This was a trip that has been stirring in my mind for a few years. It began when I heard that our NITSL conference would be in Phoenix in 2021, and this was to be the halfway stop for our family outwest vacation. But COVID caused our conferences to go virtual in 2020 and 2021, and delayed the Phoenix conference until 2023. And then, early in May of 2022, I began to ponder a guy's trip...Sam's senior trip...one where we could actually tackle the Grand Canyon hike to the bottom. But for this trip, there was a series of steps that all had to line up just right to make it even a possibility.
1. Make sure Magan was on board with a guy's only trip
2. Find out the exact dates of the NITSL conference ASAP to align a night at the Grand Canyon
3. Book hotel on the rim, so we could leave directly from the room onto the hike
4. Get a permit to camp within the Canyon
5. And most importantly, keep my knees working for one more year
Magan is awesome about stuff like this, and helped me to make some amazing memories for just me and the boys. Granted a family vacation would have been nice, but this was special to be just me and the boys. So she was on board. Then I continued to bother the NITSL coordinator, until she gave me the exact dates of the conference. On to Xanterra to book a room at the Bright Angel lodge for both Friday night and Saturday night, as I did not yet have a permit, and wanted to make sure that I had options on either night. To get the permit, I had to submit an application in February, and get in the lottery system. I gave them itineraries for both nights, with the preference for Saturday night, with Sunday being my backup. And then at the end of March, the email arrived...We had an approved permit. We were going to the Grand Canyon.
But then I have the last item to deal with...my tricky knees. I can hike all day at Oak Mountain, or walk up the Walls of Jericho with no problems, but if I walk downstairs at the house the wrong way, my knees are sore for a week. At Disneyworld in '22, I stepped up on a rock, that is it...and felt a twinge that kept me hobbling for two days. So as I told everyone about this journey, inside I was afraid. I actually woke up many nights in the weeks leading up to this trip worried that I would not make it. I kept my bright angel lodge reservation for both Friday night and Saturday night, even tho we only stayed one night...all because of a fear that I might have to back out, even on that morning hiking down. Magan would have killed me, but I would have let the boys do it on their own if I was unable to make it. Looking back on our "prep" hikes, I laugh. This hike was nothing like you could ever have planned for...it is the test of all tests for knees, for backs, for muscles you never knew you had...this hike took you to your limits. But that is for another blog on another day.
This is also a trip I wish my dad could have been on with us. We had it planned so well in 2017, and I think we could have done it with limited packs due to the planned food and lodging at the Phantom Ranch. But girls got involved, then weddings, then it all fell apart. I remember telling Granddaddy that I will not wait till I am 60 to do it (Realizing later that it may have sounded hurtful, but that was not the intent...only that I wanted that trip with my boys too, and I better do whatever I can to make it happen before my knees stop working, and before they leave the house), and it was at that time, this plan starting to start swimming in my brain. I remember my dad standing with me on the rim, and pointing out the trail down below...instilling a desire to one day be on that trail down there. I did the same for my boys when standing there with Granddaddy in 2021. We even walked a ways down the trail that year with Granddaddy, and it was me that turned us back...I was already having pains in my knees, and my body was freezing up every time I looked out into that vast opening. But the mystery was always there..."What would it be like looking back up from that trail so far below"?
So, enough of the backstory, I am sure other pieces will emerge later in the blogs. As for this trip, it began at 5:00AM on a Saturday morning in Chelsea, AL. Me and the boys had spent all day Friday washing clothes from their florida college camp, and then getting packed for the hotels and also getting packed for the hike. The black van had plenty of space since we could put down the seats in the back, and we had plenty of space...which was very surprising compared to our normal family vacations. The boys kicked back and had their phones to keep them occupied on this trip. Sam is an old man, and listens to Buddy Holly radio with me for a long time in front.
And the boys humored me with my stops at every state welcome center (Thanks Granddaddy!), but somehow we missed Mississippi on this day. But we did hit Louisiana and Texas, and Davis showed how everything is bigger in Texas. I got my picture with Darrell the Barrell. Then shortly after we entered Texas, I moved to the back seat and let Sam take the wheel. I was a little tired, and probably slept for maybe 10 minutes before jerking awake afraid for Sam driving. It is Sooo weird riding behind your kids. Haha, but he did great, and drove for a long way, stopping at the Buccees on the East side of Dallas. That was great. We found Buccee in there, and he actually starting dancing with the boys, and to my surprise, they jumped right in and started dancing with him.
I picked up the driving again, taking us to Abilene, where we wanted some good food, but did not want to stop for long. So Sam got on the cracker barrel website and ordered our food to be ready when we arrived in Abilene. And there we got some gatorades and ate at one of the tables outside of the cracker barrell. Sam will remember that he could not find my meatloaf and had to order me a combo with chicken and dumplins. I knew I could not eat the chicken and dumplins, and did not want to pay for them, but Sam just kept saying they were not on the menu for meatloaf by itself. Later after Sam ate all my leftover chicken and dumplings, he said he finally found the non-combo plate. Hmmm....
And then we left Abilene, with Davis taking the driver seat for our last 150 miles into Midland, Tx. He did great, even dodging a wheel that blew off right in front of us...from a boat trailer. And Davis quickly changed it from me and Sam's Buddy Holly and Motown radio over to Pearl Jam radio. "I can't deal with that stuff playing while I am driving" he said. It was a 1000 mile day, and we arrived at the hotel at about 9:30 that night. Our trip had just begun, but we were already sharing many laughs. The boys admittedly are a bit goofy at times, but I am thinking that perhaps I know where they might have gotten it from.
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