September 25-October 2, 2010
September 25 – October 2, 2010
My sister came out to visit again to see if we had made any progress fixing up the house. It seems we have made little noticeable progress. They also picked a bad week. Summer and its searing temperatures wasn’t ready to leave us yet. The heat was made even worse by an air-conditioning problem. The cooling unit worked fine but cold air refused to flow in the guest rooms. Another symptom of an overly complicated house.
Each room has its own thermostat controlling a motorized air damper. After a lot of head-scratching we managed to locate the offender in a non-descript box on the roof.
Our plan is to make a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Since Aimee and I have not worked out in a long time, we convince our guests to take a warm-up hike before we leave. It is a good thing we did. My niece’s husband was less prepared than us. Only a few minutes into the hike both soles of his boots just pealed away.
The desert is tough on equipment. Our next stop was a sports shop to buy new boots, sun block, water bottles, and sunglasses. We are ready!
On Tuesday we picked up a rental van and made the long drive north. We stopped in Sedona for lunch and to admire the red rock vistas. We pulled into the Grand Canyon early enough to enjoy the view before dinner.
The next morning we took the shuttle to the South Kaibab trail head. We hiked down into the canyon for over an hour. Aimee and I had forgotten what a stunning experience this is. Just awesome. My only regret was we couldn’t continue to the bottom. 
Unfortunately picking up cancellations for six beds at Phantom Ranch is nearly impossible. I really should be thankful we didn’t get them as the temperature at the bottom is well over 100F.
Our adventure today was not over. From the Grand Canyon we started the long drive back. In Flagstaff we made a detour to visit Walnut Canyon National Monument. My sister has been wanting to see some of our famous Anasazi Indian ruins. Walnut Canyon is one of our favorites. The ruins can be visited along a one-mile trail that loops inside a picturesque canyon. Because we just hiked the Grand Canyon all of us are complaining about the return stair climb. Near the exit a lady catches up to us and tells us her friend has passed out and is unresponsive. My niece is a nurse so we head back down the stairs to offer first aid.
The park ranger decides we need to carry her out. So I accompany him back up the stairs to fetch the gurney. Back down the stairs we strap her in and walk the wheeled stretcher back up. That is six times for those who are counting. One more and they would have had to carry me out.
Back in Tucson, we are all exhausted. Tucson is still having record heat so we spend the next afternoon at the movie theater watching the new Ben Affleck flick, The Town. It was very good but the air-conditioning was even better. I am sure my sister is wondering why we live here.
My sister came out to visit again to see if we had made any progress fixing up the house. It seems we have made little noticeable progress. They also picked a bad week. Summer and its searing temperatures wasn’t ready to leave us yet. The heat was made even worse by an air-conditioning problem. The cooling unit worked fine but cold air refused to flow in the guest rooms. Another symptom of an overly complicated house.
Each room has its own thermostat controlling a motorized air damper. After a lot of head-scratching we managed to locate the offender in a non-descript box on the roof.Our plan is to make a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Since Aimee and I have not worked out in a long time, we convince our guests to take a warm-up hike before we leave. It is a good thing we did. My niece’s husband was less prepared than us. Only a few minutes into the hike both soles of his boots just pealed away.
The desert is tough on equipment. Our next stop was a sports shop to buy new boots, sun block, water bottles, and sunglasses. We are ready!On Tuesday we picked up a rental van and made the long drive north. We stopped in Sedona for lunch and to admire the red rock vistas. We pulled into the Grand Canyon early enough to enjoy the view before dinner.
The next morning we took the shuttle to the South Kaibab trail head. We hiked down into the canyon for over an hour. Aimee and I had forgotten what a stunning experience this is. Just awesome. My only regret was we couldn’t continue to the bottom. 
Unfortunately picking up cancellations for six beds at Phantom Ranch is nearly impossible. I really should be thankful we didn’t get them as the temperature at the bottom is well over 100F. Our adventure today was not over. From the Grand Canyon we started the long drive back. In Flagstaff we made a detour to visit Walnut Canyon National Monument. My sister has been wanting to see some of our famous Anasazi Indian ruins. Walnut Canyon is one of our favorites. The ruins can be visited along a one-mile trail that loops inside a picturesque canyon. Because we just hiked the Grand Canyon all of us are complaining about the return stair climb. Near the exit a lady catches up to us and tells us her friend has passed out and is unresponsive. My niece is a nurse so we head back down the stairs to offer first aid.
The park ranger decides we need to carry her out. So I accompany him back up the stairs to fetch the gurney. Back down the stairs we strap her in and walk the wheeled stretcher back up. That is six times for those who are counting. One more and they would have had to carry me out.Back in Tucson, we are all exhausted. Tucson is still having record heat so we spend the next afternoon at the movie theater watching the new Ben Affleck flick, The Town. It was very good but the air-conditioning was even better. I am sure my sister is wondering why we live here.
posted by Mike and Aimee at 10:58 AM
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