Every season I look forward to the last trip of the season. I love that my husband loves his job. I love my husband’s job. I just don’t love how much of Riv’s life Ben has missed.
This season has been the hardest one ever. They are always hard for me because my anxiety intensifies and depression creeps in due to the loneliness. This season I haven’t been lonely, but truly overwhelmed. I have mentioned to more than one person that somehow in the planning of our family I “forgot” how much I would be on my own with our baby. I was quite simply just overjoyed & excited about the concept to the point that I never stopped to think how hard it would be.
It was no big deal over summer when I had all day at home with Riv to get just one load of diaper laundry done. Balancing work & Riv & diaper laundry & showers & teacher clothes laundry & work meetings & nap schedules & sleep for myself… I just haven’t figured out how to balance it all.
To be honest, I wouldn’t be functioning on the level that I currently am without my mom. She has been a lifesaver in all of this craziness for us. We are truly lucky to have her taking care of Riv during the day while I am at work. He loves her so much and I love to see his face light up & hear his excited squeal every time she comes to our house.
Ben will be calling me tomorrow as his last trip of the season ends at Lake Mead.
He will take his last ride of the season in the semi back to the warehouse.
He will pack away his gear after the last trip of the season.
Then he will come home to his family. ❤
a river guide's wife 
Hi Heather!
My friend came over today to make pesto with me with the overabundance of basil she has growing in her garden. For awhile, we have talked about starting a support group for river guide’s wives. She was thinking of starting a blog for it, and googled “river guides wives”. Your blog popped up. It’s funny because our husbands all work for the same company! My husband is Latimer Smith. (I’m Megan, and I have known Ben for a few years.) Her husband is Corey Chatwin. (Her name is Jenny.) So it sounds like we’re all happy the river season is over! If you need a support group next summer…we are out there! 🙂 My email is milesmegan@yahoo.com. I have a blog too…I just started it. It’s http://riversmiths.wordpress.com/
Hi Megan,
That’s so funny that you found me through a google search. I just rebranded my blog about a month ago with the new name. I figured since my life revolves around that river schedule, my blog identity might as well match it too. Now that I’ve had a chance to add it all up I realize that you & Latimer are the parents-to-be that we passed the “river guide” cloth diapers on to! I think that also means your due date is quickly approaching! So exciting! Ben can’t stop talking about how he thinks you two will make great parents! 🙂
I’m so glad to finally be connecting with other river guide wives! It is indeed a unique life we lead. I’ve found that most women whose husband’s have normal schedules don’t get it at all. I’ve also found that some military wives get it, but their situation is much more complex than ours. It’s definitely hard to find anyone that can identify with the bizarre schedules our husbands have. My emails are in the sidebar of my blog front page. You can probably also find me on Facebook through Ben’s profile.
Hello Heather! It’s Jenny. I was so surprised and happy to have found your blog and glad that Megan searched it out too. I can so relate to this post and the river guide schedule (that we mark up with lines saying that end with the word”Home”. I can relate to your loneliness and overwhelm-ed-ness at times. It is different than any other life. It’s also fun to have honeymoon feelings every 8 days or so. I like your blog and your amazing photos! Keep it up, and let’s definitely keep in touch. Enjoy your Fall. 🙂
Also..check out my blog. I’ve had it for a few years now.