Adrift Adventure

I booked a trip down the Westwater Canyon with Adrift for four of us, four months out since it fills up quickly. I called two weeks before we arrived just to make sure the reservations were in order. The owner, Mike took our credit card number at the time of booking and said he was going to charge our card for the entire amount , so I felt safe about our space on the trip. We arrived in Moab and decided to check in and fill out the paperwork with Adrift two days before the date just to save the hassle of last minute details. We bought some river shoes for one of our boys and said good-bye. The day came for our trip. We stayed at Red Cliffs lodge ( loved it , by the way) and awaited Adrift's arrival due at 7:30am. While checking in with the front desk, they announced Adrift was runnig late. At 8:00am, the Adrift bus arrived.The four of us went to load up but the driver said it was not our bus and to wait for the next one.A half hour expired when I became concerned.To shorten the story, our name was not on the driver's list. In short, he was supposed to pick us up. The front desk called and had them hold the entire launch for us while a new driver came to retrieve us fourty minutes later. O.K., it was a mess, but we finally got there. We had to quickly grab a life vest and board! There was no time for information or details. The river is exqusite in every way , the landscape and scenery compelling and beautiful. The" big save" was our guide Dallas, a charming , engaging young man in his mid twenties. His younger brother, Kellan, was the captain of another ratf in front of us. They were quite the pair! I have to say, they worked their butts off rowing the entire day while entertaining us with conversation and knowledge of the river and wildlife. The first half of the trip was slow with eye candy scenery. We stopped for lunch, then off to the rapids.I have to give them both a " high five" for their skills through the "class four," washing machine ride....fun, fun fun! After the roller coaster , they allowed us to float with our life vests in the mighty Colorado. This was a true thrill. We reboarded the raft on to calm waters where Dallas and Kellan joined the rafts attaching a small outboard motor to propell us down a seven mile, slow current to the end of our journey. This is when I lost it. The motor kept shutting down every two minutes or so. The brothers did everything in their power to start the engine , over and over. At one point they thought they might have to hand row us back , which would have taken forever.The motor finally died a couple hundred yards from the final destination. I was infuriated Mike, the owner would send us out with a motor that looked like a hundred year old grandmother. Do the visual and you will understand. Overall, we payed alot of money for this trip and expected a little more. All I can say is, Mike, " get a new outboard on that raft and all is forgiven! Would we do it again? Heck yeah!