Back Home With a Story to Tell

 Mistress and Slave are back home after about 10 days on the road. She seemed to have a relaxing time in the sun during the first phase of our journey.  On breaks from dreary meetings at a conference I could usually find her at pool side with the other wives, and a few husbands who were along for the ride.  Mistress was even seen one morning participating in "aqua aerobics" with the senior set.  I suspect she became fodder for some late night fantasies for some of the old duffers who pulled up on their golf carts for the proceedings.

After  3  days of  me shoveling down buffet meals, (The best thing about COVID was the temporary ban on buffets!), Mistress and slave headed north to the Grand Canyon for what we hoped would be a night camping in the back country. But that was complicated.  There are only so many permits available for  camping down below the rim. And when we sent in our plea for a spot....well we were losers in the so called "lottery".  Our last hope was that a cancellation might pave the way for a scarce spot down at what used to be called the Indian Garden campground.  Otherwise it was a nite at the Bright Canyon Lodge and another in our tent at the crowded above the rim campground.

When we arrived at the Back Country office on Friday afternoon  it was in a cold rain. Deep snow was piled about along the side of the roads and sidewalks. Not exactly good omens for our planned weekend expedition. But as it turns out, the crappy weather must have deterred some who had planned to hit the trail in the morning.  There was a vacancy!  The friendly ranger behind the counter asked for a form I left in the car, and for our license plate number (Presumably so if we turned up dead on the trail, they could auction off our Subaru to pay for the cost of hauling our half eaten corpses out of there?)

When I came back from the parking lot, there were further....developments?

Mistress was standing at the counter with a tall, rugged looking dude who had appeared in my absence.  Maybe late 40's, early 50's.  About 6'2". Dressed sort of outdoorsy casual in hiking trousers and a Patagonia shell  still wet from the ongoing rain. 

"Change of plans, Slave....the Ranger and Scott here have persuaded me that two nights at Indian Garden is much better than one."

"Huh....but what about getting back for the cat....."  

Slave is always conscious of our schedule. 

"Not to worry, Shannon (our cat sitter) will be happy to handle that for one more day. With two nights we will have more time to explore down below....."

Since Mistress is, well, always persuasive, I quickly caved to the change of plans. 

But it gets better....it turned our Scott had a similar but more ambitious itinerary.

"He's going down there too tomorrow....so he can give us some tips on campsites and day hikes." Scott chimed in....

"I was planning a couple of days at Indian Garden....then on along the Tonto trail for the rest of the week....." Turns out  Scott is a far more experienced back packer, who makes annual forays into the Canyon.

Well then.  

The sparkle in Mistress's eye suggested that she had more than a passing interest in the "tips" that her new, hunky  friend might provide.

And that's the story that I will be sharing here in the days to come.  Stay tuned.