The Trip

Where to begin? This vacation was the longest vacation my mom has taken since she was in high school and went camping with her parents cross-country for 6 weeks. Her 11 days away was packed with enough activities that it felt like 6 weeks, or at least 3. Leah and my mom started their vacation with a trip to Houston, TX to go to my mom's grand-nephew's wedding. Remember, my mom was an aunt before she was born so, though she's far from her 20's, she's not in her 80's either! Many of you will recall that last September my mom's nephew and his wife were in a horrible motorcycle accident that claimed the wife's life. It was a terrible time for the whole family which was only compounded by the fact that it coincided with Hurricane Ike. Well, the nephew that got married on May 30th is their oldest son. It was nice for my mom to go back to Texas for a happy reason. Chet and Cristina originally got engaged while visiting us (pre-me) with their whole family. Chet took Cristina to Montauk Point and proposed there. So sweet! The day was perfect and the wedding was beautiful! Congratulations Chet & Cristina!!

Next Mom and Leah hopped on a plane to Lost Wages! There they met up with Rambo and Midge's G-mom and JB and Chester's mom. I'm still horrified that they would actually do this without me, Ziggy, Rambo, Midge, JB and Chester. The nerve!!! My mom said she drank more margaritas in Vegas then she has her whole life! They hung out by the pool, ate delicious food at a place called Tacos & Tequila (they highly recommend this restaurant if you're ever in the area) and did some crazy stunt called Indoor Sky Diving! So, no, they did not jump out of a plane but rather jumped into a wind tunnel. Leah loved it so much she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face for days and now wants to jump out of a REAL plane (this does not thrill my mom one bit). My mom says it was so nice to finally meet other DWB and CWB bloggers and she thinks another trip should be planned so more of us can get together. Lost Wages is a great place to do this because there are usually inexpensive flights and hotels but if any of you have any suggestions please chime in! Wouldn't it be nice if the humans could get together some time this Fall???The last leg of their trip required the most effort (understatement). Leah and my mom left Lost Wages and headed into Arizona. First they stopped at the Hoover Dam to look over the edge and admire the new bridge being built. Then they headed to a place called Peach Springs to spend the night before hiking 10 miles down into Havasu Canyon (a side canyon of the Grand Canyon) for a 4 day camping trip. The day was slightly overcast, which is great for hiking. Last August there was a devastating flash flood that washed through Havasu forever changing the landscape and the course of the beautiful blue river. Havasu Falls now flows as a 1-part fall rather than the 3-part fall it was the last time they were there. It was still breathtakingly beautiful though. Two new falls were created during the flood and one of the falls had a beautiful swimming hole. The group spent quite a bit of time there swimming and jumping through the waterfall. They did the trecherous rock climb down to Mooney Falls and spent time down there exploring the many changes to the river. On the last day there my mom and Leah decided to join 4 others and take a helicopter out rather than hiking up the 10 mile trail. They still had to hike 2 miles to the Indian village where the helicopter left from (which was about all Mom's poor feet could handle). When they got on the flying bird they were laughing and giving each other high-5's over their decision! The flight was a mere 7 minutes for a hike that would have taken 5 hours! The nicest thing for my mom was not to be totally wiped out for the 5 hour drive back to Lost Wages.
One more night in Vegas then they hopped on a plane back to ME! My mom has told me not to worry, she's not going away for any length of time again until Thanksgiving. Hmmm, that is unless all of the human DWB and CWB people decide to get together in the Fall... You can never trust humans...