I have been blessed with the curse of wanderlust ever since I turned 16 and bought my first car — a 1960 Studebaker Lark. Of course, in those days, a tank of gas cost about $5, and a 9-year-old vehicle could be purchased for a mere $75. In the beginning, I toured the great state of Michigan — however, these days, my favorite direction of travel is south, where the gas is cheaper and the roads are smoother (a whole lot smoother).

I have enjoyed instilling in my grandson the allure of the open road, even though the upper limits of his travel-time patience is about four hours (which is still pretty good for an 8-year-old). Every year, as he disembarked from the school bus on the last day of school, my trusty truck and I have met him with a suitcase filled with a week’s worth of clean clothes and a cooler filled with two weeks’ worth of junk food. It started as a surprise on his last day of kindergarten  and has been our tradition ever since.

This year, we ended up in and around the Great Smoky Mountains — making our base camp in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I am not much of a fan of the tourist-trap hubbub and expense of places like Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, but I am a huge fan of the mountains, history and occasional bear sightings. However, as noted previously, my traveling companion is 8-years old and does not always share my ideas of what constitutes a really good time.

One idea that we could both get behind was a whitewater rafting excursion. I have been fortunate enough to raft several rivers, beginning with the Gauley River National Recreation Area in West Virginia. Very little of the park is accessible by roads. If you want to get around, you are going to travel via the river. At the upstream end is the Summersville Dam, the only area of the park accessible by vehicle. In those days, I was younger by 35 years, lighter in girth by 35 years and had 35 years less male pattern baldness.

There are 13 rafting excursion companies headquartered along the Pigeon River Gorge, in or around Hartford, Tennessee. Most of the trips start on the upper section of the Pigeon River, at the Waterville Power Station at the Tennessee — North Carolina border, deep in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This section of the river is rated “intermediate” with class III & IV rapids. The Mighty St. Joe River is a class I — flowing water. A rapid that cannot be run, such as some waterfalls, is a class VI (Niagara is no longer a class VI because people have gone over and survived). However, a few rafting outfitters offer a trip down the lower section of the river, which is a much “calmer” (class II & III) couple of hours of enjoyment. For an 8-year-old novice and a decades old grandpa, it was the perfect choice.

At registration, we were assigned to a raft along with a family with two boys that were about the same age of my grandson and, likewise, had never been on a rafting adventure. This was definitely going to be a good time for three little boys. Our guide, Sam, educated us with his extensive knowledge of the flora and fauna, entertained us with a well-rehearsed series of corny jokes and (most importantly) kept us upright in the river. At the end of the 2-hour voyage, three kids wanted to keep going, and three adults knew those kids would be sound asleep 10 minutes after exiting the river landing.

If you ever get the chance, I recommend getting away from screen face time, social media tunnel-vision, and/or tourist trap hubbub  and take an exhilarating “float” down a forested river gorge.

Even corny jokes sound better on the river.

Larry Wilson is a mostly lifelong resident of Niles. His essays stem from experiences, compilations and recollections from friends and family. He can be reached at wflw@hotmail.com.