1978 – After attending St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, ROW Founder, Peter Grubb, started working as a river guide in West Virginia for a company called Wildwater Unlimited, owned by the Dragan brothers who pioneered rafting on the New River. Peter guides 111 day trips on the New and Gauley Rivers and loves it, but decides that working on longer five to six-day trips in a wilderness setting would be more fulfilling.

1979 – Returning home to California, Peter is hired to guide for ARTA and in the spring trains with them on the Colorado through the Grand Canyon, then the Main Salmon in Idaho and spends the spring guiding on the Stanislaus, American and Tuolumne Rivers. In June he heads to Idaho and does a training trip on the Selway River. Then works a full season of six-day trips on the Middle Fork and Main Salmon Rivers. In the fall he trains on the Rogue River in southwest Oregon and gets an Oregon Outfitter license. After a 10-day hike in the high Sierras to decide whether or not to start a raft company, Grubb decides that wilderness river trips are his passion, so moves to San Francisco and partners with his older brother, David. In November 1979 ROW (River Odysseys West) was listed as a California business.

1980 – ROW moves to Spokane, Washington and operates its first season on the Owyhee and Grande Ronde Rivers in eastern Oregon, taking a total of 13 people on three trips. The first four rafts are bought used from outfitter Jerry Hughes. Peter guides for other companies the rest of the season.

1981 – ROW's second season sees growth, taking 52 people on six trips on the Owyhee River and Grande Ronde River. Peter spends the rest of the summer in Alaska exploring various rivers including the Talkeetna, John, Chandalar and Kobuk. In August the State of Idaho grants ROW licenses on the Moyie River, Priest River, Kootenai River, Upper Owyhee River and Lower Salmon River. This was a major turning point for ROW and the company could now run more rivers and finally had a river, the Salmon, that had some notoriety and runs all summer long.

1982 – Peter spends most of the winter traveling and giving slide shows about rafting in Idaho and Oregon. ROW trains guides on the Spokane River and then pioneers commercial rafting trips on the Moyie River, taking about 200 people on one-day trips. Also ran trips on the Owyhee, Grande Ronde and took about 70 people on the Lower Salmon River. Future wife Betsy Bowen is hired as a guide.

1983 – Grubb buys his brother's share of the business. Does another winter tour giving slide shows from Bellingham, Washington to San Diego, California.

1984 – ROW is one of five outfitters selected by the Forest Service and Idaho Outfitters & Guides Licensing Board to outfit trips on the wild and rough Lochsa River. ROW now runs two crews of guides and gear. On September 1 Grubb marries Betsy Bowen. They lead ROW's (Remote Odysseys Worldwide) first international adventure, yachting from Rhodes, Greece to a few other Greek Islands and then along the coast of Turkey, a trip that doubles as their honeymoon.

1985 – Business grows with operations now on five different rivers and two separate crews and sets of gear. Peter and Betsy lead autumn tours in Greece and Turkey.

1986 – ROW acquires another outfitting business and begins operations on the Snake River through Hells Canyon. ROW also pioneers commercial rafting on the St. Joe River in northern Idaho. Peter is elected as vice-president of the boating section of the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association, a position he serves in for eight years.

1987 – In the spring Peter flies to Sarajevo as a guest of the Yugoslavia Tourist Board for a travel show and connects with a family that had pioneered yachting trips aboard traditional yachts called "old timers" used along the Dalmatian Coast. ROW has a great season running rivers, followed by trips in Greece and Turkey. Peter and Betsy spend a month in Algeria scouting out that location for future trips.

1988 – ROW runs its first Family Magic rafting trips on the Salmon River, soon to become one of our most successful programs. In September Peter and Betsy guide our first international yacht trip to the Adriatic Coast of former Yugoslavia, now Croatia, followed by trips in Greece and Turkey.

1989 – Ten year anniversary. ROW acquires another outfitting company and begins its famous river trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. In the fall Peter and Betsy again lead tours in Greece, Turkey and Croatia. The Berlin Wall falls in November leading to major changes in Europe and war in the former Republic of Yugoslavia. ROW suspends tours to Croatia until 1998.

1991 – ROW incorporates and becomes ROW Inc. dba River Odysseys West and Remote Odysseys Worldwide. We also get international trademark protection for the word "ROW" relating to all things travel. We begin operating raft trips on the Lower Selway River and also pioneer the concept of raft-supported hiking trips using the trail that parallels the Snake River in Hells Canyon. Mariah Grubb is born so Peter leads trips in Turkey without Betsy and trains local Turkish guides to lead future trips.

1992 – ROW begins offering self-drive and luxury barge operations in France. A draught on north Idaho rivers moves ROW one-day trips to Montana's Clark Fork where we begin operations on what later becomes ROW's biggest single day rafting trip. In early October we explore the Canal du Midi in southern France to researc

h barging trips in Europe. In November Peter and four other ROW guides travel to Ecuador and make first descents on several rivers with local guide Juan Rodriguez, most notably, the Rio Upano, a six-day trip through the Amazon rainforest.

1993 – Jonah Grubb is born in the fall. Peter spends several weeks in Ecuador leading our new rafting trip on Ecuador's Rio Upano – River of the Sacred Waterfalls.

1994 – ROW pioneers raft-supported walking trips on the Middle Fork of the Salmon. While in Ecuador leading trips, Peter travels to the Galapagos Islands and recognizes their potential for sea kayaking trips.

1995 – Companies that do rafting trips begin to see a surge of business and the only explanation seems to be the fall 1994 release of the movie "The River Wild" starring Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon.

1996 – Rafting continues to grow in popularity and ROW has a great season. In the autumn, tThe Grubb family travels to Ecuador and runs part of the Upano and then visits Kapawi Nature lodge in the Amazon Basin in order to have first-hand knowledge and offer rainforest lodges as an extension to our Ecuador trips.

1998 – In anticipation of the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, ROW does an exploratory trip on Montana's Upper Missouri River and is granted a BLM permit to run trips there. ROW returns to Croatia, working with the same family but aboard a new yacht they had built during the war years.

1999 – Twenty years in business. Upper Missouri River canoe trips are launched. ROW purchases venerable outfitter Bob Sevy's business on the Bruneau River and runs three trips on this spectacular Idaho desert river. ROW starts offering Alaska adventure cruises working closely with small owner-operated vessels.

2001 – The tragedy of 9/11 hits America. ROW guests are delayed in Europe or unable to get to their trips in Croatia, Greece, Turkey and France. No one calls to make travel plans for the next season. We separate international operations into its own entity, Remote Odysseys Worldwide, Inc.

2002 – ROW adds British Columbia adventure cruise itinerary to its international trips destinations. Peter and Betsy buy the old Syringa Café and five acres on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, future home of River Dance Lodge. Peter becomes a Board member of Idaho Rivers United, our statewide river conservation group.

2003 – ROW launches its fly fishing division. ROW meets all Lochsa guests at their new property, River Dance Lodge.

2004 – The Syringa Café opens in May and is the meeting place for ROW Lochsa guests. Construction of the cabins at River Dance Lodge begins in November.

2005 – River Dance Lodge opens with eight log cabins in the hamlet of Syringa to become Idaho's first adventure resort and base of operations for ROW's Clearwater, Lochsa and Selway rafting trips. In November Peter, Betsy and Juan run the final shakedown exploratory trip in the Galapagos Islands along with writer Tim Neville.

2006 – ROW's new trip in the Galapagos Islands is featured in the New York Times travel section. Trips begin in March, called "Galapagos Unbound" – a multisport adventure

on these iconic islands. ROW becomes the first and only outfitter offering seas kayaking and camping on the archipelago. Due to demand from our guests going on Galapagos trips, ROW begins offering extensions to Peru.

2007 – In the spring the entire Grubb family travels to Baja, California to research sea kayaking trips there. ROW opened the doors of the ROW Adventure Center in Coeur

d'Alene, ID and offered its trips inside a small retail outlet.

2008 - ROW Adventures is named one of the "Best Travel Companies on Earth" by National Geographic Adventure Magazine in their first such round up of top outfitters around the world. In the spring President Obama signs a law that designates the Owyhee and Bruneau Rivers as "Wild & Scenic Rivers" as well as creating 300,000 new acres of Wilderness in Idaho. The Grubb family spends their spring break in Jamaica to develop a new multisport tour in this island nation. In August we move our downtown location and consolidate our offices and retail outlet. In September Peter travels to Brazil to research a new trip. The winter is busy with operations in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.

2009 - We celebrate our 30th year in business! In the midst of an economic downturn, we expand our local operations and the ROW Adventure Center starts offering kayak trips on Lake Coeur d'Alene, bicycle tours in North Idaho and Eastern Washington and we open a new branch location in Spokane, Washington (just 30 minutes away) with river rafting on the Spokane River and bike tours on the Centennial Trail. We start offering kayak trips to Baja California and our new Brazil adventure wins Top Tours of a Lifetime award from Nationa. ROW Adventures is once again named one of the "Best Travel Companies on Earth" by National Geographic Adventure Magazine.

2010 - We reposition River Dance Lodge as more of a guest ranch experience, with integrated packages that include accommodations, meals and activities. We begin our first five-day bike tour in North Idaho, called the Bitterroot Bonanza and it wins "Top 25 New Trips for 2010" by National Geographic Adventure Magazine. We introduce our "Culinary Whitewater Series" of trips.

2011 – ROW expands to the Rogue River in southwestern Oregon by purchasing White Water Warehouse from retiring owners. We enjoy a very successful season of lodge-based wilderness rafting trips on the Rogue. At this point ROW offers tours in 17 countries around the world and runs more rivers in the northwestern United States than any other outfitter. Ten people work in our office year round and a crew of over 70 guides and support personnel keep operations humming.