Taking the Kids: When you can't let it rain on your parade
We're soaked through, despite good rain gear. But no one is heading indoors. Did I mention we are on bikes? "This is the first time I've seen people actually choose to bike in the rain," my daughter Reggie Foldes said.
At least it wasn't cold -- or too hot. I'm impressed that our entire Backroads group of 30 opted to bike this afternoon, despite the downpour, despite the option to have spent the afternoon indoors on the AMA Waterways river cruise ship that is our floating hotel.
The photo ops were supposed to be amazing -- we were, after all, in the beautiful Wachau Valley of Austria, famous for its vineyards and apricots. In fact, we biked through orchards with just-ripening apricots, apples and pears. "Gorgeous," said Ariana Fabian, 26, traveling with her mom from Atlanta. "The rain didn't bug me unless we stopped, and then I got cold."
The cool, soaking rain was a marked contrast to the nearly 100-degree temperatures and scorching sun we encountered on the first two days of the trip.
"It seemed kind of mystical," added Jacqueline Clemons, celebrating her 18th birthday on this rainy day. "It was really pretty and added to the adventure."
The thing about any adventure trip -- any vacation that involves being outdoors in fact -- is that you can't let less-than-perfect weather stop you. Once, before I realized that, we were scheduled to hike to the Appalachian Mountain Clubin the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I called ahead to see if we should still go in the rain, and the person on the other end of the phone just laughed at me. We went.
On another trip we hiked more than 14 miles from Crested Butte to Aspen in Colorado -- an iconic hike many take every summer to see the wildflowers and the mountain views. It poured the last five miles, leaving us sloshing through mud and over slick rocks.
I've been in Orlando when a tropical storm forced the theme parks to close (a perfect opportunity for a long lunch and shopping at Disney Springs, home to among other stores, the largest Disney store in the world) and in Hawaii when a day-long downpour kept us off the beach (and sent us to the spa.)
The thing about bed weather on vacation: You can't let it keep you from having fun. It can also be a good opportunity to show the kids how to navigate when plans go awry and how to work as a team.
Maybe you will do something else or maybe, as we did in Austria, you just keep smiling and shoulder through. (For ideas on what to do inside and outside this summer, check out our new Taking the Kids 51 Great Summer Vacation Ideas.
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