And So It Still Remains a Mystery

As we were driving in our all-terrain Impala, we were doubly excited about what the day had in store. Canyoneering in Mystery Canyon...is there anything more mysterious than that? Only 12 hikers a day have the privilege of canyoneering in this highly sought after canyon. On the way, Amy asked that I NOT read anything about hiking as she'd had her fill of it the day before while hiking out of Birch Canyon. So, instead I read the introduction to the Canyon and read out loud about all 11 rappels. In another guide book we took with us, it said that the trailhead is often missed by canyoneers and approximately 2 hikers each year have to be rescued on this trail. It also said that several people get confused and enter adjacent canyons which didn't sound like a smart thing to do. The thing I was most excited about was towards the end of the trail when Mystery Canyon would run into The Narrows. We all knew it would be a long and difficult day and had figured that it would take us around 10 hours from start to finish. We were ready though.

Mystery Canyon received its name because the source of the waterfalls was a mystery. If you'd have asked us three hours into our trip we would have told you it was because it was a mystery where the trailhead was located. Ironically, when we finally did find it, it was only 50 feet from a point where we stopped to take this picture.

Now, from the picture, you may think "How in the world were they going to get down there?" Well, when we finally found the trailhead, Amy said the exact same thing. It's a technical canyon. We all still think we could have done it but by the time we found the trailhead it was 2:30; too late to go down. I really wanted to go and I'm sure a few of the others did as well. If you'd have read about the rappels and the beautiful lagoons I'm quite sure you would have wanted to go on as well. But we didn't have headlamps or warm clothing and after spending several hours wandering the top of the ridge we probably would have run short on water as well. As disappointing and aggravating as it was, we all think that God was looking out for us. Amy is convinced that someone was going to die and that He was protecting us. And perhaps maybe He was. It's still on my list of things to do one day though.

Ben was really good about taking videos and as you look and listen to the commentary, the excitment and following disappointment are completely evident. I suppose it was a nice hike in the woods on a pretty day though. Just not the one I was intending on taking.

Side note: At one point, I heard the familiar "do-do-do-do" of an incoming email and thought "I have reception?" And by George, I did. So, I called information and got the number for Zion National Park. I went through the menu items and listened to several suggestions for fixes to common problems, only to hear in the end that if I needed to speak to a Park Ranger to please leave my name, number, and a brief message, and someone would call me back. Not any help at all. Technically, it wasn't an emergency so I fought the urge to call the emergency phone number provided.

I realize that I haven't caught up with all the excitement through today but I've typed all I can type for one day and not get paid for doing it. So, it looks like Pine Creek Canyon Trail and Bryce Canyon will have to wait for another day. It's been fun looking through the pictures and videos though. We got some excellent footage of Pine Creek which means I'll have to research how in the world to combine separate videos. Always learning!

Tomorrow (actually today) we'll head back to Vegas. It's Amy's first time so we're going to take her around and show her what it's all about. Well, probably not ALL but some of the fun parts at least. Then on Monday, it's off to California, where I'll get to visit my friend and roommate from my last year at school, Amy T. Hall. I'm looking forward to each and every day and I hope you are as well. Ciao.

2.1 Zion Miles

Earlier today I wrote about Birch Canyon and our adventure. What I didn't tell you was the end to the story. It was just too tempting to head outside to the pool, which I could see from where I was sitting. I have drive and determination but some things are just a little too much for even me.

After hiking 7 miles in the canyon and scrambling up a steep hill (think 70 degree steep) to make it to a cattle trail, we were exhausted but still weren't back to our car. Thankfully we all still had water, although the farther we went the less sure we were that our supply would last. It wasn't that it wasn't a pretty place to be, it was.

It was just that it seemed that we were on a never-ending red road. There was a pretty stream that ran through the property and like a lot of things if I'd have known the stream would have wound around and crossed the road several times I would have just wandered up the stream instead of sticking to the beaten path.

Unfortunately, my crystal ball is in the shop and I was left to what I could see with my own two eyes and getting lost in the middle of nowhere didn't seem like a lot of fun. According to one yahoo, he said that it was 2.1 miles but none of us are cripple or over 70, so I'm not sure how in the world it took us over an hour and a half to hike (even uphill) that road to the vehicle. Plus, there were other events that took place during the week that lead us to believe that Zion miles are like boy inches but only in reverse. We've decided on the following formula: 12 boy inches = 5 girl inches. Therefore, 2.1 Zion miles = 6 regular miles.

Some of the things you might have heard on the trail if you'd been either a cow, a squirrel, a lizard, or other small animal (you would have had to have been one of them because there was not another soul out there besides us) were:

How much longer? 3 Sponge Bobs (That's how Ben and Angelique translate time to Ethan and Emma.)

I wish I had a sandwich; I'd at least feel better. (Amy not being happy about not having packed a real lunch for the extra long hike.)

You have to go more miles if it's curvy. (Statement made by world-class driver Ben to Amy when discussing how much farther. Amy still stands by her original reply: it doesn't matter how many curves, it's the number of miles that count.)

Lots of laughing, in spite of the ridiculous amount of turns with no sight of the car. (Sometimes all you can do is laugh.)

Just stay here and we'll bring the car down to get you. Oh never mind! There's no way the car can get down here. (My statement to Amy when I was afraid she wasn't going to go any further and later figuring out that there's a reason why they say four wheel drive vehicles might not even be able to make it.)

To end this segment of the trip, I've added a video I took of Ben going down a 35 foot rappel that almost ended up with him being wet. Next up, Mystery Canyon & Pine Creek Canyon Trail, followed by exciting footage of Bryce Canyon National Park.

All Who Wander are Not Lost...

Do you know how tricky it is to find a good heading for a multi-faceted blog? There are so many crafty little sayings to choose from and after all, isn't it supposed to give the reader a sense of direction? Well, in my case, I really am wandering but I'm pretty sure I'm not lost, at least not right now. (By the way, this title came from a "Life is Good" shirt I found at the Bryce Canyon general store that I just had to have.) I have decided that a nifty little gadget called a GPS would have been something handy to have packed but maybe we weren't supposed to find what we were looking for after all. And as Amy pointed out, maybe that was God's way of protecting us, as irritating as it was.

The last time I wrote anything of not-so-real consequence was when I was at Julie's in Denver, which as crazy as it may seem was over a week ago. Although there are lots of stories to tell, as in all adventures, I'm going to focus on my most recent ones and skip through others. If I told you everything, then that would mean that I'd have to include some 1,000 pictures and 50 plus videos taken this week alone. That's right folks! It's a good thing digital cameras were invented or this would be the end of my trip...I wouldn't be able to afford the film.

For those of you who haven't been to Vegas, and yes, I KNOW there is at least one of you out there. It really is a neat place to visit. I'm not a big gambler but I sure do love to people watch and I LOVE to dance. So, that's what I chose to do. After eating a wonderful dinner with some of Ben and Angelique's friends from Arizona, we took off to Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for "The Perfect Margarita". I think Kent really liked it but I thought it had to be more like drinking kerosene. Holy heck! Every sip was like taking a shot. Fortunately, Kent offered to drink mine as well and I was much happier with my substitute, a strawberry margarita. After that, it was off to see the Dueling Pianos at Harrah's. That was pretty entertaining but after sitting down for a bit, Ang and I were ancy to get on the dance floor. I'm just going to say that I had a wonderful time and I do know first hand that not everything in Vegas stays open 24 hours. I made it home safely obviously, and no, I didn't hitchhike...that's later.

Oh! I almost forgot. We also went to Red Rock Canyon near Vegas. It really is beautiful and even though all of us had been to Vegas before, none of us had ever been there. A perfect place for a peaceful drive, as long as you don't have Mario Andrette behind the wheel. Now, I feel the need for speed every once in awhile but Ben takes the cake. I almost felt a little bad asking him to stop every 300 yards so I could take a picture but I also knew that would be the only way to get him to slow down. Just kidding, Ben!

Red Rock really is worth visiting, I would compare it more to the rock structures at the Grand Canyon, although it's not really a canyon. After seeing pictures of Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon National Park it will be easy to see why I nearly missed telling you about it. They do have 19 trails there and we did make it on 2 of them, leaving the car at 2:00 pm in the hot sun. The temperature that day was 108 degrees. Flaming hot, especially when not in the shade. Not that I'm going to make a big deal about it at all but we did have one slight mishap on this adventure. We took great care before leaving our room to make sure we had plenty of ice cold water in my camelbak. You can imagine our surprise when we opened up the trunk to find the carpet very cool, as if it had recently been given a bath. We did have enough water to last us for our 3 hour hike though. I can't tell you how glad Ben and I were that we weren't the ones who put the lid on the pack.

Sunday was more of a travel day as we picked up Amy from the airport and headed to St. George, Utah, which has been our "home" for the past week. It's not a huge town but it is full of traffic circles, which I'm sure can confuse even the best drivers, not that that includes Ben. Needless to say, everyone in the car has to be paying attention when he's driving. I've also got it imprinted in my brain that Vegas is south and Zion is north. It's important for any backseat driver to pay attention to details I've found.

On Monday, we drove to Zion and hiked a portion of the Weeping Rock Trail and I'm sure took Hidden Canyon Trail up to the point of no return. There, we practiced our rappelling techniques, and got our bodies used to hiking in the heat of the day. We did have a good time, practicing 20 - 30 foot rappels until everyone in the group felt comfortable. That night, Robert, a friend of Ben's from work, made it in for three days of deliriously amazing canyoneering.

We started out fairly early on Tuesday and headed to Birch Canyon which has a 3B IV canyon rating, which means if you don't know what you're doing, stay out. According to the printed material we were going off of, it's 10 miles and takes about 12 hours. This is backcountry canyoneering but there have been several people who have gone through these canyons making notes and notating GPS coordinates. They also tell you what type of equipment you will need, different hazards, describe each rappel in detail, and tell you how and where to exit the canyon...it's kind of like a canyoneering for dummies book. I've got tons of pictures and videos and if you're interested let me know and I'll send you some. It's a pain to put pictures in a blog (I'm going to try a video or two on this one) so I'll have to figure out a better way to do it.

Birch Canyon has a total of 10 rappels and is one of Zion's many slot canyons. The only way to get down is by technical canyoneering. By definition, a canyoneer is "someone who hikes in canyons" but a technical canyoneer is one who "travels through canyons using technical rock-climbing techniques such as rappelling, belaying, and ascending or descending rock walls using rock climbing equipment and one who may also negotiate stretches of moving water by swimming or using floatation devices." That's me, I'm a technical canyoneer. Yahoo!

What is absolutely amazing about canyoneering is that the longer the rappel, the easier the start seems to be. We took some pretty wild photos of us looking like contortionists on 15 foot rappels and looking like professionals on 75 foot rappels. Downclimbing is another technique that we have worked on perfecting over the past several days. I've decided that as long as you don't think about "that rock fell from somewhere to get here for me to be able to climb on it" then you'll be fine. Otherwise, you're going to be overtaken by the fear that a rock the size of a bus could drop on your head at any moment, which is the real reality. The longest rappel on Birch is a 100 foot rappel from a tree anchor at the top of a bowl. There were also several 30 - 50 foot rappels. The ninth rappel is a 65 foot rappel that ends in a bowl. The instructions we printed off say..."Look up to view a large round boulder wedged in the tight canyon above and the light filtered through the twisted, sculpted rock. (See picture for proof that they were right on with this one.)

Ben said at one point while arguing with Amy about resetting the trip meter on the way to the trailhead, "I'm okay with the directions being as specific as they can". We could have used some more specific descriptions on Wednesday as we tried for almost four hours in the hot sun to locate the trailhead for Mystery Canyon. It's amazing the things that are obvious to you in hindsight. (More on Mystery Canyon and Pine Creek Canyon in a later blog, promise.)

For now, I'm going to leave you with a few funny clips (it makes me laugh at least) of me hiking up The Narrows, which is one of the most famous places at Zion. I went off on my own for a little while...I just couldn't resist; it was so pretty. I finally passed a group of kids headed back towards where Ang and Amy were waiting for me.

This was my message: "Can you please pass a message along for me? There are two girls waiting for me and I'm sure they're worried. One is in pink shorts and the other is in a blue shirt. Please tell them that I'm alive and I'm okay. And that I'll be 10 minutes behind you all, I can't be gone that long, they'd kill me." (This was what I decided I better do after they told me it was another 30 minutes just to get to the postcard views of The Narrows that I'd been seeing everywhere.)

This is the message that Ang and Amy got: "Hey ladies! We passed your friend and she's okay. She's headed upstream. She'll be about an hour before she gets back."

Amy & Angeliques' reaction to the message: "That wanker! How could she do that? And ladies??? We're not ladies! We're girls! That's it, we're outta here!"

What just happened: Message was LOST IN TRANSLATION!!! Am I EVER glad I didn't go much further!

After these are in, I'm headed to the pool. I've got some wicked tan lines from my camelbak and it's 12:30 pm and prime sunning time. I'm sure you understand...

Alive and Kickin'

Just thought I would let you all know that I survived the weekend in Vegas and four days of canyoneering in Zion National Park. I've got tons of great pictures and even some videos. I'm posting this blog via cell phone but should be able to get to a computer on Saturday and tell you about my adventures this week. More from me very soon...

I Stop for Turtles, Frogs, Sticks, Big Leaves...and Hitchhikers

Most of you might be wondering just how exciting a road trip from Pryor, Oklahoma, to Denver, Colorado, can be. Well, I'm telling you...with the right company, it can be absolutely outstanding! Now the title to this post might have you a little freaked out. Especially since most of you know I have occasionally stopped to pick up a hitchhiker or two. I actually didn't get the opportunity to pick up one because believe it or not, there weren't any. Actually, most of the road trip was a little...boring. Along the way, I was trying to figure out what about this portion of my adventure I was going to share with you. Then, I noticed something very strange, strange enough to make me stop on the highway, do a U-turn (I know, highly illegal, I'm sure) and go back to take pictures. Then, just like that! it hit me.

The following are funny, stupid, bizarre, and unusual signs and bumper stickers I saw along the way. I have also thrown in a few statistics that you will no doubt have no use for at any time during your lifetime. You might wonder how I managed to remember all these. Can you believe that my crafty little crackberry phone will let me leave myself a voice note? Ha! Problem solved...no driving 90 miles an hour, petting Hank, drinking water, and jotting down notes all at the same time for this safety girl! Unfortunately, I'm not sophisticated enough to upload my voice notes into youtube.com and add it to my blog (that was Julie's clever suggestion). So, I will translate...

Are you man enough to be a nurse? ~ billboard in Salina, Kansas

Steak sandwich $2.99 ~ advertisement for the Morrison Cafe, Morrison, Oklahoma (I'm not sure about you but I don't know if it's really a steak at that price.)

Arrest a Pest Extermination Company ~ on the side of a truck in Wichita, Kansas

This vehicle stops at all garage sales ~ bumper sticker (How long has this one been out?)

Number of dog tracks passed: 2

Say no to cheap freight ~ sign on the back of a semi-trailer

Number of big boy chimney cleaners in a tuxedo and top hat: 1 (Seriously, think big boy hamburgers.)

Number of Mary Kay PINK cars on the road: 1

Number of wrong turns: 3 (If my GPS had been working I'm sure there'd have been more.)

You'll like it. Try American Lamb ~ Small sign outside of Newton, Kansas (Is this supposed to be the other white meat?)

Number of carsick dogs and little girls: None! Yahoo!

Number of bad drivers on the road: Too many to count

I love my dog ~ bumper sticker (And no, it wasn't on my vehicle.)

Oz Museum ~ sign somewhere in Kansas, complete with the Tin Man, to think about it!

Beef. It's what's for dinner. ~ sign out in the middle of nowhere, Kansas

Free land for homes and businesses ~ sign in Lincoln County, Kansas (There's a reason why they're giving it away.)

Number of windmills: 22 (Oh never mind! Way too many to count after topping the hill.)

Next Mile Deer Crossing ~ Sign in western Kansas (Do they train them to only cross here?)

Number of dead deer within one mile of Next Mile Deer Crossing sign: 1 (They weren't kidding.)

Number of states with slow drivers represented on the road: 18

Number of vehicles that passed me on the road: 1 (And guess where they were from...Texas.)

Colby. Oasis on the plains. ~ Very large sign in western Kansas. (I drove through there. It didn't look like an oasis to me!)

Number of potty breaks: 6

Car insurance doesn't have to be a pain in the bumper. ~ Shelter Insurance billboard

If you die today, where will you spend eternity? ~ Billboard in Kansas (Definitely something to ponder about out on the open road.)

Choose life. Your parents did. ~ Sign in Hays, Kansas

See the world's largest prairie dog. Entrance 37 miles. ~ Sign along the road in Kansas. (I saw this place and it looked like something out of Deliverance...I didn't stop as tempting as it was.)

Taco John's: A fresh taste of West-Mex. ~Fast food joint in Colby, Kansas (What the heck is West-Mex??? Sounds very authentic to me.)

Rest area next exit, wireless internet ~ middle of nowhere, Kansas (People can get interest access out here and not in Strang, America?)

Cowgirls rule ~ bumper sticker

I stop for turtles, frogs, sticks, and big leaves ~ bumper sticker (I'm still not quite sure about that one, other than don't follow too close.)

And my personal favorite, a bumper sticker on the storage box on top of Amy's Tahoe (the amazing girl who found Hank a home)...
My Labrador Retriever is smarter than your honor student.

And last but not least, the reason for this unbelievably intelligent and witty dialogue (even I'm smiling now) which is located in Perry, Oklahoma. I got some sketchy information from my friend Marvin, whom I dropped in on at First Bank and Trust in Perry. Not directly on my way, but boy am I sure glad I stopped by to surprise him! Apparently there's a huge conspiracy in the seemingly pleasant and friendly Oklahoma countryside in Noble County. I think Marvin knows more than he's giving up...at least he looks pretty guilty in this picture. I'll let you decide...


Marvin and I had a great time hanging out in Perry. We ate lunch at the Kumback Cafe which recently celebrated it's 82nd year. I'll be in Colorado, or Cowowado as Hank calls it, until Friday evening when I'll head to the airport to meet Ben and Angelique in Sin City.

Hank is at this very moment meeting his new family and hopefully making a great impression. I sure hope they don't forget to shut the car door, well, maybe I do, then they'll have no choice but to take him home! He really is a good boy and a great traveling companion. Every so often he would sit up really straight and look around as if to say "Are we dare yet?" Then he'd lay back down and take another nap.

But for now, Julie and I are enjoying late night conversations, lots of laughs, and good clean fun. We have also been terrorizing the locals who frequent the Aurora Super Target and Cold Stone Creamery. See pictures for proof! I also took the time on Thursday to hit the road in the Cruiser and head to Edwards to visit my friend Jeremy. I caught up with him at work and he took a non-standard lunch break with me to ponder the meaning of life and get caught up. Just as a side note...I did drive by Frisco on the way. Gee, I really like that place...the mountains, a lake (which would be perfect for my 22' Catalina), and plenty of fun for pups and little girls. If I can only find five roommates I'll be there by next spring!

A Note from Hank

Hank wanted to say a few words before we took off on our adventure...

Hewo! I just wanted to say bye bye to all my friends. My momma says dat she found me a weally nice famwe in Cawowado. I don't know where dat is but she says we are weaving tamawoah and I get to go in da VEEhicle! I WUV VEEhicles! My momma says I a pain cuz I won't stay outta dem. I can't help it wough. I just wuv to go! My momma says she hopes I get out at da west stops awong da way to go potty and not ho up in da VEEhicle wike I sometimes do. She gets funny wooking when dat happens and wells awot. I just smile so she wuvs me more. It's weally fun game.

I may be free years ode but I awready wived in two states. I weally hope dis is my wast one. I weally want to say fanks to da nice people at da Wocky Mountain Wab Wescue for finding me a home. I weally want my own famwe, dat's all us pups ever want, a famwe who will wuv us. I kinda sad bout weaving my brotters, Bones and Copper, but I not gonna miss dat silwe dog Boomer AT ALL! My momma says she weally gonna miss me but she soooo happy for me and dat I gonna wike Cawowado cuz Cowowado wikes pups wike me. Yahoo! Dats all I had to say. Oh oh oh! Don't forget about pups wike me when you are wooking for a new famwe member...wescue pups are da bestest!

Wuv,

Hank

P.S. My momma and me had wots of fun when I got on da bobcat. Especially since I taught it wuz a VEEhicle!

Weekend Mayhem

Just when you think life at the lake is supposed to be peaceful and relaxing...wham! You take a couple of hits and you're left wondering how did this happen?

I was enjoying a rather uneventful weekend until a friend of mine called to see if I wanted to go wakeboarding. Of course, I'm generally up for that so I quickly said "Sure!" So I drove from Grand Lake where I was just about to put in my Seadoo, take a ride around, and stop off at one of my favorite establishments on the water, The Decks, for a club sandwich. But hey! Wakeboard? I'm all over it...

So, I pulled up and away from the boat ramp and headed back to Lake Hudson. Now, I'm no X Games wakeboarder, catching air still makes me a little uneasy but that night, I was in my groove...doin' my thing. I was even attributing my new found confidence to my recent snowboarding experience this winter, and was feeling pretty good about my abilities. The wind which had been blowing a constant 20 knots or so during the day had died down and the lake was getting about as close to glass as you can imagine. It was a beautiful evening at the lake.

I boarded for awhile, no real wipe outs, the ones that cause you to remember for the next week that water when you're traveling fast enough, can feel just like concrete on your skin. So, I left well enough alone and signaled to Ryan that I thought it was his turn to give it a go. And he did, a much more accomplished wakeboarder than me, jumping the wake the majority of the time, and skidding the board across the surface, something a little too nutty, even for me. And true to any kiddie sport, you take turns, and soon it was mine again. I'd done well for the first go around; I was even considering trying a few moves myself before I actually got up. I decided to play it safe though and just stuck to my normal routine.

But as they say, all good things must come to an end and after taking a pretty good tumble the first time back up, due to placing too much weight on my back leg, I was setting myself up for a nice crash. I got up, crossed the wake a few times, then cut back to the starboard side with a little too much weight on my front leg and toe pick! Just like they say in ice skating, and every one knows the consequences of that mistake...a face plant. The face plant isn't what hurt. As Ryan put it, "I didn't realize you were that flexible." Well, neither did I. The back of the board came up and caught me in the back of the head, just behind my ear. Fortunately, I wasn't knocked unconscious, I just knew that my head hurt and I could feel a divot. I was just about to get up and go again when I put my hand up to the point of contact to check one more time, to find blood on my fingers. So that was the end of wakeboarding on a beautiful, calm night on Lake Hudson.

Needless to say, it's going to leave a mark, a permanent one, although my dad, accompanied by Ryan, did a fine job of stitching me up. My poor dad, this is the second time in my life he's had to stitch me up. The first being a draw knife accident two years ago, which just like the traumatic events of Saturday night, could have left me in much worse shape. Just remember, like taking a picture of the Grand Canyon, my camera doesn't do my injury justice. It looks much worse in person. Of course, I wouldn't know that, as it's covered up with a band aid and behind my ear!

And if that wasn't enough excitement for one weekend, on Sunday morning, after a wonderful breakfast at Lake Hudson Inn, while I was sitting outside enjoying a fine conversation with a friend, my neighbor's dog and my foster child got into one of the biggest dog fights I've ever witnessed or participated. Now I've been around my fair share of dog fights, and I've been in the middle of more than I can count on one hand but to see two so very large dogs go at it was absolutely horrifying.

Boomer is a stout, young golden retriever, who weighs in at about 90 lbs and Hank, a yellow lab, who was given the nickname "Hank the Tank" by my friend Patrick, weighs in at a hefty 120 lbs (at least). I'm still not sure what the fight was about but neither one of them was about to concede to the other. Not that I gave them much of a choice because the minute I heard the conversation get out of control, I was there, leaving the phone "on hold" on a nearby table. As soon as I got there, they were in full swing, duking it out like real fighters. Soon, it was all three of us rolling around. As soon as I could get a good hold on one and pull him off, the other would come back with a vengeance. It's sad to say that I think I came out in worse shape than the two of them. Of course, they have much thicker skin and a lot more hair but I wasn't about to let them keep fighting. I finally got them separated but not before I took a couple of bites myself, one that took some skin off my arm, causing me once again to drive into Pryor to seek my father's help.

You can only imagine the look I got when I showed up with bloody clothes and presented my arm for inspection. Unlike the wakeboarding accident, there was no lecture, perhaps because he would have done the same. This time, steri strips in place of stitches, which at this point, appear to be doing the job. Although I'd like to say that I'm quite the body builder, I'm not, although my arm at least from my elbow down looks the part.

Just as a side note and as a reminder to me in the future, as frightened as I was, I can only imagine how my friend Trevor felt, as he was the one who had been put on hold only to listen to my screams and the dogs' growling and yelping. Not knowing what was really taking place as I just said "I'll be back" thinking it was just a little tiff that could easily be settled as in the past. So in the future, I will hang up the phone, so at least someone doesn't have to sit on the other end and listen in terror to unknown events.

I've been thinking about my upcoming adventures and hoping that my friends Ben and Angelique pack some suture kits along with the other medical necessities I know they'll have in tow. If not, I'm bringing my own because if this is what happens at Lake Hudson, I can't imagine the trouble I could get into hanging off a cliff.

T minus 10 days

Times flies when you're having fun, or so they say. I can't believe it's actually been 2 months and 12 days since I began my stint as a semi-retired person. Although I've been staying busy doing things for my family and traveling a little, the big adventures are just ahead and a reality now.

I've been trying to figure out the best way to document my adventures. So many cool things happen everyday in my life, a lot of which are forgotten and never shared. This time, I'm going to try to change that. So, here's my blog. It might be interesting and it might be one of those things like the Ford Edsel...a huge flop. Regardless, I'm going to try to document my adventures and share my experiences with you, of which I'm hoping none of them are of the near death type.

In 10 days, I will venture out on my first, well not really first adventure, if I count a trip to North Dakota for an amazing wedding for two of my closest friends, Angelique and Ben. I will never forget that it actually SNOWED on their wedding day. And that we were able to keep the food for the reception cold by stacking plates on ladders in the garage, in the middle of May. This also just happened to be the second road trip I've made to North Dakota this year and that HAS to be one for the record books. Both times with wonderful traveling companions, which made the trips quite enjoyable and also unforgettable.

The next weekend , I went to Houston where I got to hang out with my friends Tara Nara and Lee Martinez from college and also got to visit a former colleague, Wilhite. It's been a long time since I'd been on a dance floor (okay, maybe not a long time but it seemed like it) and I also got to go to a crawfish boil. Yummy!

For Memorial Weekend, I was fortunate enough to have another friend from college, Amy Jones, and her husband Patrick and daughters, Bailey and Caisey, come and hang out at the lake. I am proud to report that my cozy, 600 sq. ft. cabin will actually sleep 5 comfortably. Not as many as my old '30 sailboat but a good number nevertheless. The girls had a hoot tubing on Lake Hudson with Jason & Shellee Engles' three kids, Brittany, Nate, and Sam. My friends Nathan and Becky also stopped by for one of our many extravagant dinners alfresco. With Becky surprising everyone by doing all the prep work by herself. What a girl!

So this brings me up to T minus 10 days...my next adventure awaits. And since I know you're all in suspense, here's how my next adventure is shaping up....

Hank the Tank, a yellow lab, who was supposed to be a golden retriever, has his forever home awaiting him in Denver, Colorado. So, on June 17th, Hank and I will leave Adair, Oklahoma and head Northwest to Denver. The Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue told me they'd love to have this big boy so I'm taking a little road trip to deliver him and visit my friend Julie Brennan for a few days.

From there, I'll leave for Las Vegas, where I'll meet up with my friends Angelique, Ben, and Amy for some fun in Vegas and canyoneering in Utah. Next on the list will be Los Angeles to visit college friends, Amy Thomas Hall and Regina Hernandez. After a quick flight up to Sacramento after a week in Southern California, I'll get to spend some quality time with my friend Sheri Strenger Paydock, my cousin Holly, and my Uncle Lee and Aunt Minerva.

Then it's on to Bellingham, Washington, to stay with my cousin Liz and her family and my Aunt Susan and Uncle Raymond. From there, things get a little sketchy, maybe back to Denver, maybe to Oklahoma City, or even down to New Orleans to visit some more friends from college. That's the nice thing about traveling alone, I can make up my own schedule!

So, if you want to find out where I've been and where I'm going just check back and I'll try to update my blog every other day or so. If nothing else, it will be proof of life for my family.

Until then, ciao!