If I’m going white water rafting in West Virginia, I’ve got 5 words for you: pass the bean dip. please!

A question that comes through the Songer office is, “Can a vegetarian go whitewater rafting? And if they do, will they get eaten?”

And the answer is 1) yes, and 2) no.

At first, we suggest just eating everything green but the poison ivy (makes the throat a little scratchy).  Kidding!  Then we go into serious detail about the spread that you wouldn’t believe comes out of those banged up coolers.

So let me back up to the beginning of all this…

Lunch.  It starts with a super nice guy named Kenny.  He’s the manager at Foodland where they are so kind to pack the lunches for our white water rafting trips.  The ladies in their country kitchen make as much as possible from scratch and deliver potato salad to die for!

Oh here I go getting ahead of myself again.

It actually all starts with faxing. Lots of faxes. Some people are into texting; we are into faxing.  The lunch count is sent in days ahead of time and then updated very often; we live in the moment so to speak.  From there they pack it up and deliver the lunch coolers the morning of the trip.

The lunch is then loaded on the equipment truck, driven to the river with the boats & strapped into the raft at our launching spot.  About half way through the trip, as you round the river bend to reveal a selection of sandy beaches, the trip pulls over for a picnic lunch.

The guides lay it all out: loafs of bread and deli meats—but some of us aren’t there for the meat, amiright?

Continue down the line with slices of tomato, pickles, lettuce, carrots, celery (don’t forget the ranch), strawberries and grapes, potato salad, pasta salad, peanut butter & jelly, and CoOkiEs! But I have to say, the bean dip is what gets the veggies every time, yum.

Vegetarians make for really good paddlers, and rarely get heartburn after a swim.  We’re happy to accommodate you (meat eaters. too)!