Day 6

Dad got up early to fish, after three successful casts with a trout at the end of the line on each of them, he came and got me. I caught my breakfast- not on the first cast, but after a couple of bites I caught a rainbow trout . BJ cleaned it and cooked it for me. BJ also showed me how to eat the cheek meat- a delicacy I had previously ignored. Needless to say catching my own breakfast made this the best meal of the trip.

We rode with Laura and Chris. Our morning stop was at Matkatamiba Rapid for a hike. We did the dry hike because Crocs suck on slippery rocks and I slipped twice on the hike out. We made a butt dam with another rafting group. Apparently we can be very easily entertained when out of touch with everything else.












For the rapids I rode up front by myself without my friends for Kanab and Upset while they cheered me on from the other boat.



We packed sack lunches for Havasu Creek were I met my little king as we were arriving and he was leaving. We watched lizards and dad fed a raven. I swam and then laid on the dirt and took a nap using a rock for a pillow. This was the moment I made my peace with the dirt laying right down in it. I can only imagine what I would be like on a longer trip or how ironic it will be at the park when I tell my kids to stop laying in the sand.

There was an unplanned pit stop that got us stuck and ruined the prop. Laura asked for help and I got there first, but then an older gentlemen didn't think 2 women could handle it so he sent me out of the motor well. Dad made it back on the boat while several guests didn't, so he got to toss the rope to the rescue boat.

I read on the boat and Chris recommended a couple of stories from "There's This River". The first story he suggested was sad and the second was funny. Fortunately for me he didn't suggest any of the short stories in which major catastrophe befell the writer or subjects. Apparently this was intentional and I was thankful to be reading about the wrecks in the safety of my own home.

We camped at mile 164. I took a bath because the guides told us the sewer system at the Havasu community was questionable. After that I was invited to drink with the guides and some other guests who they thought they could get help from in the form of prep cooks. The poison of choice was Jameson and the bottle was passed from person to person with no knowledge and little concern for the swine flu, which was declared a worldwide pandemic while we were away. I got to chop turkey with the giggles. The last time I cooked while intoxicated was the Mardi Gras party we had when I was handling pots of boiling noodles. Not sure which is worse big knives or boiling water.

Dad caught four trout while I was "cooking".

Breakfast: the best trout ever, French toast and fruit
Sack lunch: roast beef sandwich, apple, pretzels and m& m's
Dinner: Thai Turkey and rice