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Published: September 22nd 2014
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My co-worker, road trip buddy, best friend, and long-lost sister.... Alas, another month, another adventure!
Last week my co-worker and travel companion, Christy, and I decided to one-up our spontaneous camping trip with a spontaneous canyon trip- a 72-hour roundtrip blur of an adventure to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back between work shifts. To put that in perspective for you it went something like this: work a full day-> drive 9 hours from Carlsbad to Tusayan-> sleep for 4 hours at the top of the canyon-> hike down 3 hours to the Colorado River-> spend 42 hours hanging out with the crazy ranchers at Phantom Ranch-> hike out 5 hours back to the top-> drive home 9 hours and go to bed so we could get up for work the next day. Needless to say it was not a relaxing vacation, but an amazing one nonetheless.
If you recall, Christy and I made this same trip back in May. We loved it so much we decided we should go again, but unfortunately time was limited because Christy's sister was saying her goodbyes to life on the ranch to try her hand at other things. Thus the purpose of such a crazy trip was to surprise the other
twin on her last day of work at the ranch. So with a little help from our friend Graig, we made the trip to the rim, camped out on the apartment floor, and woke up with the sun to trek down the trail of never-ending switchbacks to the very center of the Earth. After dropping off our bags, we snuck over to the canteen to (pardon my French) "surprise the tits off" Amy. We indeed pulled off the stunt, which resulted in a scream that echoed off the sandstone walls through the entire ranch. The reunion was received with much celebration- and by celebration I mean alcohol. With some ice, vodka, and cranberry juice, we partied by the creek with the ranchers as if it were a Vegas hotel pool. And in case this weren’t enough, we also improvised a Slip ‘N Slide out of a painter’s tarp and some buckets for water and took turns sliding headfirst into the cold, murky Colorado. At night we played games- specifically "The Game"- and camped out on the roof under the brightly twinkling Milky Way. The ranch has a way of teaching you to unwind and enjoy the simplicities of life. With a heavy heart, we parted the group with hugs and repressed tears and promises to return soon. The hike up was steep but not as unpleasant as the first time, and a group of lovely Austrians kept us company for the last mile of the winding path. Even the drive home was serendipitous; the puffy white clouds drifting through the crayon-blue sky in our rear view mirror. There’s nothing better than nature, good food and drinks, and great company to rejuvenate the human spirit...
For those of you who follow my other site, sorry for the re-read. For those of you who don't, please check out my deeper travel insights at my other site:
http://leaveandexplore.wordpress.com/ DON'T FORGET! I am trying very hard to save up money for my trip to South Africa this February. If you would like to make a small donation to the cause in honor of my birthday this week, any and all help would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.gofundme.com/bsz99g
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