My absence of writing for the past few weeks is not without cause. Most of our days have been repetitive, scooping fire pits and checking campers in and out. And there have not even been any interesting characters to write about. We have entered the shoulder season, school is back in session and family campers are in short supply. We are down to pretty much newly-weds and nearly-deads.
Something else that has been keeping me busy from writing is the preparation for the arrival of family. Our daughter and son-in-law have been planning on coming to see us at the North Rim since last year but were having a hard time putting a stake in when exactly that would be. In June it was possible to pick a day (in late August) but lodging on the North Rim sells out six months in advance for the campground and almost eighteen months in advance for the lodge. Cyndee started doing the only thing one can do, check for cancellations at least twice a day, every day until you get something.
After nearly a month of searching Cyndee was able to cobble together four nights of lodging for the kids. They would have to change rooms every night but at least we were able to get something. Talking with my mom during our Sunday phone calls about the kids coming, and now that we all knew she was going to have a baby in December, my folks decided to come out too and make it a mini family reunion. Cyndee was back in the hunt for rooms. Luckily there was a lot of change happening at the lodge in August and she was able to get four more nights, albeit a change in room every night for these too.
Preparations for meeting everyone's dietary needs were worked out and we were running critically low on almost everything in our fridge and pantry so a major grocery run to Flagstaff was planned a month before their arrival. It was a brutal trip, over eight hours of driving to and from Flag plus the eight hours spent in Flag making the dozen different stops needed to get everything done that needed to be done. Big Gulp was packed to the gills. The bed of the truck was full and the back seat was piled to the headliner. When we got back to camp we filled the camp host chest freezer, the camp host refrigerator and its freezer and we packed our camper fridge and freezer so full that the doors did not want to shut. But doing it this way we knew that we would have or not have everyone's special request on hand. If we were not able to get it we would have time to let them know and ship it ahead of time in the case of our kids, who were getting on a plane in Atlanta, or bring it with them in the case of my folks that were driving out from Texas.
Our next trip to Flagstaff would be to pick the kids up from the airport. Or at least that would be the primary objective. We will still have to do shopping for fresh foods and replenish the things we ate over the past month. Plus, we are making this trip an overnight stay. We'll meet my folks and shop for all the non-perishable stuff and then the next morning will shop for the perishables just before going to the airport.
Anticipation built over the next weeks. Cyndee had been to Atlanta in February to see the kids but I had not seen them since leaving Georgia in June of last year. With plane tickets purchased and only 24 hours until arrival it was finally becoming "real".
The kid's plane arrives just before noon on Saturday so we started our four hour drive to Flagstaff on Friday morning early enough to get to places like the bank before they closed. And once we got within range of a cell tower we could start texting with my folks to keep track of their progress and know when to meet them at the hotel we were both staying in.
Just in time for dinner we finish our shopping and my folks are already at the hotel and checked in. We get on over there, load up and head for a local eatery called Satchmo's. It is a tiny little place, hard to find behind the Chevron station on Fourth Street but they have some pretty tasty choices. It is a restaurant with a split personality, one side of the menu is Bar-B-Q and the other is Cajun. You have a choice of four items on each side. Orders are taken at the counter and you seat yourself and get your own drinks. The tables are covered in butcher paper and there is a box of crayons for those with artistic flare. Cyndee started adorning our table cloth immediately.
We all went to the Cajun side of the menu, three of us getting the blackened shrimp po'boy and all getting some red beans and rice. Was it good? You better believe it!
As good as dinner was it turned out to have a down side. The trip from the panhandle of Texas to Flagstaff was a change in elevation from 3200 feet to 7200 feet. My mother has been battling blood pressure control for years and despite having it well in hand for some time now, the change in altitude has got her all out of whack. She told us the numbers and they were scary high. To think that we would be adding another 1200 to 1600 feet on top of that the next day gave us pause. We have already had 23 deaths at the Grand Canyon this year, the majority being from stroke and heart failure, not accidents. If Mom is to go on up with us tomorrow, her BP is going to have to settle down or risk tragedy.
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