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Family Trips

What is a family trip What to Expect How Do We Do It Guide Support Camping Making a Reservation	What is a Family Trip  Western Spirit Cycling has created a series of mountain bike trips specifically for families. Our Family Trips can accommodate both children who have begun to ride their own bikes, and those who need a tow from mom or dad. These trips make it possible for you to take your family into the backcountry for a fun, safe relaxing mountain bike vacation. As usual our trucks carry all the camping gear and our guides do all the cooking.  What to Expect  On our family tours we bring additional guides especially equipped with a large array of games, toys, arts and crafts designed to both entertain and educate your children about the natural and cultural history of the areas we visit. We build sedimentary layers to explain geology, do scavenger hunts for flowers and pine cones, and look for fossils and Indian ruins. The result is actual relaxation for the parents and big fun for the kids. We work to group families with children of similar ages. Children can ride their own bikes, ride a trail-a-long bike behind mom or dad, or ride in a Burley trailer. The result is outdoor fun for the kids and refreshing relaxation for you.  How do we do it   Mornings: A typical day on one of our family tours begins with a big Western Spirit breakfast. After which we prepare for the morning's ride. This is usually a short 4-8 mile section on a flat easy trail with our support van in close proximity. Everyone is encouraged to participate in this part of the day. The guides coach the kids with pointers and various distractions including singing and story telling. Before we know it the entire entourage has arrived at the lunch spot, where we enjoy a picnic Western Spirit style. Afternoons: After lunch, the kids pile into the support vehicle and either sag the group or head to camp. Either way the guides have a large bag of entertaining tricks. Once at camp, a special play tent is set up to house drawing and games. Scavenger hunts and fossil expeditions are launched. Meanwhile the parents can choose between heading to camp with the kids, or doing a ride on either a double track or singletrack trail. This way, everyone is able to do as much riding as they like. Evenings: Between 3:00 and 4:00 everyone returns to camp for naps, reading and solar showers. Hors d'oeuvres are served while the guides prepare dinner. Special requests are happily catered to and dessert is served around the campfire. What do you need to bring? You can either bring your own (or rent from us) a bike with helmet, tents, sleeping bags, and sleeping pads. All other camping equipment is provided by Western Spirit. When you sign up for a tour, we send you a "what to bring list." You will need several warm layers and rain gear for everyone. Even on our desert trips, the weather is variable. And though we choose our destinations with the seasonal climate in mind, try as we might we cannot control the weather. If everyone has proper gear, a storm can add fun and excitement to the adventure. Give us a call for more information. We can help you decide which trip will fit the needs of your family.  Guide Support  We've specifically hired guides who have an afinity for kids, some are teachers through the year and some have been involved in other forms of kid's outdoor programs. Our family trips are supported with three guides, where two of the guides are making the trip happen - cooking, setting up camp etc. and the third guide's role is to entertain your kids. Funny it seems to work the other way in a lot of cases - your kids entertain us! Either way, you are free to read a book at camp, do more riding at your own pace or join in the bike limbo.  Camping  Camping and kids go together like peanut butter and jelly. The great thing about a family trip is that your kids have a peer group and you have a peer group too. Everyone has someone to play with! Since our trucks carry all the gear, the camping is pretty comfortable. Our guides do all the cooking, so you are free to explore the area, take a nap, or have a cocktail. Plentiful fresh food, solar showers, and our Maine loungers make the starlit nights both comfortable and unforgettable.  The Menu  On our family camping tours, our support vehicle carries a full kitchen, complete with Dutch ovens and giant coolers. The Western Spirit menu is healthy and abundant. All our ingredients are fresh and plentiful. We try to have the kids enjoy the same offerings, but if spongebob squarepants mac & cheese is what they need after their day of riding...well... OK! Breakfasts include blueberry pancakes and sausage, eggs and potatoes, French toast and bacon, steel cut oatmeal, and our now famous Western Spirit Breakwiches. Fruit salad and cereal are also available. Lunches often include sandwiches with cold cuts, cheeses and fresh sliced veggies plus a lunch salad of Asian slaw or Jane's famous sun dried tomato couscous. We also serve turkey grape wraps, cashew chicken pitas, taco salad burritos and a greek lunch spread with tabouli, hummus and feta balsamic salad. Peanut butter and jelly is always a staple too! Our dinners include gourmet burgers with fresh veggies, teriyake ginger grilled chicken breast and barbeque chicken for the kids, fettucini alfredo with a choice of plain red sauce for the kids and steak fajitas with all the fixin's. Desserts include chocolate fondue, hot carrot cake or Dutch oven brownies, and of course smores. We make it all right there in our camp kitchen before your very eyes. Special dietsare no problem, just let us know on the Registration Form you will find in your confirmation package.  Contact Us  Families tend to plan early, so our family dates fill quickly. Give us a call and let us know when you'd like to travel and we'll help you choose a trip.  MAKING A RESERVATION  When you make your decision, call us to confirm your choice and reserve your spot with a credit card deposit of $400 per person. You may also click on "Book This Trip" from the trip page to register on-line.  Your final balance for your trip is due at 60 days before the trip start date. We strongly recommend travel insurance. This can be purchased through us when you place your deposit. We work with CSA Travel Protection and more information can be obtained from their website CSA Travel Protection.

"Meagan and Kiran were wonderful, fun, hard-working, pleasant, and great to be with!! They made the trip extra special with the Easter egg hunt, the pinata, and all the encouragement they gave my nephew and me. "

Nancy McRae, April 2004