gnarlydorkette
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Last weekend, I was out of town (as if you all noticed based on my absence from the forum!) on a trip to Lake Havasu to canoe in Colorado River for my husband's 23rd birthday (as well in memory of his father's one year anniversay of death which is today). His mother, his brother and the girlfriend, my husband and I left on Friday around 2pm (we were supposed to leave at noon but typcically the brother got up late and arrived at our home late) in separate cars to Needles, California whcih is only 15 minutes north of Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
It was rather HOT and crowded on the freeways. (It did reach to 122degrees in some areas we drove by.. I did take a picture of 102degrees which may be seen at my photoblog http://gnarlydorkette.textamerica.com) and we finally arrived in Lake Hasavu City, Arizona and reached to our motel "Best Western" but discovered that there are TWO BestWestern in the SAME city (the city only has 5,000 ppl) so we had to drive three blocks down to go to the RIGHT BestWestern hotel... yes, only THREE blocks away.
On Saturday morning, we left the hotel to drive 10minuts to "Topock Gorge Marina" to meet the group for the canoeing trip with a tour guide (whose name is "Chuck" and is very gesturative based on the fact that he is hearing-impaired.. NOT DEAF. He is h-i who wears hearing aids.).
I teamed up with C (my husband) in our canoe... we did have difficulty to figure out how to canoe because he LIKED to be in control of the boat but I sat in the back which mean *I* am in the control of steering the canoe but he kept doing my job and... (RAVING RANTING RAVING)
Anyway... we canoed approximate 16 miles down the Colorado River with Arizona on our left side and California on our right side. We did have difficulties along the way when the giant motorboats zoom down the river and created wakes (risky for canoes-- that those wakes may tip us over) in the ice-cold river! The river was COLD (60 degrees) in contrast with 110 degrees heat in the air! It was nice because we stayed cool when we stay low to the river than on the land (it was SUPER-HOT, i am telling you...)
I had to drink bottled water and pour the dirty, oil-laced colorado river water on my head to avoid a heatstroke (I was showing all signs: fatigue, headaches, nausea, etc)... We did pull over a lot to give the group of 20 people breaks to rest after churning against the motorboats' wakes (they are like 4 feet tall wakes).
When there were no motorboats or jetskis racing down, it was nice-- we just paddled along with the downcurrent which carried us so we can take a break in middle of the river and hold to eachother's canoes and kick back in the canoes, catching some sunrays.
We did saw a mountain which has a profile of an old American Indian, another that resembles a dragon, and we stopped at this place where there are old American Indian writings on the side of a giant boulder. C remarked about the plague (which explained about the American Indian writing) that he did feel funny about what it says... but he couldn't pinpoint it until he realized that the plague said "NON-INDIANS" which referred to us-- the white folks. He was taken back but then he said that it was sort of right for them to call us "Non-Indians" just like when white people call everybody else "NON-WHITE" on the American Census...(You know those where you check whether you are "White", "Black/African-American", "Hispanic/Spanish-Descent", or "Non-White"...)
As the daylight fades, we camped in a primitive campsite. We had to hike (with tents, foods, sleeping bags and clothes) about one mile away from the river which mean--- HOT! The temperature rose as we walked away from the river. We had to hike because the river is part of the reserve and it is forbidden to camp.. so we hiked until we got past the sign that say "WILDLIFE REFUGE AHEAD: NO CAMPING BEYOND". C and I camped one foot away from that sign.
When I said "primitive" I mean NO INDOOR PLUMBING. We had to pee and poop in the ground. We had to bring our shovel and tiolet paper (no residue left on the top... we gotta dig a hole and do our business then stuff the TP in the hole then bury it.) I didn't poop the whole trip ... but I peed thrice! :-X
C and I fell asleep quickly with our arms sore and heat beating us down at 8pm (the earliest we ever went to bed!). But around midnight it got cold and we slipped under the sleeping bag with clothes on (we were naked before, haha). We did toss and turn throughout the night because of lack of pillows or heat, or just because one of us moved which caused the another to wake up.
Next day (Sunday), we woke up 5am which was horrible for C who never woke up at daybreak. We canoed 6 miles... and C and I did improve our teamwork by canoeing... we finally stayed in the front instead of trying to catch up with the rest who waited for us the day before!
We were shocked when we realized we had been canoeing 26 miles in total! 16miles and an two hour break along with 3 miles in the first day, then 6 miles in the second day. We finished up at 11am yesterday...
We went home... at 2am this morning.
How could this happen??
Car troubles, overwhelming heat, you name it, that is why.
C's mom's car got some car troubles. It refused to go above the second gear (which mean 30-35mph)... the speedometer doesn't work. It kept stalled if mom tried to speed more than 35mph... so we pulled over at a gas station. Saw an UHAUL store across the store. Rented a 375$ truck that has a trailer so we can trail mom's car to home. More troubles rose. The first truck has a flat tire. SO we replaced it for a second truck.. which has a broken um um "car holder"... it has straps on the trailer to hold the car on which was broken. SO we replaced in for a THIRD truck... but it leaks gas! So mom went back and yelled at the UHAUL store owner about it and asked for a FOURTH truck which was refused to us. Mom got pissed and asked for refund... was refused. A fight broke out-- verbal. Everybody's arms were held down to prevent the fight to be escalated.
Three hours later in an 123degrees city of Lake Hasavu, ARIZONA, we finally resorted to drop off Mom's car at a dealership for an overnight to be repiared (it was Sunday. everything was closed included car repair shops.) and cramp five people in a small two-doored car. I cannot remember the model but it is like a two-door miata car...
... C had to sit in the passenger seat after hitting his head twice, HARD, in the backseat (the backseat has no head room). I kept hitting my head as well when the car went over bumps or dips on the freeways. There was really no HEAD room for people with a height over 5'5".
We decided to pull over to a resturant with A.C. because I was showing symptoms of a heatstroke and the car has NO a.c.... the gfd and brother kept windows down to "cool" down but all it did was bring more heat in! I couldn't breath the sauna air (I have asthma) so I had to keep my head down between my legs to be able to breath in a buffer zone where no hot air is blown... We ate at Dennys and the gfd decided to rent out a hotel room for us to shower, nap, swim in the pool. The gfd was kind of hard to get along because she tried to do everything for everybody. (She tried to take away my sleeping bags while hiking because she was worried I was going to faint! I was FINE ... but she took away and I was left wtih nothign to carry and I felt stupid because everybody was carryinbg a heavy load while the old lazy me just strolled in my swimsuit!) and she kept paying for our foods and refused to let us to pay for ourselves. Hm.
Around 9pm after some persuasion by me (I was worried about my cat because I didn't arrange somebody to take care Diamondback on Sunday so I don't know how long ago he was fed on Saturday), we left in the temperature 95degrees which was tolerable. The gfd sped over 90 mph... all way down on 40 west, and 215 south... Mom sped over 90 as well. but it was more scarier with Mom because she is sort of blind in one eye and she didn't brake well... I woke up screaming "JESUS H CHRIST, WHAT THE #$^@ IS HAPPENED?!" around 12am when Mom swerved to get on a 25mph curved ramp at 85mph...
But we got home around 1:30am. I jumped out of a crowded car and kissed C goodbye to drive myself to MY home where DIamondback was waiting up for me. He kept rubbing himself against my leg, circling my leg, licking my leg.... :-/ I felt bad for leaving him home alone. It will be hard for me when I fly out to Finland for three weeks.
Well. that is my trip.
I paddled 26 miles, got some GOOD tan. I got freckles again... C loves 'em. He thinks I look cute with freckles. I got a minor sunburn on my stomach. I got some buffed triceps now.. but I still got flappy biceps. No blisters on me. I didn't die in the Colorado River. I didn't die of a heatstroke.
YAY!
It was rather HOT and crowded on the freeways. (It did reach to 122degrees in some areas we drove by.. I did take a picture of 102degrees which may be seen at my photoblog http://gnarlydorkette.textamerica.com) and we finally arrived in Lake Hasavu City, Arizona and reached to our motel "Best Western" but discovered that there are TWO BestWestern in the SAME city (the city only has 5,000 ppl) so we had to drive three blocks down to go to the RIGHT BestWestern hotel... yes, only THREE blocks away.
On Saturday morning, we left the hotel to drive 10minuts to "Topock Gorge Marina" to meet the group for the canoeing trip with a tour guide (whose name is "Chuck" and is very gesturative based on the fact that he is hearing-impaired.. NOT DEAF. He is h-i who wears hearing aids.).
I teamed up with C (my husband) in our canoe... we did have difficulty to figure out how to canoe because he LIKED to be in control of the boat but I sat in the back which mean *I* am in the control of steering the canoe but he kept doing my job and... (RAVING RANTING RAVING)
Anyway... we canoed approximate 16 miles down the Colorado River with Arizona on our left side and California on our right side. We did have difficulties along the way when the giant motorboats zoom down the river and created wakes (risky for canoes-- that those wakes may tip us over) in the ice-cold river! The river was COLD (60 degrees) in contrast with 110 degrees heat in the air! It was nice because we stayed cool when we stay low to the river than on the land (it was SUPER-HOT, i am telling you...)
I had to drink bottled water and pour the dirty, oil-laced colorado river water on my head to avoid a heatstroke (I was showing all signs: fatigue, headaches, nausea, etc)... We did pull over a lot to give the group of 20 people breaks to rest after churning against the motorboats' wakes (they are like 4 feet tall wakes).
When there were no motorboats or jetskis racing down, it was nice-- we just paddled along with the downcurrent which carried us so we can take a break in middle of the river and hold to eachother's canoes and kick back in the canoes, catching some sunrays.
We did saw a mountain which has a profile of an old American Indian, another that resembles a dragon, and we stopped at this place where there are old American Indian writings on the side of a giant boulder. C remarked about the plague (which explained about the American Indian writing) that he did feel funny about what it says... but he couldn't pinpoint it until he realized that the plague said "NON-INDIANS" which referred to us-- the white folks. He was taken back but then he said that it was sort of right for them to call us "Non-Indians" just like when white people call everybody else "NON-WHITE" on the American Census...(You know those where you check whether you are "White", "Black/African-American", "Hispanic/Spanish-Descent", or "Non-White"...)
As the daylight fades, we camped in a primitive campsite. We had to hike (with tents, foods, sleeping bags and clothes) about one mile away from the river which mean--- HOT! The temperature rose as we walked away from the river. We had to hike because the river is part of the reserve and it is forbidden to camp.. so we hiked until we got past the sign that say "WILDLIFE REFUGE AHEAD: NO CAMPING BEYOND". C and I camped one foot away from that sign.
When I said "primitive" I mean NO INDOOR PLUMBING. We had to pee and poop in the ground. We had to bring our shovel and tiolet paper (no residue left on the top... we gotta dig a hole and do our business then stuff the TP in the hole then bury it.) I didn't poop the whole trip ... but I peed thrice! :-X
C and I fell asleep quickly with our arms sore and heat beating us down at 8pm (the earliest we ever went to bed!). But around midnight it got cold and we slipped under the sleeping bag with clothes on (we were naked before, haha). We did toss and turn throughout the night because of lack of pillows or heat, or just because one of us moved which caused the another to wake up.
Next day (Sunday), we woke up 5am which was horrible for C who never woke up at daybreak. We canoed 6 miles... and C and I did improve our teamwork by canoeing... we finally stayed in the front instead of trying to catch up with the rest who waited for us the day before!
We were shocked when we realized we had been canoeing 26 miles in total! 16miles and an two hour break along with 3 miles in the first day, then 6 miles in the second day. We finished up at 11am yesterday...
We went home... at 2am this morning.
How could this happen??
Car troubles, overwhelming heat, you name it, that is why.
C's mom's car got some car troubles. It refused to go above the second gear (which mean 30-35mph)... the speedometer doesn't work. It kept stalled if mom tried to speed more than 35mph... so we pulled over at a gas station. Saw an UHAUL store across the store. Rented a 375$ truck that has a trailer so we can trail mom's car to home. More troubles rose. The first truck has a flat tire. SO we replaced it for a second truck.. which has a broken um um "car holder"... it has straps on the trailer to hold the car on which was broken. SO we replaced in for a THIRD truck... but it leaks gas! So mom went back and yelled at the UHAUL store owner about it and asked for a FOURTH truck which was refused to us. Mom got pissed and asked for refund... was refused. A fight broke out-- verbal. Everybody's arms were held down to prevent the fight to be escalated.
Three hours later in an 123degrees city of Lake Hasavu, ARIZONA, we finally resorted to drop off Mom's car at a dealership for an overnight to be repiared (it was Sunday. everything was closed included car repair shops.) and cramp five people in a small two-doored car. I cannot remember the model but it is like a two-door miata car...
... C had to sit in the passenger seat after hitting his head twice, HARD, in the backseat (the backseat has no head room). I kept hitting my head as well when the car went over bumps or dips on the freeways. There was really no HEAD room for people with a height over 5'5". We decided to pull over to a resturant with A.C. because I was showing symptoms of a heatstroke and the car has NO a.c.... the gfd and brother kept windows down to "cool" down but all it did was bring more heat in! I couldn't breath the sauna air (I have asthma) so I had to keep my head down between my legs to be able to breath in a buffer zone where no hot air is blown... We ate at Dennys and the gfd decided to rent out a hotel room for us to shower, nap, swim in the pool. The gfd was kind of hard to get along because she tried to do everything for everybody. (She tried to take away my sleeping bags while hiking because she was worried I was going to faint! I was FINE ... but she took away and I was left wtih nothign to carry and I felt stupid because everybody was carryinbg a heavy load while the old lazy me just strolled in my swimsuit!) and she kept paying for our foods and refused to let us to pay for ourselves. Hm.
Around 9pm after some persuasion by me (I was worried about my cat because I didn't arrange somebody to take care Diamondback on Sunday so I don't know how long ago he was fed on Saturday), we left in the temperature 95degrees which was tolerable. The gfd sped over 90 mph... all way down on 40 west, and 215 south... Mom sped over 90 as well. but it was more scarier with Mom because she is sort of blind in one eye and she didn't brake well... I woke up screaming "JESUS H CHRIST, WHAT THE #$^@ IS HAPPENED?!" around 12am when Mom swerved to get on a 25mph curved ramp at 85mph...
But we got home around 1:30am. I jumped out of a crowded car and kissed C goodbye to drive myself to MY home where DIamondback was waiting up for me. He kept rubbing himself against my leg, circling my leg, licking my leg.... :-/ I felt bad for leaving him home alone. It will be hard for me when I fly out to Finland for three weeks.
Well. that is my trip.
I paddled 26 miles, got some GOOD tan. I got freckles again... C loves 'em. He thinks I look cute with freckles. I got a minor sunburn on my stomach. I got some buffed triceps now.. but I still got flappy biceps. No blisters on me. I didn't die in the Colorado River. I didn't die of a heatstroke.
YAY!
I wouldn't do that. We climbed to get onto a platform where we can stand and look at the boulder ahead of us which does have the drawings. We climbed to get onto the land from the river...Hope that clears up!!!