Grand Canyon - Phantom Ranch

A year ago last May, I got up early (before 6:00 am) and started dialing Xantara - the company who makes all the reservations for Phantom Ranch. I was only the 19 call and I still couldn't get the cabins and dates I wanted. The Grand Canyon is a difficult place to stay, but I did get reservations for two nights at the bottom of the canyon. I was supposed to be taking Preston, Jip and my friend, Terry, but Jip ended up not being here so Preston asked his friend, Garrett, to go with us. We spent the night at the top of the south rim and although it was May, the weather was nice, so we didn't feel rushed to be up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat.

We headed down the South Kaibab trail and it wasn't long before Preston and Garret were light years ahead of Terry and I. With my bad knees I'm slow at going down and the Kaibab trail is extremely steep - almost 7 miles of switchbacks.

While the trail is steep the views are breathtaking and I wanted Preston and Garrett to see how beautiful the canyon is. You get a completely different perspective of the canyon as you hike down into it than the view you get from the top just looking over the edge. Everything is so much larger than it looks from the top and so much further away.

After about 4 hours Terry and I finally made it to the river and the ranch. Preston and Garrett beat us by about an hour - youth!!

Phantom Ranch was built around the turn of the century and is the only place where the post office delivers by mule. In fact, all their supplies are delivered by mule.

We stayed in dorms that house 10 men or women and you get the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. You receive a 4:30 am wake up call each morning for hikers who are hiking out that day.

We all enjoyed a nice soak in the freezing water of Bright Angel Creek that runs through Phantom Ranch. The temperature at the bottom is about the same as Phoenix's, so the creek was a nice place to stay cool as well.

The next day we headed up the trail towards the north rim about 6 miles.

A good portion of the trail follows Bright Angel Creek crossing it several times and is shaded by cliffs and cottonwood trees.

In the end you are rewarded with Ribbon Falls - a beautiful waterfall. This picture doesn't do it justice or give you the perspective of how big it is. We arrived early and were the only ones there for about an hour. The falls were still in the shade and the water was freezing!

While this looks like the top of the waterfall, it really starts hundreds of feet above this spot. I think places like this are what make the Grand Canyon so wonderful. You are hiking along in the dust and then you come to a place with ferns and moss and beautiful water - so unexpected.

Preston was the bravest of us all and while the falls were still in the shade and very cold, he went in under the falls and on the top of the falls. He also hiked as far as he could along the crack in the wall and you can see him - just a little spec. Again perspective is everything and you can't tell how high or far he is.

We spent most of the day playing and laying around the waterfall, and when it finally warmed up enough, I made a couple of treks into the falls.

Preston was also the first to check out the hole under and inside the falls which we all ended up making our way into.

Here is Terry gingerly picking his way to the little "cave" through the icy water. The wind was blowing and would shift the falls and the mist and absolutely take your breath away if you were hit by either.

The little rocks were sharp and none of us had brought water shoes.

Here I am looking through a hole you could climb up to after going in the bottom hole. You can see it just above Terry's head on the previous picture.

We got nice and wet and then started the 6 mile hike back to the ranch to listen to the ranger talk and have dinner.

The next morning we got up early to start our climb out of the canyon. Here I am crossing the Colorado River on our ascent.

Preston and Garrett decided to hike back up the Kaibab trail, while Terry and I headed up Bright Angel. We had three more miles to go than the boys, but Bright Angel is not as steep and we are old. The boys ended up beating us by about an hour again, but they both said that hiking out was one of the hardest things they had ever done (wait until they get on their missions).

Here's Terry smiling away as we leave the river.

This is looking back at the part of the trail known as Devil's Corkscrew. It is a devil of a trail, and we were glad when we had finished this part. While the trail can be daunting, you are rewarded with unsuspecting jems like this waterfall

that looks small but really was quite large. Here is Terry finally making his way out- after 10 miles and 5 hours. You really have to admire him. He carried a 25 pound pack down and up and is 71 years old! All total, we hiked about 30 miles in 3 days, of which 17 of it was straight up or straight down.

The Grand Canyon is a magnificent place but it can really kick your butt! Garrett, we loved having you, but Jip we wish you had been with us!

Easter

We had a nice Easter this year. It was even better because Jason was able to make it home for a long weekend.
Here are my little boys, Easter morning with their Easter baskets. Look at those happy faces.

At first the Easter egg hunt was low key and fun. But when Jason wasn't looking, Preston would run over and grab an egg out of Jason's basket. At first Jason didn't notice and then because he had so many more eggs than Preston he didn't care too much. But it didn't take long before Jason's natural instincts took over and the Easter egg hunt turned competitive.

By the time they had found all the eggs and Preston had pilfered about half of Jason's eggs, and Preston ended up with the most eggs. Still Jason didn't seem to care too much - that was until they started to open the eggs and Jason realized that there was money inside of them.

Then someone really seemed to care that his eggs had been snatched right out of his basket and he was on the short end of the egg count.

In the end, Jason wasn't too happy with only $13 - after all he is a poor starving student.

Preston was thrilled with his $22, because he too is a poor starving student who lives with his parents, who pay for his car, room and board, wash his clothes, cook his meals and pay his insurance. He didn't need to share with his brother who he stole eggs from in the first place and has to pay for his own gas, room and board and has to wash his own clothes and make all his own food.

That evening, Raquel, Dave and Millie came over for dinner. When Raquel was told about the Easter egg business, she demanded money from both of the boys who still owed her money for Christmas gifts! So in the end a child who hadn't even participated in the Easter egg hunt ended up with the most money.

Millie looked adorable in her first Easter dress,

and Raquel made her first ever carrot cake that was delious.

But if you asked Millie what the best part of the day was - she would say getting ready for bed and having Grandpa feed you your bottle. Can't get any better than that!

Spring Break

Yes, I know that spring break was two months ago and I am just a bit behind in blogging, but ever since I took a long-term sub job teaching 9th graders English for 10 weeks, my life has not been my own!

Prior to loosing my life and freedom, Garth and I went backpacking with our friend, Terry, and his grandkids. Those of you who read my blog, if there are any, will recognize Terry and his grandkids. They are my regular hiking buddies.

We did a hike that I had been wanting to do for years and we were able to luck out and get some of the very limited permits into the Aravipa Wilderness Preserve.
The hike is up a stream that was unusually high this year because of all the rain and snow that we received. So the going was difficult, strenuous and slow. Garth was not happy when he realized that the whole 5 miles would be in the stream going against the current. He took off and left the rest of us behind.

When we did catch up to him, this is what we found! He looks happy doesn't he?

Here are Terry and the grandkids cleaning out their shoes and resting once we found our camping spot. Rocks and gravel were a constant presence in our shoes.

We found a great little camp spot, got set up and a fire going. By the time the sun went down at 7:00 we were all ready for bed. Nothing fills you up and makes you want to sleep more than dehydrated meals!

I love sleeping outdoors and I've never worried about critters until this hike. While we didn't see any wildlife, their footprints were everywhere and all night I was sure something was creeping around me.

The next morning, before heading back, we crossed the stream and hiked up a side canyon. We were rewarded for our effort and saw beautiful pools, waterfalls, rock cavities and formations that were amazing.

Here we are at the top of the first waterfall.

There were deep pools all over in these rock cavities. If it had been warmer and we'd had more time, they would have been great to swim in.

This was such an amazing little canyon and this was just one of the many off shots from Aravipa Canyon. You could spend weeks exploring them all. Terry's grandkids were great and I never heard a complaint from any of them. Carson was my little hiking buddy quite a bit of the time and he is a great kid.

The going back was much easier because we were going with the current, so it didn't take us near as long, but Garth said he was never going hiking again. Too bad, that makes me so sad because there are still so many places I want to go. I guess it will just be Terry and I and the grandkids.

My Most Avid Reader

I have one person who reads my blog religiously, he never makes a comment on it, but I always get a phone call comment. I hear "you really made me laugh," "when are you going to write a new blog?" "I can't believe all the things you are doing," or my favorite "you really are a good writer" (I'll take all the compliments I can get). This reader is my father-in-law, Ralph. As you can see by the photo, he isn't in the best of health and in fact about 5 years ago he was air lifted down here and things didn't look too good for him, but he is definitely a fighter.
A year ago last January my mother-in-law was air lifted down here and things didn't look too good for her either. She was in ICU for over a month and then in hospitals or rehab facilities for another two months and during those three months, I had the privilege to have Ralph stay at my house and take him to the hospital each day.

We got our routine down, 20 minutes to downtown Phoenix (thank heavens for car pool lanes), drop Ralph at the door, he got his wheelchair, I parked the car, I pushed him up to ICU and we checked to see how Colleen was doing that day. Later, we'd go downstairs for lunch (gotta love that hospital food), go back up and visit some more and then I pushed him backed downstairs, went and got the car picked him up and we headed home.

During that time I got to know Ralph much better. I saw him worry over his wife of almost 60 years, patting her hand telling her everything would be alright; reassuring himself as much as her I think. We thrilled over every bit of good news together and worried when things did go well. We laughed when Colleen (due to drugs and lack of sleep) told us she was going to Montana or that the Chinese grandma came visiting or that she spent the night freezing in the fairgrounds parking lot. We cowered when she pointed and shook her finger at us and were puzzled when we couldn't make out her handwriting (she was on a respirator for several weeks and had a tracheotomy and couldn't talk). Although it was a very stressful time, I received great blessings by being with Ralph every day.

Before my father-in-law got sick he was an extremely hard worker and it nearly killed him to watch us work and not be able to help, so we found jobs for him. I would pick oranges and drop them on the ground and Ralph would go around picking them up - that was quite a big chore for him. He loved to juice them and that was an intense workout. But his hardest job was to walk down to the corner and back each day in 6 minutes. I don't know that he ever made that one.

In February, Preston decided that he would trim our neighbors' trees that came over on to our property and Ralph was right there supervising the whole time. Once Preston learned to listen to him the tree trimming went much easier. He didn't have to put in near as much effort to get the job done if he followed Ralph's directions - experience really does make a difference.
While he was here last year I also took him to doctors and dentists and teased him about what a baby he is. I couldn't tell him when his appointments were until that day because he would get himself all worked up. He listened to me ramble on for hours - I had a captive audience. I complained, explained, cried, worried about my kids and my family, dreamed about vacations and he got to see just how weird I am. The nicest thing is is that he still seems to like me!

After three months my mother-in-law was finally able to go home and since then Ralph has called me at least every week, sometimes daily - just to talk to me. Of course he would comment about my blog and ask how everything was but Garth gets a bit jealous because Ralph calls me more than he does him.

Well, last Tuesday he was air lifted down here again (my in-laws like to make it a big deal when they come down I guess) and once again things didn't look to good. He was in ICU for 4 days until they figured out what was wrong with him this time. It seems that his heart is beating irregularly and he will have surgery tomorrow to fix that. The doctor's say everything should be fine; there will be two very simple invasive surgeries and he should go home on Tuesday. We are sure praying for that.

At the end of June Ralph has two boys coming home from their missions. Kyle has been in Oklahoma and Jason, my son has been in Colombia. I know they are both very anxious to see their grandpa just as he is anxious to see them.
Indeed I feel very blessed to have married into a great family and to have a father-in-law who I know I could always turn to for anything and at any time. He has been a blessing in my life thus far and I pray for many more years to come.

One heck of a week!

About a week and a half ago, I came home from my class to find Garth leaning on the counter in pain. His back had gone out while he was in the shower and both Preston and I were gone. He rolled out on to the floor and laid there for about an hour before he was able to get up and crawl into the kitchen. I massaged his back for about 1/2 hour and realized we were not going to be able to make it through the night the way things were going. Luckily for us we have a good friend who is a sport/med doctor and he came and gave Garth a shot and me a couple of prescriptions for him. We were very grateful for all night pharmacies that night!

Well, Garth made it through the next week, he was moving kind of slow but he was doing pretty good. Then on Easter Sunday in the middle of church, his back went out again. It wasn't as bad as the first time and he did make it to work the next day but not for the whole day. But that night about 2:00am he got up to go to the bathroom and ended up with huge back spasms that put him on the floor. He tried several times to get up but was in such pain that he spent the night on the floor. About 7:00 am the next morning our friend was over again giving Garth another shot and telling him to get into his office that day.

After a crutch, back brace, more shots, lots of meds, an MRI and a physical therapy visit, Garth was able to make it through the week. He sleeps on the floor because the bed is too soft and he moves very slowly and carefully but he is able to move and get up and down. We did find that he hasn't got anything wrong other than the same problems that have plagued him for years which was a relief. The physical therapist hopes to give Garth some new exercises to strengthen his back next week and prevent future problems. Personally, I will just be happy to have him put on his own socks and tie his shoes!

My baby's having a baby!

Last Christmas, Lonica and Scott announced to the family that they were expecting a baby. They asked us not to tell anyone for about a month, which I didn't, Garth wasn't as accommodating with their request. I have had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that I was going to be a grandma and as a result I haven't shared it on my blog. Plus, with Lonica thousands of miles away her pregnancy is kind of surreal to me.

Well, today they found out that she would be having a little girl the end of August and I figured it was time that I faced reality, accepted the fact that I really am old enough to be a grandma and my daughter was old enough to have a baby and I needed to start getting excited.

It just doesn't seem that long ago that I was pregnant with Lonica and yet at the same time that seems like a completely different life. What an exciting time it was - having your first baby and realizing that you have no clue how to be a mother.

This is a picture of Lonica when she was a year old. Could there have been a cuter baby on Earth?
We have always laughed and wondered what Scott and Lonica's children's hair would look like, since both of them have an over abundance of curly and in Scott's case Afro type hair. I invision their little girl with tons of beautiful curly locks that will drive Lonica crazy as she tries to tame them.

My hope and prayer for Lonica and Scott is that they have a beautiful, healthy baby like Lonica, who slept through the night from the time she came home, who loved playing and was so excited to learn new things and have her daddy come home. I know they will be great parents and I will try to be a good -- GRANDMA?! Can I really do that?

Free give away . . . of sorts

I have been very lazy lately about new posts. I just haven't had any great ideas - not that any of my posts are very great anyway. I considered a post on the 10 ways I know spring has arrived or on my son's most recent accident or my latest essay grade or I really should have done one on my birthday last week (special dinner at Arby's and a story telling festival) but I didn't.

Today I was reading my cousin's blog and liked her idea. So here it is...I copied this from her blog.

Pay attention everyone!

Here's the dealio: The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me.

My choice.

For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2- What I make will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be photography, I may sew or stitch or bake something. Who knows?
5- I reserve the right to do or make whatever I want!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your own blog and offer the same deal to 5 of your own lucky blog readers. So, the first 5 people to leave a comment telling me they are in, win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!
Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

Good Luck!!!

My Essay

I have been going back to school the last year or so but all of the classes I've taken have been on line. This semester I'm actually sitting in a classroom every Thursday night with a bunch of other much younger students studying American Literature. I have thoroughly loved this class, the stories we've read and trying to get my old brain to work again.

Several weeks ago we had our first essay assignment and had two weeks to get it written. It was the first paper I'd written in over 25 years and the first literary analysis essay in probably 30! The cold sores on my mouth and the sleepless nights attest to the stress I put myself under. I sent my essay to Lonica (our in-house editor and expert writer) and she tried to reassure me that it wasn't really the piece of crap I thought it was.

Well, tonight was my moment of truth - we got our papers back. It was incredible the anxiety I felt as my teacher began to talk about the papers. I was transported back to my school days when you were so nervous about receiving your grade on a test or paper. I was sweating and just wanted to run out of the classroom.

My teacher began by saying there were several papers that were excellent examples of what he wanted and he proceeded to read one of the student's answer to one of the short answer questions we also had to do. As he read the paper, my doubts were confirmed and I just wondered what in the world I was doing thinking I could succeed in this class let alone become an English teacher. He picked up another paper and said it was a great example of what he wanted in the essays, especially the way the quotes and support blended into the writing. He then began to read my essay! I couldn't believe it and hearing it read out loud, it sounded much better than I remembered writing. My self doubt vanished and I thought maybe I can "grow up" and become a real teacher.

We left class with our next essay assignment in hand and when I got home and reread the topics we have to choose from all that anxiety and doubt quickly returned. But hopefully, I can get through this essay without any cold sores!