5 Rafting Trips for Families and Beginners
Whitewater rafting can be fun and exhilarating. It can also be scary and dangerous if you venture out by yourself in an area that's rated way above your experience level. But, are there rafting trips which offer fun and excitement, but still mild enough for beginners and children? Absolutely. Here are a few you might consider.
1. Little Gore Canyon – Near Denver, Colorado
With a rating of Class I to III, the Little Gore Canyon section of the Colorado River offers mild yet exciting whitewater suitable for beginners and families with children. You can enjoy Little Gore Canyon in a raft, kayak, inflatable kayak or a canoe.
Companies which offer rafting trips for families in Little Gore Canyon include:
Bill Dvorak's Kayak & Rafting Expeditions
Providing expeditions since 1969, Dvorak's was Colorado’s first licensed outfitter. They offer 2-day family expeditions in Little Gore Canyon, with meals included. For more information, call them at 800-824-3795.
Rancho Del Rio
Offers half and full-day trips with lunch included, as well as an overnight and three-day trip with choice of three meal plans. Call them at 970-653-4431 for more information.

2. San Miguel River – Near Telluride, Colorado
A rafting trip along the San Miguel River near Telluride, Colorado will provide you with Class II and occasional Class III rapids, along with spectacular scenery of red rock cliffs and alpine terrain. This trip is great for beginners and families with children over 10 years of age.
Companies which offer rafting trips for families along the San Miguel River include:
Mild to Wild Rafting & Jeep Trail Tours, Inc.
Trip leaders average 3,000 river miles (the state of Colorado requires 750), and they offer shuttles around rapids for kids and elders. Mild to Wild offers 1-day, 2-day or 3-day trips down the San Miguel River, including meals on the river and in camp.
Bill Dvorak's Kayak & Rafting Expeditions
They offer 1 to 5-day family rafting expeditions along the San Miguel River, with meals included. For more information, call them at 800-824-3795. If you wish longer trips of 6 to 12 days, you can combine a trip on the San Miguel River with a trip on the Dolores. are available by combining the San Miguel with the Dolores.

3. Upper New River – South Central West Virginia
Beginners will appreciate the "beginner-friendly" rapids of the Upper New River, rated I to III in difficulty. An added feature is the incredibly beautiful scenery and the belief by some that the New River is the world's 2nd oldest river.
Companies which offer family rafting trips on the Upper New River include:
Rivermen
Offers a 1-day family rafting trip package on the Upper New River which includes 2 nights lodging, 1 breakfast buffet, 1 lunch buffet and 1 dinner buffet. You have many different types of lodging to choose from, including cabin, RV, camping, cabin tent or the Quality Inn. If you want more adventure to go with your rafting, Rivermen also offers multi-sport, multi-day adventure packages, such as a rafting and climbing package, a rafting, climbing and jetboat package, or a rafting, climbing, jetboat and horseback riding package. Call them at 800-545-7238 for more information.
4. South Fork of the American River – near Sacramento, California
The South Fork of the American River is a favorite in California, rated a Class II and III and suitable for beginners and children ages 7 and above. The 3-mile, Class II "Coloma to Lotus" stretch of the South Fork is a perfect place for novices to try out rafting. You will also enjoy the scenery of oak and pine forests.
Companies which offer family rafting trips on the South Fork include:
O.A.R.S.
Has been in business for over 30 years and offers a 2-day rafting trip on the South Fork, which includes lunch and dinner and overnight camping at River’s Bend Resort in Coloma, as well as breakfast the next morning. Call them at 800-346-6277 for more information.
American Whitewater Expeditions
Offers half, full and 2-day trips on the South Fork, as well as family midweek specials of 1 and 2-day trips. For those of you in Southern California, American Whitewater Expeditions has a special 2-day South Fork trip with round trip deluxe bus from Orange County, Los Angeles or San Fernando. And for those family members or friends who don't wish to raft but wish to camp at the company's campsite, they have a special of 2-nights camping and 4 meals for $69. Call 877-825-3206 for more information.
5. Upper Main Salmon River – near Sun Valley, Idaho
This section of the Salmon River in the Sawtooth Wilderness Area provides mild Class II rapids with some thrilling Class III rapids to provide the beginner and veteran alike with a very enjoyable rafting adventure.
Companies which offer beginner and family trips on the Salmon River include:
White Cloud Rafting Adventures
Offering half and full-day Class II and III trips suitable for beginners and children. Half-day trips include a snack, full-day trips include lunch. They also offer half-day scenic float trips for those who want an even milder trip down the Salmon River. This trip is a smooth and easy float with Class II rapids. Call them at 800-571-RAFT for more information.
Whichever river and outfitter you choose, do remember to apply sunscreen and wear water shoes or tennis shoes (no flip-flops), and bring a change of clothes. And do be careful, whitewater rafting can be addictive.
Visit Boating Vacations website, where you can learn more about whitewater rafting vacations and West Virginia rafting.


Basic Trout Fishing Tactics
It's always a good idea to learn new tips and tactics that may help you catch more fish while fishing, and in the case of this article, more trout while trout fishing. In this article I'm going to discuss some basic trout fishing tactics, all of which I've been using to catch trout for more than 20 years. These basic trout fishing tactics are the kind that never go out of style, and will enable you to be a much better trout angler. Keep in mind that these tactics will work for almost any fish that swims in the flowing waters of rivers and streams throughout the country, but they work especially well on trout.
Before I get into any details, let's start with your rod, reel, and line. If you're planning on going trout fishing, make sure that you're using a rod and reel that are light action at the heaviest. I prefer ultra light action rods and reels for trout fishing, but light action is also tolerable. Anything heavier than light action, should not be used for trout fishing. How about your fishing line? Again, for trout fishing, no line heavier than 6 lb. test should be used. As far as fishing line is concerned, I prefer four pound test, but again, six pound is tolerable. Anything heavier than six pound test should not be used. Fish, and especially trout, is most river and stream situations are very light sensitive and can detect fishing line in the water, which will result in many less bites if your line is too heavy. Now that we have that worked out, let's move onto some of the basic trout fishing tactics.

Efficiency - The first basic trout fishing tactic is to be as efficient as possible. The more time that can be spent with our line is the water, the better, and one of the best ways to spend moiré time with your line in the water is through the use of a bait bag. A bait bag is simply a small bag that carries your bait while fishing. A bait bag is especially good for live worms. This way you don't have to waste valuable fishing time searching for your bait. Instead it's always right there at your fingertips whenever you need it. A bait bag will save you a ton of time and help you catch more trout. I've been using one for years and wouldn't even consider fishing without it.
Bait Presentation - Bait presentation is crucial for all fishing, but especially trout fishing in river and stream situations. My favorite bait is live worms, and the best tactic for presenting live worms in a natural manner is through the use of gang hooks. If you don't know what gang hooks are, you need to educate yourself. Gang hooks are simply a pair of small hooks tied in tandem that enable live bait (especially live worms) to be presented naturally. Think about it. What does a live worm look like in nature? Well, a set of gang hooks enables you to present a worm outstretched so that it looks like it does in nature, rather than like a "worm ball". Presenting live bait (especially live worms) naturally is a basic trout fishing tactic that many anglers overlook.
Bottom Is Your Friend - Bottom is your friend when fishing for trout in river and stream situations. Bouncing your live bait off of the bottom, as it flows naturally downstream is a deadly trout fishing tactic. I've always found that this works best with live worms, but baits like meal worms, minnows, and crayfish are effective as well. When bouncing your bait off of the bottom, snags will occur. It's just a part of trout fishing. As my mentor used to tell me, "if you're not getting snagged, you're not fishing in the right place.".

These basic trout fishing tactics will enable you to catch more trout almost immediately. The only thing that's required of you is a little practice. The more you begin to employ these tactics, the more proficient you will become. And the more proficient you become, the more trout you will catch. And as I eluded to earlier, these tactics work the same for most fish that swim in the flowing water of rivers and streams, not just trout.

Trevor Kugler is co-founder of JRWfishing.com and an avid angler. He has more than 20 years experience fishing for all types of fish, and 15 years of business and internet experience. He currently raises his three year old daughter in the heart of trout fishing country…..Montana!

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Customizable Flash Games: Be A Monkey
Flash game designers are looking for new, innovative ways to draw attention to their creations these days. Free flash games are being played by millions of people online daily, but some designers are making their games customizable to put a new twist into an already popular internet arcade.
Many people got a chance to play the very popular elf game during Christmas 2006, created by Office Max, where a user could upload any face image, which would replace the elf’s default face. The result was about a thirty-second elf song and dance that provided hours of fun and laughs. Some of these creations can still be viewed by searching for the terms ‘elf yourself’ on Youtube.
Does anyone remember how bad we treated substitute teachers in school? Honestly, it seems pretty cruel to think of how students act when there is a sub in the classroom. Spitballs slapped the chalkboard, pencils stuck down from the acoustic ceiling tiles, and even disgusting sounds were made behind the teacher’s back. These are just a few of the classroom assault tactics that we are familiar with. I mean, think about it. Your boss or teacher is driving you nuts. In fact, they are annoying just about everyone. What better way to have some fun at their expense than by pasting their faces on a dancing elf? Now that we are armed with free weapons of ridicule on our PC that give us a harmless, yet hilarious platform for hours of endless fun, we can put down the erasers and let everyone in on the joke.
These types of flash games are fun for a small audience. But why stop there? We can now feature a bald Britney Spears, or a jailed Paris Hilton in our spoofs, for the entire world to see on sites such as Youtube. Why limit the viewing audience to a small handful? It is much more fun for millions of people to see our creations. Isn’t having your productions seen by the world, the new wave of the internet?
What is yet to come in flash media? 3d flash games are just around the corner. There’ll be nothing like being ‘in the game’. While sporting a nifty pair of 3d glasses and experiencing animation like never before, the PC gamer will get to see quite an improvement since the Jaws 3d movie debuted. Hopefully with the purchase of a PC Gamer magazine, we’ll get to play shorts created by the likes of Halo and Starcraft animation teams. These companies, who are already leading the pack in the design of action console games, will give you a 3d glimpse of their games in flash format to reach out to new online customers.
What is already here? Current technology has recently been responsible for design of a powerful development library, which allows creation of Macromedia Flash and Java based flash games and applications with advanced motion detection capability. In simple terms, this means users can play 80s classic Breakout, using only their hands to bat the ball and hit the blocks. Other games let you play simply by waving your hand in front of a webcam, such as an Air Drums game.
Flash game designers are ready and willing to try anything that gamers desire. Companies like Animated Marketing, are asking flash gamers to send their ideas for consideration to be created into flash media animation and free games. Apparently no idea is too outlandish. They want to provide more of what people are looking for in flash games and media.
Whether you want to see your boss dancing around in a monkey’s body, or play classic Breakout without a keyboard or mouse, flash programmers are giving online users hours of free, addictive fun.
Summary: Free flash games are in abundance online. Making these games customizable is one of the newest trends in flash gaming.
About Author: Bryan Robinson, President of Animated Marketing, created the funny flash game, Be the Monkey, which is featured at http://www.bannergame.com.