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A review by brontherun
Dories, Ho! by Matt Smith, Karen Smith
4.0
I'm addicted to the Matt and Karen Smith books and podcasts, and Dories, Ho! delivered the consistent storytelling and humor that reconfirmed my opinion of these authors as great entertainers.
As they move from hiking trail to white water, we ride along as the Smiths venture into new territory for them - group travel, white water, and camping under the stars sans tent. This satisfies my vicarious outdoor travel bug like few other books do, even though I am unlikely to ever complete a journey such as this one.
The history of the Grand Canyon and biographies of some of the notable Colorado River guides are covered, but it is the personalities of the adventures and their friends that make these trips come to life. We can easily imagine Karen and Lolly waving tourists away from the Delicate Arch so they can get a picture free of pesky visitors - with John and Matt slinking off to the car pretending they don't know the women.
As the couple considered trying out this new water travel, it revealed more about Karen's imaginary wish bucket with imaginary wishes. As Matt discovers, "Karen has a lot of dreams that she doesn't share with me until they either come true or I've dashed them somehow. Then she tells me about them." This dry humor permeates the entire story of their river rafting trip, and yet despite sarcasm and the occasional bite to the tone, the authors are obviously respectful and grateful of the park employees, vendors, river guides, and all the other staff at various locations who make their trips both possible and spectacular.
As they move from hiking trail to white water, we ride along as the Smiths venture into new territory for them - group travel, white water, and camping under the stars sans tent. This satisfies my vicarious outdoor travel bug like few other books do, even though I am unlikely to ever complete a journey such as this one.
The history of the Grand Canyon and biographies of some of the notable Colorado River guides are covered, but it is the personalities of the adventures and their friends that make these trips come to life. We can easily imagine Karen and Lolly waving tourists away from the Delicate Arch so they can get a picture free of pesky visitors - with John and Matt slinking off to the car pretending they don't know the women.
As the couple considered trying out this new water travel, it revealed more about Karen's imaginary wish bucket with imaginary wishes. As Matt discovers, "Karen has a lot of dreams that she doesn't share with me until they either come true or I've dashed them somehow. Then she tells me about them." This dry humor permeates the entire story of their river rafting trip, and yet despite sarcasm and the occasional bite to the tone, the authors are obviously respectful and grateful of the park employees, vendors, river guides, and all the other staff at various locations who make their trips both possible and spectacular.