My HTD came to visit me this past weekend. We spent lots of mirthful time together. Talked. Saw movies (Music & Lyrics (meh) and Breach (meh-plus)). Ate food. Bargain shopped ($40 pants for $8, yos - it's ok to be impressed). Watched Friends. Road tripped. 'Twas good times, for sure.
The most eventful day was the road tripping day, hands down. Way back when, my family lived in Flagstaff, AZ. We were there for three years and moved back to Nebraska the summer I turned 9. We went back to visit the next summer and I hadn't been back since. So Haley and I thought it would be fun to make a day trip up there - sort of rediscover our past.
Back in our Flag-livin' days, our family used to take little afternoon trips to Oak Creek Canyon after church on Sundays. We'd bring a picnic lunch, drive to this one spot along the creek, and hop on the rocks and play in the water all afternoon. So the sis and I decided to do that on our way up to Flag. We drove through the canyon on the way up (which is a beautiful drive, by the way) and stopped to have lunch at our little spot. It looked just as beautiful as I remembered (which is pretty impressive after 14 years). We ate lunch and decided to take some pictures before we headed up to Flagstaff for the late afternoon/evening.
At one point, Haley handed me her digital camera and made her way upstream so I could take a picture of her. I noticed a perfect rock-hopping path across the creek and, with both our digital cameras in hand, made my way across. I hadn't hopped on more than two rocks when my fatal error took place. Over the past 14 years, I had forgotten that not all rocks are as stable as they appear in the swiftly moving current. That third rock was a bitch and dumped me, digital cameras and all, into the chilly snow-melt creek. I landed on--what else?--rocks. Painful. Mildly embarrassing. My first thought was Are you freaking kidding me? My second thought was Wow, Pat's gonna love this story. Then, Dangit, I didn't bring any extra clothes along. Then Oh crap, the cameras!
Needless to say, the cameras were a little worse for wear. Haley's finally started working normally again (thank goodness), but mine is still on the fritz. The main dilemma, though, was the clothes. I was soaked. Several events unfolded that I'm not going to go into here...I'll suffice it to say that I ended up wedging myself into a spare pair of Haley's jeans (thank God for sisters and denim with a little give to it) and hanging my pants out my back window for the remainder of the drive to Flagstaff. By the time we'd made it there and drove around a bit, they were dry enough (at least from about the knees up) to swap with Haley's too small, too short spare jeans. Just goes to show that even day trips can bring about some pretty big adventures. Gotta love the travelling.
We ended up having a really great time in Flagstaff. We saw the houses we used to live in (the one still has the playhouse that our dad built for us out back), the school we used to go to, the Lumberjack statue that used to scare the bejesus out of Haley. Overall, it was a pretty great day.
Life Lesson #739: Bring spare pants.
6 comments:
Awwww, that's so sweet I think I just got a cavity. This story makes me wish I had a sister. ;)
That story makes me wish I had a spare pair of pants in the trunk because BWAA-HA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
(K-flix peed herself)
I haven't finished reading the post, so I reserve the right to comment again, but WHAT? You're older than 23, right? Cause if not, I'm having a midlife existential crisis.
OK, now I'm done with the post.
DO NOT TURN ON THE CAMERAS!
If you do, you risk shorting the boards, which will ruin the cameras forever.
Instead, take out the batteries, open all of the compartments, and place the camera in an airtight box (tupperware or something similar) with a package of DampRid (available at Lowe's or Home Depot if you can't find it at Walmart). Let it sit in that box for several days to a week. The DampRid will pull all the moisture out of the camera... and once it's dry, it'll be good as new.
Nerd advice over.
B - Yes, sisters are great...NOW. If you would have asked me that ten or twelve years ago, you would have gotten a whole different answer. :)
fauxB - see, I knew you'd like the story. So's your face.
W - You can breathe easier, I am not 23... ... ... I'm 24. Sorry. :) I'll be 25 in August. Does that help?
Also, I'm going to have to try your camera advice. Although mine has been turned on many, many times since the dunking. I didn't know.
24? No, I still feel old.
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