Getting on With the Story

Part Two -

I telephoned the ranger who reported that Love Man and Fred had started out around 5:00 a.m. Fred felt so ill that he came back and was planning to hike out of the canyon the next morning. One of his children was going to drive and pick him up.

I did suggest that maybe Fred should take a mule to the top. "Mules are just not readily available," she grouched at me. I did find out that mules would be available on Monday. A lot of hikers have their stuff schelped to the top via mule. They are a huge part of the canyon culture.

I texted Amy with the latest development about LM and Fred. The hiking group was going to leave at 9:30 as scheduled, but one van with Amy, Amy's husband and two other couples were going to wait for LM. It is about a five hour hike out of the North Rim of the canyon and it is all uphill. One hour per mile is how is it calculated. They thought LM would be out by 10:00 a.m.

As it was Sunday, I was "making" the girls go to Sunday School and Confimation (depending upon the child). We were basically ready to leave by 8:30 and were hanging around until it was time to go. My phone was ringing inside my purse and I missed the call. I told the girls, "this will be about Daddy." Although I have to say, the girls were completed unphased by all of this. I guess they are used to it. It is always something.

It was the exhibition leader. She walked to know what I knew as I had been talking to Amy. I told her, "please know I texted you, Amy and Amy's husband initially." She was wanting to know if anyone was caring for Fred and what was going on with him. I told her all that I knew. She said she had tried to call the number I had gleaned from *69 and that no one answered. "Yeah," I said, "that ranger had somewhere to be."

I told her I would email Fred's house in an attempt to get a hold of his wife. I also found an address on the internet and said I would go over there and ask Fred's wife to call her. I dropped the girls off at church and headed over there. There was no answer and the house looked almost as if no one lived there. Who knows. I also called two numbers I had gotten from directory assistance and they were the wrong Freds.

I phoned Diana, the exhibition leader, and gave her the report and said, "I have done all that I can do. You will have to wait to talk to Love Man." Church had started 20 minutes prior, so I skipped it and went to Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market instead.

Later it occurred to me, I went to this house at 8:30 in the morning wearing a dress, heels and a little sweater. Good God, they probably thought I was a Jehovah's Witness. Might have been the reason the house seemed so vacant.

Tune in tomorrow for final installment of this saga.

The Rest of the Story

Love Man went up to the Grand Canyon this weekend for his first ever Rim to Rim hike.
By rim 2 rim (as this group calls it), the group would hike down from the South Rim, walk along the bottom of the canyon and then hike up to the North Rim. They began at Bright Angel
Trail, which is on the South Rim. It is approximately a 12 hour hike.

Love Man was down in the bottom of the canyon, past Phantom Ranch when he came across one the guys in the group, who was sitting under a tree. This guy, I am going to call him "Fred", was not doing very well. Love Man proceeded to continue to hike with him, stopping several times for him to rest. Eventually they ran into a ranger, who assessed the situation and told Fred to lie in a stream. He needed to get his core temperature down. I guess the stream was super cold.

Fred did not bring a lot of water and no food. As a triathlon athlete, he thought he could use those gel snacks for this trek. He is an experienced hiker.

They continued on and the ranger thought they such rest at the caretaker's cottage. By now, it was late in the afternoon and they still had to climb the nearly five miles out of the North Rim of the canyon. In other words, they were about 4 - 5 hours out.

Betsy, or something like that, suggested that they stay the night. This ranger was super helpful.
Love Man proceeded to phone me. It came up on our caller ID, which flashes on our TV,
"United States Federal Government".

Blonde Girl answered the phone and he asked for me. "Ummm, just letting you know I am staying the night near Cottonwood Campground at the caretaker's cottage." He proceeds to tell me the story about Fred. "Yes, he is ill as he did not eat the right food." "How are you?" I asked. "Oh, fine, my knees are a little sore." "Do you have enough food?" I quizzed. "Oh, yes,
we are eating ramon noodles right now. I have to go, Fred needs to phone his wife."

I texted three people in the group. Love Man also said that Betsy was going to let another ranger know. Finally, after the group waited for them to come out. My friend, Amy got the
message. She phoned me using another person's phone as none of this technology works
very well at the Grand Canyon. I think she had to hang off the edge of the canyon to make the call to me.

She wanted to know what happened and how Fred was. I relayed all that I knew. The plan was that LM and Fred would leave first thing in the morning and complete the hike. The ETA was around 10:00 in the morning. I went to bed wondering if LM was sleeping on the floor or outside. I hoped he had enough food for tomorrow. There are water stations all over the place, so I was not worried about his water situation.

Another party had to spend the night. A famous Northern Arizona judge, who is retired, and his former clerk were also staying. The judge, an avid hiker, had been having trouble with his legs. They were very wobbly, but he had somehow continued on until he reached the caretaker's cottage. His son eventually arrived at Phantom Ranch passing out and hitting his head on a rock. He had to be evacuated out. Somehow they all went to bed, but the phone rang all night and into the early morning with calls about the judge and his group.

OMG.

The next morning, I got a text from Amy wondering if I had heard from LM. I told her no,
but I had *69ed the number and would call the ranger's station. I had also included that number in the original text to the leader of this expedition, Amy and Amy's husband.

I called the number and got a grumpy ranger, who I think was generally annoyed with all the drama. Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Love Man Strikes Again

Love Man hiked the Grand Canyon this weekend. Do I have a story!

Now, Now

We are all good this morning at casa loco. My freshman went to the football game last night.
It is still warm and doesn't smell like football to me. You know that smell? It has freshness and coolness in the air. Football. And, I don't even like football. I hate the bit with all the downs.
It is annoying to me.

And moving on with other sports news, the Diamondbacks won the Western Division! I am glad for them. My friend, the chief, loves her Diamondbacks. Somehow she managed to go to every game win they were in the World Series a few years ago.

TTYL.

Plan #352 - A

By the way, we did have to mail the ticket stubs into the athletic office at the University of Montana. I thought that was a bit funny, considering Love Man didn't have to really do anything to procure other copies of his tickets.

I don't know, a man must be in charge of that procedure.

Plan #352

Love Man went to Montana for a long weekend, last weekend. He met a college friend in Flagstaff who had driven over from Albuquerque and they headed up to Love Man's mecca, Missoula, Montana.

They were to attend the University of Montana vs. Eastern Washington's football game with
other college friends.

All was going nicely, except for one small problem. Love Man forgot the tickets to the game.
He called me in a panic. I had gone to an NCL membership committee meeting. Oh, the glam life I live......

He texted me. He called me. He asked Miss Brunette to have me call him.

I called him when I got home. I had to put my phone on no ring as two children, one husband and one beloved niece all tried to call me during the meeting. Yikes.

"You are going to have to Federal Express these tickets tomorrow morning so they can get to me by Saturday morning," he said.

My response, "Umm, the ticket says Griztix. Isn't that online and can't you get another copy?"

We left it that I would express them and also call the athletic office in the morning. I also told him I would make a copy of the tickets in case there was a problem.

The next morning, as I was walking into the house from taking MB to school, Blonde Girl met me at the door and said, "Dad is on the phone for you."

He called the athletic office, gave them his address and the tickets were to be waiting at will call. Love Man said the staff were so nice and accommodating.

Three men suggested that I do the following and THESE ARE LOVE MAN'S WORDS,
the brains of the organization, suggested that as they were online tickets, he could get another copy.

One thought Love Man should drive back to Phoenix.

One wanted the tickets Federal Expressed.

And my favorite! One wanted me to drive to Mesa and get a pilot flying to Missoula from Allegant to bring the tickets.

I rest my case.

Last Friday Night

While I enjoyed Thursday's episode of the Dick Van Dyke show on Friday. I am not going to talk about Rob and Laura today. Although, sadly, they are always on my mind.

Miss Brunette went babysitting and did not get home until 12:30. She was supposed to be home at 10:30 and I decided to snooze around 9:30. I was tired, could not focus to read and the TV

had nothing on it. I do not have a DVR in my bedroom. The horror!

At midnight Blonde Girl was looking out the window and she came in my room, "Mom, MB

(although she calls her by her given name) is not home yet." I texted her and she was fine. Eventually, Miss B got home and immediately went to bed. She had a long day.

This morning I got a text from the mom apologizing for keeping her out so late. They lost track of time. Miss B was given extra money at the couple did not stick to there eta. I made fifty cents an hour and MB gets $8 - $12 an hour depending on who is paying.

Oh Rob!

On RetroTV, they are airing the Dick Van Dyke show. I DVR it everyday and when I get home from work, I watch it. OMG. I hate to say it, but it is one of the best moments of my day.

It is the best show and is my reigning favorite. I used to love "I Love Lucy", but I have kind of moved on through the years to Rob and Laura.

Cold Showers

I am waiting for the plumber to come and fix our hot water heater.
I washed my hair this morning in the sink,
then did a quick rinse off in the shower.
Oh God.
It has cooled down and the water is not as comfortable as it was over the weekend.
He is to arrive today from noon to five.
A five hour window!
Really?
He could come yesterday from seven to noon,
but my teaching partner was due to be out.
So, I put off the plumber for another day.

BTW

We were at Petsmart yesterday buying kitten food. As you know, we are keeping Cooper forever. He is okay. He is sweet and good. But, he really acts more like the girl's pet.
He still thinks he is a dog. He runs to you when you call him, responds rapidly to the word "treat" and even waited his turn yesterday for a bath.

He cried at the tub, so Miss Brunette gave him the once over.

It is strange, but he honestly does not know any better.

While, at Petsmart we noticed they were having dog and cat adoptions. We walked through
and glanced at the animals. But, it does not have the same appeal as it used to. We really used to enjoy looking at the dogs. I told Love Man, "really we have about as many animals as they had up for adoption". The thrill has left casa loco.

Got Water?

Our hot water heat is no longer producing hot water.
I would not describe the water temperature as stone cold and it is not lukewarm.
It is more or less slightly warmed, cold water.
I put in a request for service.
The girls are having me wash their hair in the sink and they will shower.
It is not that bad.
In fact, it is rather refreshing.

Bunco Babes

I went to drunco, oh I mean, bunco last night.
It must have been the lemon drops.
But, I had the most wins and won $20.
I loved it!!!!!

The Help

This is the best movie,

but you must read the book before you go.

As Blonde Girl said tearfully, "this movie will win lots of awards".

I loved it.