Our guide did an amazing job of keeping us on track so that we were able to not capsize. We even got stuck on a rock at one point and had to shift our weight/positions and "bounce" for a bit to get back in the rapid, and it all worked out great!
I feel that I should mention that 2 in our group have high-functioning autism and 3 in our group have ADD! They all did really really well. It was super fun, quite easy for first-timers, and everyone wants to go back for a longer trip! The pictures they included are so awesome. What a huge value added! The van driver took lots of great shots from different parts on the route. My niece doesn't like taking photos but thanks to these pictures, I have plenty of her smiling!