Scribble World Travel Blog

Biosphere 2

I used my U of A student catcard to get a 50% discount on admission into Biosphere 2, which normally runs $20/person. Money well spent, it was a unique experience being able to enter into a completely different climate just by taking a step into the next room-going from a balmy day in the rainforest to a dry almost crisp January day in the desert.
It sure would have been fun to have been here when all the lizards and critters were running about. I guess they were thriving a little too well though because the researchers were tripping over them trying to do their work to the point of distraction and eventually they decided they all had to go-and were donated to various zoos and others were even released into the desert.
We took an educational glimpse behind the scenes to look at the elaborate piping and drainage system as well as learn a little about how the air and water are controlled and filtered. Then we went into “the lungs” of the operation where a huge ball-like diaphragm would heave slowly up and down adjusting as the pressure in the room changed-this was to keep the airtight biosphere glass windows from imploding or exploding. I wouldn’t have thought of that, so it’s good to know they did. There was an intense crazy feeling like being caught in a fierce wind walking through the door of the lung room to the outside, and then one step further and you were back in the desert and it was a calm windless day. Such a transition! Anyway, if you get a chance, it’s definitely worth checking out as one of the 50 Wonders of the World, and it’s a pretty scenic drive, less than an hour from Tucson.

Day Trip to Kitt Peak Observatory

Here are some pictures from a day trip out to the Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) which was founded in 1958.

Kitt Peak is about 56 miles southwest of Tucson and is part of the Tohono O’odham Nation (translated as “Desert People,”) which is a federally recognized tribe with a rich culture and history that continues to thrive today.

KPNO is part of NOAO which supports a diverse collection of astronomical observatories for nighttime optical and infrared astronomy as well as daytime sun studies.

The aluminum on the bottom lens must be replaced every 3 to 5 years.

Admission is $7.75 for all three tours June-October. November through May the cost is $9.75 and is free for children 6 and under.

El Dorado Hot Springs, Tonopah, AZ

Day 1 of our 18 day roadtrip through Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Canada, Idaho and Nevada. Starting with an old favorite-El Dorado Hot Springs in Tonopah, AZ just 40 miles West of Phoenix, (or two and a half hours from Tucson) we started vacation by sweating our guts out!

I think it would be awesome to go to El Dorado hot spring at night sometime. You can rent a private soaking area for $35/person and it’s all yours from 9 P.M-11 A.M. You might look a little pruney, but think of all the toxins you’d have gotten rid of if you were still alive the next morning
This time, we opted for a one hour soak in the Desert Garden private soaking area for $10/person. It is a pretty jacuzzi style tub with native flora decorating the surrounding areas.. Saying it was hot is an understatement. Going mid-day, in the desert, in the summer was perhaps not the wisest move on our part, but the “cold” plunge beside it felt wonderful and came as a welcome relief. Be sure to bring lots of water-at least a gallon/person/hour-you’ll be glad you did.

From the Tonopah Exit, El Dorado Hot Spring is 1/10th mile West of 411th Ave. on Indian School Rd. Watch for signs. Although we usually just take our chances and show up, they do get busy sometimes and you’ll have more choice selecion if you make a reservation (Hint: the Sunset pool has a great view) you can call 623-386-5412 to make a reservation.

Nimbus Brewery, Tucson, AZ

While many have had the good fortune of trying a Nimbus beer, relatively few have yet had the opportunity to enjoy their Nimbus on location at the Nimbus Brewing Company, and I can see why-until I found myself looking online for something to do this Saturday, and saw an ad for Clam Jam 2 at the Nimbus Brewing Company, I wasn’t even aware the Nimbus brewery was a place to hang out! Tucked back in the obscure south central side of Tucson in the industrial district, it is not where you would expect to go on a Saturday night looking for a good time. We nearly turned around, “this can’t be right,” as we took a right onto Ajo, then another right on Dodge, and we were about to turn around midway down 44th Street when we suddenly saw another car approaching and our headlights lit up the Nimbus sign. Yes, it is that tucked away that even an employee admitted to thinking she was lost when she first tried to find it. But once you find the Nimbus, you’re in for a treat.

The atmosphere is at once welcoming and laid back. Whether you want to sit at the bar, one of the busy tables downstairs, play a game of pool, sway your hips on the dance floor as The Tryst rocks you into the night, or make your way up to the more secluded upper level for a bursting-at-the-seams burrito and a root beer, iced tea or beer sampler, the Nimbus Brewery has you covered.

The Nimbus Brewing Company is actually Arizona’s largest brewery producing some 22,500 barrels of beer annually-an impressive rate of growth considering when they first opened in 1996 they produced less than 200 barrels. Today, each of their 3 fermenters hold 5,000 gallons of beer. They have won awards for their English Strong MonkeyShine Ale, oatmeal stout, Red Ale and Pale ale. Pressing Chris for his favorite, he really liked the pale ale and the old Monkey Shine but insisted we would have to go back before he could make an “official” decision. Also available are the dirty guera and brown ale.

Saturday, April 4th, Chris and I sat in the upper balcony enjoying our food, drink and a great view of Clam Jam Two going on below with music from Tucson’s independent music scene featuring some of Tucson’s best female rockers including Courtney Robbins, The Tryst, and Mozart’s Sister. Cover was just $5 (or free if you came early) and the Clam Jam went from 9:30 P.M until it was nearly closing time around 1 A.M.

Official Nimbus Review: An enthusiastic thumbs up. A highly recommended little treasure in Tucson’s industrial district and a great place to get away

Spring Fling in Tucson, AZ

If you love carnivals then Spring Fling in Tucson, AZ is the place to go! More than 3,000 University of Arizona volunteers are at the heart of Spring Fling making it the largest student run carnival in the country! Spring Fling is a 4 day event kicking off on April 2 at Rillito Downs, 4698 N. 1st Ave, about 3 miles from the U of A where it is being held this year to accomodate its growing size and avoid the construction currently in progress at the UofA.

Admission was just $5/person but we attended free by bringing in a coke product to be recycled. Parking is two dollars. All food, games and rides require tickets which can be purchased in bulk- 32 tickets for $20. Some pricing examples: Two tickets for a thai tea, 5 for a haunted house ride, 4 tickets for an old fashion lemonade, 5 tickets for a chance to win an over stuffed Scooby Doo toy, 6 for a funnel cake, 33 tickets to tempt fate on the bungee swing. $20 wristbands for endless rides were also available for purchase but excluded the bungee drop. But thankfully, some things are still free-porta potties, walking around the grounds, relaxing at a table or bench, and taking in one of the student band performances.

Spring Fling is a fund raiser for the University of Arizona’s organizations and clubs. Last year, with more than 30,000 people attending, they were able to raise more than $60,000.

Ventana Canyon Tucson Hike

A beautiful day for a hike, we explored Ventana Canyon today in Tucson, AZ. It’s a good time of year for a hike with blooming flowers, water in the stream, lots of little critters and a very comfortable 77 degrees.
We almost mistook a snake in the path for a shoelace. It was so still, we had time to take out the camera and get some decent photos before it leisurely slithered away.
We also saw evidence of a desert fire as well as a whole cactus arm that had fallen.
We would have loved to stay and explore more, but Chris was having an issue with the soles of his hiking shoes coming unglued. They were making a clop clop clopping sound like horse hooves on pavement.

Club Congress New Year’s Eve photos

We celebrated the coming of 2009 and had a wonderful New Year’s Eve at Club Congress in downtown Tucson, AZ to partake in six hours of non-stop Circus Congress amusements. The night went surprisingly fast as we were entertained by magicians, bands and a couple acrobats.  The carnival-like atmosphere was fun and even included some fresh made cotton candy to help wash the drinks down

Club Congress was packed and sold out. It was interesting to see how people dressed-some were in jeans and t-shirts while others went all out and dawned the sparkly dresses and tiara style new year’s head gear and other interesting costume twists. 

One area that could have used a little more attention was the bathroom situation. No big surprise here, but the line to the Ladies Room was out the door-and two women almost got in a fight when one budged.  Both sides were very indignant to say the least.

The Men’s Room, on the other hand…this is where life can be so unfair sometimes….4 minutes before midnight, Chris says he has to go to the bathroom….and no he can’t wait 5 more minutes but, “don’t worry, I’ll be quick.”  It was like a magic act-somehow he managed to maneuver his way in through the crowd of people pushing their way out, use the bathroom, and again squeeze through about a bazillion people to get back to me at exactly midnight for that New Year’s kiss.  It was impressive.

Now. when I have to go, it’s at least a 20 minute affair and arriving at the destination is no picnic either- one of the stalls is overflowing, and by the end of the night the others have run out of toilet paper-and no one seems too concerned about restocking them– So, here’s a New Year’s Eve tip to the ladies:

Bring a little emergency T.P ”just in case,” and look forward to making some new friends in line—it’ll be a loooong wait Happy New Year everyone!

Saving money on the way to the Airport

Step 1: find pet sitter

Step 2: get bus schedule

Step 3: Find ride to bus stop

So far so good. I dropped Chris off in front of Starbucks with all our luggage and drove the van back to our place, then jogged back, arriving in plenty of time to catch our ride. Chris had placed an ad on Craigslist to get to the Tucson Jewish Community Center, where we could catch a bus to the airport and save some money on airport parking. 

Our ride arrived just on time, a U.A. Business student, who for $10 was nice enough to wake up early to give us a lift.  We made it in plenty of time and are waiting at the bus stop now.  Chris is pacing, trying to keep the bugs away.  He thinks it is working. I read somewhere that bugs are attracted to beer. I wonder if that’s true.  I also hear they are attracted to sweat, fruity smells, and people with high cholesterol-of which feet that smell like cheese is a symptom.

Lots of people are out walking. It is comfortably warm, but not yet hot.  Chris keeps talking.  6:49 A.M.

9:26 A.M. Ok-back to waiting some more.  We were the only ones when we first got on the bus. It’s a good thing since we had all our luggage. Pretty soon, the bus was full and some people had to stand.  We got to the airport around 8 and it was only $1/person to take the bus. 

The lines were short, probably because it’s Sunday, so we had time for a leisurely breakfast at Arizona Sports Grill East.  I’m waiting for Chris to finish his paragraph in The Singularity Is Near.  He’s on page 144 of 496-over 600 pages counting all the notes. I wonder how far he’ll get on this 26 day vacation. I would have picked a lighter book.  I brought Turning Life Into Fiction, but I really don’t feel like reading-my eyes are too tired.  It’s so tempting to pull out my pillow and have a siesta.  “Siesta”-that reminds me of Jose, a guy I used to work with.  Jose was always trying to teach me Spanish, “mucho trabajo poco deniro,” he liked to say, always with a smile-(overworked and underpaid).  We’re sitting at Southwest gate A4.  9:37 A.M.

10:22 P.M.  We’re in the LA (LAX) airport now waiting by our gate #41 for our flight to Sydney, which has been delayed supposedly because they are running a test to see what happens if the computers go down and they have to check people in manually.  it took us an hour to check our luggage and receive our hand written boarding passes-and the line behind us was extensive.

Earlier, we took the Hilton Four Points Shuttle to the room Mom & Bruce reserved near the airport.  They checked in at 8 AM and out at 7:30 PM the same day, but had to pay for 2 full days since they didn’t want to wait for the normal check in time, usually after noon.  But at least they got to catch up on some sleep-they had a red eye flight from Anchorage, Alaska to L.A. 

We had lunch at their hotel, the minestroni was fabulous.  Back at the airport, we’ve all finished our Starbucks drinks. I bought 2 bottles of water and was surprised they charge tax on it in addition to the aleady inflated airport prices. 64 cents tax on two bottles of water.  Money won’t go far at these tourist rates.  I look forward to getting to Australia and going to a grocery store. 

So a couple weeks before our trip, my Mom sent us an assignment-to write a bio that we would share with each other on the plane, “not to exceed 20 pages,” she said.  It was rather amusing, therefore, to learn she had not done her own assignment!  Bruce said he completed his-18 pages-I’ll believe it when I see it, wonder what it’s about. I commented mine wasn’t very long-only 3 pages and he said, “Well you’re young,”-as in- haven’t done much yet. Hah! Pooh! Bah humbug to that, but I managed to keep a straight face.  36 completed journals as of last count -I’ve done/thought more than enough to fill a mere 20 pages.  Hopefully my bio will demonstate that while being concise.  Time to board.  The next time we touch ground will be in Sydney, Australia.  10:37 P.M.

Summer Storm In Arizona

Monsoon season is fast approaching and we got our first taste of it tonight watching a beautiful Tucson sunset followed by a good rain and some thunder and lightning.  It was fun trying to capture a picture of the lightning, but challenging-so sporadic, you almost have to be psychic to know when and where to snap your photo.  Hopefully in the upcoming weeks, we’ll get some more good practice.

Chris is holding onto Paws with one hand which is rather a challenge-Paws is a big boy, around 22 pounds last time we weighed him. The bathroom scale was one of the many items we sold last October before setting off on our van travels across the country.  Some things are not missed!  Paws is a cat, by the way, not a dog.

We’re on the lookout for a good cat sitter right now, so we can go do some more traveling. During the colder months we could take them with us most places, but with 100 plus degree weather, that is no longer an option.  It’s bizarre though, ever since we stopped traveling, they’ve been yowling a lot-especially at night when we’re trying to sleep. I think I need to get more Feliway-the synthesized cat pheremones that are supposed to be calming.

You wouldn’t think so, but the cats actually really liked the traveling lifestyle-I suppose because the van was kind of cozy with lots of great hiding places and comfortable perches-kind of a kitty palace in a way-just the right size to make them feel like kings.  Plus there were windows all around, so they were getting the royal view to all kinds of interesting activity.  The apartment is probably a bit dull by way of comparison.  Ever since we took Paw’s ratty old collar off him, it’s become his favorite toy. He’ll carry it around in his mouth like a dog bone and yowl until we throw it for him.

We’ve been adding more movie reviews, and Chris has been working on some new guitar lessons and is anxious for some feedback.  He was also playing some fun “Chinese” music to go along with my “virtual trip to China” entry.  He doesn’t think it’s very good, but I like it and I’m trying to get him to put it up.

Oh, I got my 19 momme silk duvet cover and silk filled comforter-it is dreamy to say the least, so soft and smooth.  Wish I could afford to give one to everyone as a Christmas gift.

Pima Canyon Hike And The Desert Blooms

So after a couple weeks of promising ourselves ‘tomorrow’ we’ll get up early and go for that Catalina Foothill hike, we finally made today the day… We got started around 3 P.M., since mornings don’t seem to be working so well for us.

With nothing but our water bottles and a camera we were ready – starting at the Pima Canyon Trailhead, off Ina Rd and Christi Dr. in Tucson, AZ.  We saw many lizards, birds, one bunny, lots  of tiny knats, and we heard a massive sounding buzz from bees.  It was so loud and powerful, we had a few moments hesitation not knowing if we should continue.  A few years ago, a giant swarm of thousands of bees flew right over our heads, we ducked at the last instant.  It was quite the intimidating experience.  They moved like a black cloud in unison so fast, there wouldn’t have been a prayer of escape had they gone after us.  So we remembered that and looked around for the swarm, but couldn’t see one and continued.

It has been a pretty week, as much of the desert is still in bloom.

All Nighter To Watch The Tucson Sunrise

Chris & I pulled an all-nighter and drove to the foot of some mountains hoping to get a nice sunrise shot. Unfortunately, we weren’t placed quite right for the sunrise over the moutains, but we did get some decent ones of the city lights below. We’ll work on the moutain sunrise another time.

It was a lively experience being up at the crack of dawn. The air was soft and embracing but still cool. There wasn’t another soul in sight, but the birds were in full swing with all their chirping and tweeting. It’s amazing we people have learned to sleep through that.

Monte Vista Hotel

We had the luxury of spending two nights in the Gold Room at the historic Hotel Monte Vista this weekend in Flagstaff, AZ. The Hotel Monte Vista has been around since the 1920s and celebrated it’s 80th birthday this year.  It was neat how the rooms were all uniquely designed with different themes. The hotel girl let us take a peak at several to pick which one we liked best.

We chose the Gold Room, which had gold colored furnishings, bedspread, curtains, walls…it was a stimulating room for the eyes.  As a single room, the bathroom and showers were outside our room to be shared with one or two other rooms.  I liked the character of the place, almost like going back in time.

I hear there are even ghosts wandering the halls of the Monte Vista!  Our room rate was $65/night, which is the higher seasonal price-I believe the summer rate was around $50, and on up for the rooms with their own private bathrooms.

Running our errands we saw a thirsty bird trying to find a way into this littered Starbucks cup.

Skunks at Lo Lo Mai Springs Campground, Cornville, AZ

Lo Lo Mai Springs Campground
11505 LoLo Mai Rd
Cornville, AZ 86325

Last night, as the sun set we thought, what better way to relax after our long day than to relax in the jacuzzi at Lo Lo Mai Campground? So we walked the quarter mile or so to the jacuzzi and stopped dead in our tracks-there was a cat surrounded by 4 skunks up ahead! It sat there licking it’s paw and was in no apparent distress-even though the skunks hopped and danced around her. We cautiously continued to the jacuzzi amazed by our close encounter and the fearlessness of the skunks.
A few minutes later a skunk came even closer and began drinking from the pool. Could these skunks be someone’s pets? It didn’t smell like skunk, so that seemed like a good sign.

When the campground attendant came to turn the lights on by the pool, we asked about the skunks. “No, they’re wild,” she assured us.

It was a bit nerve racking walking back to our campsite as we could hear skunks in front of us, behind us…all around us..We could even hear one circling our van. It’s hard to believe how close they came. They seemed fearless. Luckily we didn’t get sprayed. Getting rid of skunk smell does not sound fun.

*I asked the lady at the front desk if she knew of any good skunk odor removing formulas. She said the most effective recipe to get rid of the smell of skunk on a dog or cat that she knows of is a home made mixture of baking soda, dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide.

She also said that skunks love to spray dogs, but for the most part leave their cats alone-except for the unlucky overly playful kitten…

Lo Lo Mai Campground Page Springs, AZ

4:21pm We are at Lo Lo Mai Campground. This will be our 3rd night on the road.  I’m in a tent with Ox & Paws-we’re about 8 miles from Sedona.  We have a lot of repacking to do-space is at a premium-I’ve been wearing the same shirt for 3 days now-it has been difficult to fish clean clothes out of the various bins & suitcases-which are all covered with other items as well.

It has also been more expensive than my projected budget of $15/day, but hopefully we’ll get more savvy the more we learn and travel.

Chris left to go find food, and accidentally left the tent flap half way open-I was surprised Paws didn’t try to get out.  Perhaps he is overwhelmed-when he heard Chris start the van he started frantically meowing and clawing at the tent-afraid he was being forgotten.  I came to console them & they are content now but with eyes wide and alert.  They need their shots.  They both slept next to me last night-Ox by my pillow, Paws by my feet-the nights are so cold at this altitude.

Jerome, AZ

We got lucky today, a couple nice people helped us out of a parking pickle today in Jerome, AZ -the same town Winston Churchill’s mom was born.  I was possessed to stop in a most awkward and dangerous spot because I was just so intrigued with how the houses appeared to be sitting straight off the edge of the cliff!

I was driving the car and managed alright, but Chris had followed me in with the van & the cargo box started scraping on the steep incline and we didn’t know if he needed to go forward or back up & he was starting to panic, but just then these two people walking by came & took it upon themselves to be kind and help us-Chris was able to pull forward while the guy directed traffic & dealt with the locals- who were rather snide, “residents live here ya know,” objected one lady.  Our new friend politely ushered her on her way and commented “angry hippies.”  And I always thought hippies were supposed to be nice?

It was the ladies birthday, they enjoy coming to Jerome, but don’t actually live there.  We gazed at the valley below and the surrounding mountains, such a vivid contrast of terrain.  She confessed that she believes in Creation and that it’s just incredible for her to imagine what it must have been like for Noah’s Ark with all those animals-with water covering all the mountains back in the day.  I nodded sympathetically, and continued enjoying the view.

We had brunch at The Mile High Grill.  The food was great, each selection is named after a person. The tables and walls were covered with interesting signs and pictures adding a unique character to the place.

Tonopah Arizona Hot Spring

We survived our first night on the road!  We slept in a huge parking lot at a truck stop in Tonopah. AZ.  We got our morning started right by heading over to El Dorado Hot Springs, a desert treasure with several hot springs pools to choose from.  We chose a private soak in the Sunset Pool.

We found a shady place with a nice breeze,  next to our hot spring pool, to park the van, where we could keep an eye on the wide-eyed Ox and Paws.  Our one hour mineral soak was $10/person, and we enjoyed a nice rustic view of the desert.  So this is what it’s like to not be expected anywhere..to not have a “to do” list, and to live without an alarm clock.  This is what it feels like to be free.  I love it!

Our Wilderness Disaster in Arizona

Our attempt to travel to the Verde Hot Spring did not turn out as planned-Join us in our epic tale of Man Against Nature and the Woman who tries to save him, available online for the very first time! *Drum Roll please*….

Early Saturday morning, we set out for Verde Hot Spring, North of Phoenix. A co-worker had recently told me about the place, but we didn’t have the best of directions-
So Chris used the opportunity to map out the shortest distance with his new G.P.S. program. I packed a few snacks and some water for myself, but Chris planned to stop along the way to get his supplies. We drove past Dugas in less than a minute.  It was the nearest town to the hot spring, but there didn’t seem to be anything there so we couldn’t stop for supplies. We were limited to the few things I had brought.

We followed the GPS course, which took us down a super rocky road-at least it was a “road” according to the GPS program, but to us it looked like a long stretch of SUV killing ambush in the form of huge rocks and boulders covering a narrow trail. But we had come this far, we hoped for smoother trails ahead.   After three hours of driving at a crawl, we came to a clearing at the edge of a mountain top.  The trail continued down the mountain, but it narrowed.  We finally decided enough was enough and decided to park the truck on the side of the deserted road and take a look around.  We were the only vehicle out there. 

We spotted a sign saying the spring was 6 miles away. Another sign, at the edge of the mountain read, “this road not maintained for public travel,” so if it was anything like the last one we figured we could probably go at least as fast on foot without endangering the vehicle anymore. 

Chris walked impatiently ahead, wanting to get there before the sunset. I lagged behind, carrying the big blue cooler with all the water and snacks. I chimed in a time or two daring to say something positive-like why not enjoy the journey a little or it’ll be no fun when you get there…–but he continued to rush and kept tripping over rocks, swearing loudly at them and exerting his energy bending to pick them up and throw them….  Chris is rarely in a bad mood, but when he is, I can’t help but be somewhat amused-he takes himself so seriously and doesn’t see the humor in his actions.

Chris didn’t want to walk at night, so I suggested maybe we’d better turn around a couple times, knowing the sun would start setting soon, but he continued being stubborn and just wanted to hurry up and get there.  He had made up his mind that it was going to be a wasted trip unless we got to the hot spring-and he could have no fun in the meantime.

I continued to follow, but my inner state was quite a bit different than his. As the sun began to set we reached a fork in the path and saw a sign with an arrow, and the letters, ”MT.”

“Main Trail,” I ventured? Or perhaps it meant ”Mineral tubs?”

“Or Mountain,” he said and we kept going straight for a while longer-but after a mile or so, it was officially dark and we still had not found the hot spring.  We had not found any signs of civilization-no litter, no noise, no footprints-nothing. Not a a soul in sight- We decided to backtrack to the fork in the trail.

Chris’s resolve was faltering, “I hate this, this was a terrible idea, just terrible, why did we have to come here?!” Sure, in retrospect, I might have pointed out that we had many opportunities to turn around, but he had chosen freely to keep going, but at the time I was in a blissfully contented state-I just wanted him to be happy-even though he was obviously horrified.  He feared we were in grave danger being alone, just the two of us, at night in the wilderness…and that I had no idea because “you live in your own little fantasy world, which is fine at home, but you don’t understand the danger and we could be attacked by a mountain lion, bitten by a snake, black widow or scorpion.”

I wanted to reassure him but didn’t know how. I wasn’t afraid of any of the things he’d mentioned, but I was worried about him.  Also, I knew we hadn’t brought enough water and the trip up the mountain was likely to be more challenging in the dark, especially now that we were getting tired. 

It seemed peculiar to me how we could be in the same situation, but respond so differently-but I began to realize that he didn’t feel he had a choice-he was responding. I had followed him, knowing the risks, because it had seemed so important to him. My mind wasn’t affected with anger or fear the same way his was.  In fact, I felt astonished by how my mind was just dancing with positivity…

I gave him a hug. We walked down the other path together another mile or so, and still no luck finding the hot spring. I suggested we sit down and wait for morning-I put my towel down in the middle of the path for us to sit on. I looked at Chris and said, “I know this probably isn’t the right time or place to say this, but I love you.”

He seemed stunned-”Why do you say that?” I said I just couldn’t stop thinking that-and even though he’s not having fun, is scared and tired-I know this isn’t who he is. He said he didn’t like being those things, but didn’t know how not to be sometimes-it just happened, and he cared a lot about me too. I felt so relaxed, I thought I’d be able to drift off to a peaceful slumber any moment, but the second I laid my head against down Chris saw a spider. I whacked it with my sandal. He said there was no way he’d be able to sleep and maybe we’d better just walk back to the truck afterall.

All those carrots must have paid off because I could see pretty well, despite it being a moonless night. I let Chris hold my flashlight since it made him feel more secure, and hoped the batteries would last until morning. The stars were beautiful and more and more appeared as the night went on.

Walking back was a slow labor as it was all up mountain, and distance was hard to measure as so much of what we saw all looked the same in the dark. We encouraged each other on – ok, I probably did most of the encouraging-sure I was worn out too and it was strenuous exercise, but I was imaging looking back on that night-feeling good to have survived…appreciating it for being a highly unusual experience.

Chris was convinced we were about 2 seconds away from deadly peril. I felt like if something attacked, I was ready for it.  I imagined fighting back-biting, scratching, kicking, etc and I felt so powerful-like no creature would dare mess with me..and as I examined my inner state, I wondered if maybe such a thing as previous lives really are possible-maybe as an animal, I had already fought off all those predators and that’s why I had nothing to fear now…or maybe it was just the adrenaline, or I really am in my own little fantasy world, but it was an interesting thought, and it was peculiar that not even a single bug was bothering us…despite there being marshy areas, and all the little gnats that had been clinging to us when the sun was up.

I reassured Chris that if attacked he would not freeze up because his body would get so pumped full of adrenaline he’d feel like he had super human strength. He thought he might have used it all up already though.

Our struggle was not with nature, but gravity, our heavily beating hearts, and the fact that we were now completely out of water, for thirst really builds when you’re climbing up a mountain. At least we didn’t also have to fight the sun. With mouths like cotton balls, we shared stories from our youth. I recalled what it was like walking home from school, with my sister, down our Grandma’s long snowy driveway. How it felt so cold and each step was a struggle. We’d talk about the hot Ovaltine Grandma would make us, hot baths, warm fireplace-things to inspire us to keep trudging onward-even though it often felt like an impossibly long distance on those negative zero Minnesota days for a 3rd and 5th grader. Chris recalled a time in Michigan when his car got stuck at the beach in the wintertime, and so he and a couple friends had to walk a long ways to get help.

Chris seemed much more companionable after I told him I loved him-I think it shocked him that he could be at his worst when I said that for the first time. Later he brought it up again, and said he didn’t know what love was because he had said he loved other girls before, but he felt more strongly for me than anyone else. Works for me.
He started taking blame-very unusual for him, saying he should have listened to me and turned back sooner..and added that he’d made a bad decision by following the GPS shortcut instead of the longer way. I think maybe anger is a result of feeling guilty but not wanting to blame yourself. Once you can accept responsibiity for your choices, you can accept where you are at, and use your energy to get to where you want to be instead of resisting what is. All I wanted was to have an interesting weekend.

Chris was feeling particularly drained at about the halfway point on the way back and asked if I really needed the cooler. So if anyone finds a blue cooler out there….you’ll know why. I’d apologize for littering but I’m grateful it was just a cooler.  We saw a car that had tipped over going down the mountain trail, full of bullet holes too.

We eventually made it back to our truck, at 2 AM- after 9 straight hours of hiking in our sandals. We were dirty, sore, exhausted, and thirsty beyond belief.  Luckily, we still had a gallon of water in the truck. We put the seats down and conked out.

I slept about 3 hours when the sun woke me up. I laid there about an hour and then went outside to sit down on a rock and think about the event of our night in the wilderness, as I enjoyed the beauty and isolation of the mountains. For the next 2 days walking was a painful effort-we were both stiff, bruised, and limping, but it was such a relief to be out of the danger zone. We drove back against the tortuous road, but Chris didn’t get upset anymore.

And just like that, life is back to “normal.” I told my Mom about it and she said that sounded “incredibly unpleasant.” She’s on her way to Ethiopia.
You struggle through this big ordeal-and ultimately it’s like you either made it or you didn’t-the world just goes on. Your struggles- both inner and outer, are highly personal. I guess it’s something we have to make our own minds up about. I would like to go back someday to the Verde hot spring with more time and more water! 

Verde Rim

Huge Sonoran Desert Toad in Tonopah, AZ

Spending the night at a motel in Tonopah, we were taking a night walk when I saw this enormous Sonoran Desert Toad! It was so big and sitting so still that at first I thought it was a statue.  I looked around and there were others too that were smaller. Toadally made my day