Travel Blog

Well, even though the Super Bowl didn't go my way, at least I don't have to buy a $300 leather Steelers jacket. That was that week's wager with the powers-that-be. So the Packers saved me some dough.

I think I've said before that taking pictures here is a lot cooler when the weather is bad. The tourists don't want to hear it, but it's true. Check this out:

I thought we were in Yellowstone for a minute there. But it was just a storm coming in. I have a few more canyon pics from that day:

On a very somber note, on Wednesday we had a person go missing. It was just after the afternoon Ranger talk, and this older man was looking for his wife. Luckily, the Ranger that day, Jack, is an awesome guy, and he took the gentleman very seriously, and went out to help the man look. Jack also made sure Phil and I knew her name and what she was wearing in case she came in while they were out looking for her. It's not too often that folks go missing, but it does happen, and usually someone just gets caught up in the moment and wanders too far from their people. But this woman was a bit different. She had a medical condition that made it difficult for her to walk without assistance. Her husband left her sitting in the sun on a bench near the Geology Museum while he went to the restroom. When he came back, she was gone, but her cane was still on the bench.

About an hour or so later, Jack came back with the husband and they went into our back room/office to wait to see what the Search and Rescue Rangers would find. Unfortunately, when those Rangers came in, they had to tell the husband that they had spotted his wife's body below the rim. By that time, it was getting dark and cold, and the descent was not an easy one. The rescue team decided they would have to leave her body there overnight and get her in the morning. This morning, we read the press release about the incident, and she fell about 600 feet. No one saw it happen, so no one knows how she fell. It was just a very sad day here for all involved. Phil and I have heard of people dying in the Grand Canyon, and we've read the book that we sell that talks of nothing but how people die here, but this one was different. We had met the husband, and we knew her name. We were in earshot when he got the news about his wife. And now we have to answer questions about her death, because folks heard about it or saw the area cordoned off on Wednesday. It's just very rough.

And that's about it from me for now.