The Learning Curve

These last 14 days have been riddled with both extreme highs, and drastic lows. We are regularly going from sleeping in lush hotels, to roughing it in the woods. As you can see from my last post, the hunt for the perfect camping spot did not start out well.

Day 2 of the search was much better. We were immediately able to get in touch with the Ranger’s office, and he pointed us in the direction of a place we could go camping about an hour away. It was a bit of a drive, but after our run-around the day before, we weren’t about to bother with a possible alternative.

And I’m so glad we didn’t. As we drove through the mountains, it was pretty – but as we crested a hill and saw a gorgeous blue lake laid out before us at the base of one of those mountains, I was speechless. We picked a private spot along the shore, and set up camp. That night was so amazing. The stars were breath taking; the air was cool; the water was serene; the sunset made me cry.

As we went to bed and snuggled under the blankets, Richard asked, “If you could be doing anything in the world right now, what would it be?”

“This.”

The next morning we spent a long time petering around the mountain trying to get a cell signal so we could use our wi-fi for work. At one point, we were pulled off on the side of some dusty road and Richard’s phone managed to capture a stray cellular beam and his phone actually rang.

He got out of the car to take the call, and by the time he came back 30 minutes later, he had some good news: he’d been invited to speak at the ICON Builder Boot Camp, hosted by David Fagan, the former CEO of Guerilla Marketing.

This was a BIG deal.

So, naturally we went into town to celebrate at Earl’s Greasy Eats, where I enjoyed the best buffalo chicken sandwich I’ve ever had. And apparently they aren’t fattening at all. Just look at my figure! (You should see the “before” photo!)

And Then There Were Monsters

That night, on our way back up the mountain, I saw another wolf. I brushed it off and put my Game Face on. But when we got to the campsite and saw black widows under our picnic bench, I froze. Literally. I just stood there and looked around at the darkness, imagining all the other horrors lurking in the shadows. A minute later I saw a tic crawling close by, and I felt surrounded! What had seemed like heaven the night before now felt like…somewhere else.

But we were all the way up a mountain – an hour away from a hotel, and 30 minutes away from people. We were kind of committed to camping at that point. So, I simply focused on getting to bed – looking forward to waking up in the daylight and moving on.

But as we turned off our flash light after midnight, trying to ignore the creepy sounds coming from the wind, we found ourselves flush against the cold ground. Our air mattress was dead.

Too exhausted to drive to a hotel, we just set up camp in our car for the night, which was just dandy for me, since I don’t know a spider, wolf, tick, or unknown creature in the world that can cut through glass. We pulled our suitcases out of the backseat and left them outside – no big deal, since no one was around, and we were in the desert, so there’s really no chance of rain, either.

Well, well, well. Guess who misread the Universe? We woke up to RAIN the next morning. So, we quickly broke camp and fled into town – rained out by God, and chased out by spiders.

Clean At Last

This was my view as I sat to write in my journal at The Plaza. 

We’d intended to check into a hotel that night anyway, since Richard would be speaking the next day. We got onto Hot Wire and found a great Super Secret Deal (a feature which we have quickly come to love). We checked into The Scottsdale Plaza for just a bit more than it would have cost to stay at a Motel 6.

As soon as we checked in, I jumped in the shower and took my time cleaning up. I did my hair and makeup, put on a nice skirt and fancy blouse, and went to…Walmart.

It sure felt nice to look and feel like a human woman, though.

Richard spent the next two days at his speaking event, networking and meeting some awesome people. I stayed in and caught up on all of my work. But after seeing how much Richard got out of the event as a person, I think I’m going to revise my initial plan of sitting out on the day-events (usually I just meet up with him for the networking dinners afterwards). But people are often paying between $500 - $3000 to attend these things, and I automatically get a free seat. So from now on, I’m taking it!

If nothing else, I wouldn’t mind getting to see Richard on stage. Maybe I’ll even bring a banner with his name on it and throw roses at him. Then, after it’s over, I will parade around with him on my shoulders. I will be so cool.

Bonus: My Cousins!

From Left: Haley (3), Alissa (20 and single!!), Esther (the mommy)
Abigail (14 mos), Me

That Sunday brought some extra special blessings. I have a cousin close by, living just outside of Mesa. Her younger sister (also my cousin) is currently staying with her family, too, so I totally got a two-for-one deal. We went over for dinner, and ended up staying until well past midnight – despite their usual bedtime of about 9 p.m.

It. Was. So. Refreshing. We had a great visit, and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my cousin and her family (it’s been a loooong time since we’d seen each other; we were both young teenagers). THAT was a great high. You just can’t beat good conversation.

We stayed with them a couple nights later that week and I had the opportunity to cook a meal that consisted of more than two ingredients (one of which is usually water).

We left my cousin’s house Friday in search of a campground closer to town. I was just about to the throw in the towel after driving a couple hours, when we hit the mother load: not only did we find the perfect camping spot on a gurgling riverbank, but it’s only 5 miles from town, 20 minutes from my cousin’s house, and 20 minutes from Richard’s networking hub in Scottsdale.

I’m in love! There’s nothing like sleeping indoors to make you crave the mountain air, and there’s nothing like sleeping outdoors to make you crave the AC. So, we get the best of both worlds J

Next stop: Ventura Beach, California.

We camped along a gurgling river 5 miles outside of Mesa.