Recently I had a major crash on both my laptop and desktop. As a result, I have not been able to post anything on any of my social sites. What a shame. I do remember, however, when this was not necessary.
Due to the dwindling amount of print media, I’m forced to write for the internet, at very low prices for my writings. I figured everyone reads for free, so I’ll have to do my share of writing for free. Welcome to the 21st Century.
I’ve done several trips in the last few weeks that my readers know nothing about, so here’s a partial list since December 2009
Guadalupe Canyon camping and hiking
Big Bear Lake skiing
Cerro Alto Camp and a grueling uphill hike
Cuyama State Park (it was snowing)
Aguas Calientes camp in Anza Borrego Desert
An entire week in Sedona, Arizona
Borrego Springs Camp with the Sierra Club in Anza Borrego Desert (This is a big place, one cannot see the entire thing in one weekend)
This past weekend yet another camping trip got cancelled due to rain, but I got lucky because two friends came over, we had a pajama party and my friend Dasha helped me recover my laptop. Time well spent.
In the near future I have plans to:
Off road trip to do the entire Mojave road. Going the path of the Pioneers.
Go back to Baja for 8 days in the sun! Yay!
When I come back from Baja I’ll be going back for a weekend of luxurious travel in a private home and some Blues Festival. No camping or roughing it.
In April I’ll be traversing the entire Trans Island Catalina trail in Catalina Island off the coast of California. My first serious backpack.
Then at the end of the month my friend from Canada will be visiting and we’ll take off for 10 days to visit all the National Parks in California we have time to check out. It’s been one of her dreams to do that and I’m all for it.
Later in the summer I’m heading to Orlando, Alaska and maybe spend some time in Vancouver. I haven’t decided if I’ll drive or fly.
I’ll keep on blogging all my adventures. Happy travels!
We got up that morning to pee in the nearby rocky hills. Debbie and I had slept in my SUV where it was warm and dry. We were glad to get back into our sleeping bags to warm up again. We had been traveling and adventuring for the past five days and that Tuesday was our last full day before going home. Steve was sleeping a few yards away from the car. Unknown to us, he picked up all our bags we had thrown on the ground to make room in the car and put them inside his tent, to protect them from the rain, a storm that had caught us by surprise.
I wanted to go back to sleep as it was still dark, but dawn was approaching and we couldn’t resist watching the sunrise from the back windows of the SUV. We started chatting about our trip, at times laughing out loud as we remembered the crazy stuff we had done. We discussed the sad state of our personal belongings as we thought they would be soaking wet. Neither one of us wanted to get out and check. Below our hill a few people were gathering in the pools of the hot springs already. I wondered who in the world would get up that early just to experience some hot water in a smelly pool.
Steve joined us as the sun came up and told us of his kindness. As usual, the planning of what we would do that day would come sometime during breakfast. It was a trip planned on the spur of the moment, looking around where we were and finding something to do. Steve was in charge of the logistics. He knew the area like the back of his hand.
Breakfast had been very early every day, usually at around 6AM or even earlier. It was not planned, it just happened that way as we got up with the sun every day. Steve was the first one up; he usually went for a hike somewhere and disappeared for a while. The campground was definitely primitive, there was no water or facilities and the only sign that we could camp there was a rustic and crumbling fire pit under a huge rock.
It occurred to me that I desperately wanted a Chai Tea Latte from Starbucks. Debbie agreed and as soon as we told Steve, he was on the driver’s seat taking us to Mammoth Village to a coffee shop he was familiar with. I didn’t even get out of my sleeping bag and the rocking motion of the car on the dirt road put me back to sleep. I don’t know how long it took to get there, I only remember the car moving on asphalt and it was time to get out. Steve asked me if I was going in with my thermal underwear I had bought sometime ago in Canada. He suggested I put pants on as the bright stripes of my underwear might startle some people.
I agreed, although I was perfectly willing to go inside the coffee shop showing off my bright pants and top, he also gave me his jacket and I found a scarf somewhere. I looked decent for a change. The last five days had been filled with adventures, sleeping on the ground, under a tent and Debbie had even slept on top of a picnic table just to admire the stars over the dessert. I was yet to do that, I preferred the seclusion of my tent; my own personal space where I could be alone.
While drinking coffee and eating some delicious bread Steve bought, we planned the day. I remembered I brought my inflatable raft which had been carted around on top of my car for 5 days. The paddles were hidden behind the back seats. We decided to find out the status of the Owens River at the office of the Bureau of Land Management. Barbara, the Ranger, said it was a great river for floating as it was calm and rapids were few and not more than class II. That suited me fine since I’d never guided a raft before, I could probably manage to stay in the water and float, which was the purpose of my raft.
After cleaning up as much as we could in the bathrooms available at the coffee shop and BLM, (Steve and Debbie actually washed their hair on the bathroom sink) we headed to the entrance of a long gravel road that led to a campground where we could inflate the raft and put it in the river. I looked at the small rapids ahead and thought I could handle them, if they didn’t get any worse than that, the trip down a couple of miles where Steve would pick us up would be a pleasant one and fun in the sun. Debbie and I loaded up on sun block; I wore my bathing suit with a t-shirt on top and stuck my Teva Sandals in the fold of the raft to keep my balance. Steve said not to do that as I could hurt my foot if a rock hit the bottom of the raft, but from experience, I knew I could not fall into the water as long as my foot was firmly inside that fold.
Steve said he would shadow us and drive my SUV down the road a bit and meet us down the river, near the bridge, to see how we were doing. It seemed simple enough and fun. We knew if we got in trouble, there would be plenty of fishermen down the river to help, per Barbara’s advice. Debbie had only one experience rafting in Costa Rica in very warm water. I have been in many rafting trips in Canada, Colorado River, Costa Rica and felt confident enough to know what I was doing. Just keep paddling as hard as I could, stay away from big rocks and try to keep the raft in the middle of the river.
The Fun Starts
The first rapids were fun; we cheered and gave each other high fives for making it without falling or capsizing the raft. I got more confident after the small rapids. The problem was when we picked up momentum and the current took us faster down the river. I tried desperately to maneuver the raft in the middle of the river and at the first bend I lost control and we headed toward the shore. The tall reeds stopped us, laughing, we continued, this time to the other shore. We were zigzagging too much but we were just having fun.
At the next bend I tried hard to keep the raft in the middle again, but it was impossible, when we hit the shore a bunch of dead tree branches stopped us, I wondered just how sharp those branches were and just how sturdy was the plastic of the raft. We continued, laughing harder. I told Debbie to paddle on the same side I was and she kneeled on the raft facing forward for more control. The raft took off faster down the river, there was no way I could slow it down, the current was moving swiftly picking up speed in the long stretches and slowing down at the bends. Unfortunately, at every bend, our raft ended up on the shore. Since I’m heavier than Debbie, the raft tended to slam on the shore on my end. I got annoyed after the first couple of slams on the trees and tried even harder to keep control of the raft.
As we moved down the river and we knew we would slam on the trees we tried desperately to keep control, to no avail, at every bend the raft found itself on the shore and the trees kept getting sharper and longer than before. The reeds were around but they seemed to disappear when we came around the bend, instead we managed to find every dead tree and slam into it, with me taking the blunt of the hit first. Debbie thought this to be very funny and she would bend over the raft and laugh her head off whenever she turned around and saw me trying to untangle myself from a tree.
The worst was when a tall tree with many dead branches I could not avoid caught me head on and if I hadn’t had my foot firmly on the raft, I would have ended up in the water. Instead, my hat was tangled up on a branch, many branches poked me everywhere, my paddle was behind me hanging from my hand and I looked like I had lost a battle with a tree. I had! The raft was stopped finally and I proceeded to recover my body from the tree. Debbie said she had to pee in her pants from the laughter. I couldn’t help it but laugh also, although it was painful and humiliating. By now I had many scratches on my arms and legs and was ready to call it quits.
When we came around yet another bend we saw fishermen, the first ones of the trip. We told each other we needed to look good for them so they wouldn’t laugh at us. We paddled desperately and tried to look good but this time a tree in the middle of the stream caught us, we couldn’t even paddle around it. Slam we went into it full force. We just laughed. Upon watching us, the fisherman said: “You guys are dangerous.”
Mind you, we were dangerous, not that we were in danger. I wonder to whom? The fish? The fishermen? The River? What had he meant?
We continued and as we left his view I yelled: “Where is the bridge?” he looked at me thoroughly confused and said: “What bridge?” I shuddered at his answer. There was no bridge? Where would we meet Steve?
By now I was really annoyed at the meandering river. I began to scream for us to paddle as hard as we could so we could stay somewhat away from the shore and the needles of the dead trees way before I saw their danger. Yet no matter how hard we paddled, the boat managed to just spin and somehow end up on the shore. I would just close my eyes, protect as much of my body as I could and make sure that foot was firmly embedded in the fold of the boat so I wouldn’t fall.
I was done with this adventure; I began to pray to see Steve soon so he would take my place. When I saw him in the distance waving frantically at us, as if we couldn’t see him or there were many boats on the river, I was relieved. Somehow we made it to a shore where he could jump into the boat and I could jump out. There was no asking, I just demanded he take my place. Debbie did not want to quit her experience; she was having too much fun.
I delegated my puny paddle that Steve called a kid’s toy and told them I would meet them down the river. I was relieved to be out of the water, so relieved that suddenly all the tension in my body left me. I was safe on land, thank God!
I drove the car a few miles down river and found a nice beach where they could pull in and we could take the boat out of the water. I felt that was enough adventuring for the day and they would be exhausted. Steve was more experienced at paddling and I was sure the two of them were having fun. The sun and the breeze of the afternoon were soothing and I needed to be alone and calm my nerves for a while. I brought my book, wore my hat and sat down to wait.
60 pages into my very interesting book I looked up at my watch. It was 5PM. I had been at the beach for two hours. I immediately panicked, where were they? What happened? My mind began to race and I came up with a myriad of outcomes, some very sobering but most absolutely harrowing.
Panic in the River
I calmed myself down and moved into action. I had to find the bridge, I had no idea if it was ahead or behind me so I got in the car and headed as fast as I could back to where we started. I stopped another car on the road and asked if he had seen a couple of rafters with an inflatable boat, he said no. My mind continued to race at the prospect of something really bad happening to them. I sped on the dirt road back and suddenly it dawned on me they had my cell phone in a dry bag attached to the boat. Debbie’s cell phone was dead and Steve didn’t have one. Our thoughts were that them having the cell phone in case of an emergency was a better idea.
I was desperate to find any fishermen in the area to borrow their phone. I finally saw one fishing off a bridge and I was positive he knew where they were. Instead, the man was rude, saying he didn’t have a cell phone, he came there to fish and he hadn’t seen anyone. I swore under my breath at his insensitivity… MEN!
I continued driving back to where we had launched the boat. Why was it taking me so long? Had we really advanced in the river that much of a distance? This river meandered like crazy I remembered, how could this area be so isolated? My prayers were not answered. I saw cars parked on the side of the road, but not one soul around. Where had everyone gone? Are fishermen such isolated people? Finally I saw two getting into their cars. Speeding as if they were running away from me I slammed on the brakes near them and sent plumes of dust and smoke all over the area.
When it finally cleared two very annoyed fishermen were staring at me wondering what in the world I was doing. I tried to explain without sounding too frantic that I had lost two of my friends in the river and I needed to use their cell phone to call them. One older man shook his head, pulled his phone and asked me what number to dial. I assumed he thought I was too deranged to actually be able to use his phone, which I appreciated. He handed me the phone and I heard it ring.
Once, twice, three times. My God! What had happened? Finally Steve answered. I have never been so relieved in my life. They were alive and I didn’t have to drive home alone to notify their families of a tragedy. Steve told me where they were, but I had no idea where that was because I had an even less idea of where I was. The older fisherman took pity on me and took the phone. He spoke briefly with Steve and then turned to me. He spoke slowly and deliberate, and right there I knew I hadn’t handled this situation calmly. He told me exactly where to go and asked me to repeat what he had said. Good communication skills. I was thankful.
I drove back toward the highway like a bat out of hell. I even passed another car I thought was driving too slowly. The dust and dirt rose up hundreds of feet into the air and I could not see anything in my rear view mirror. Finally in the distance I saw two bodies moving on the highway, one was wearing a light green top and the other a man’s plaid shirt.
The Adventures Continue
I felt like jumping out of the car and embracing them. Debbie was too serious, as if a terrible emergency had happened and she didn’t want to give me the bad news. I could not imagine how bad it was, they seemed healthy and in one piece, right there in front of me, how bad could anything else be?
They told me how she had fallen out of the boat, not once, but twice when Steve delegated the reins of the boat. The water was freezing and she was soaking wet. As the afternoon wore on and neither had dry clothes they switched. Debbie was now wearing Steve’s plaid shirt and Steve looked a bit funny wearing Debbie’s light green, long sleeve blouse. On top of that, his cotton pants were wet on the crotch and he had a paddle on his hand. Was he also wearing lipstick? Where was the boat? I wondered.
They had decided to pull the boat out of the water way before they reached me. They were tired and soaked and since neither could control the boat, they had meandered from one shore to the next banging the boat on each shore just as I had done. They, however, had gotten smarter, and dove to the bottom of the boat so as to not get hurt by the dead branches. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I didn’t want to laugh at the picture but inside I was dying to bend over laughing.
Steve said his lips were burning and Debbie offered her colored lip balm. His only answer was: “What color is it” To which she just burst out laughing. What did it matter? He needed the lip balm desperately.
Looking like a pair of crazy people, they had gotten a ride from the pull-out point from a woman with lots of room in the back of her truck. She took them to the main highway. They were so busy chatting with her telling of their adventures that neither noticed my red SUV parked a few yards from the main road where I was waiting for them. They totally bypassed me and of course, busy as I was reading my book, I never saw them.
The story continued. All their possessions were in my car, they had no wallet, no phone numbers, no dry clothes, Steve looked like a transvestite from West Hollywood and Debbie’s small frame was rapidly deteriorating into hypothermia. They had flattened the boat and hid it under some bushes. They thought if I never found them, they needed to survive somehow. Some of their solutions were:
Steve knew his credit card number, they would go use it at a nearby casino, win some money and go home.
They would hitch a ride to the casino, win more money, buy a Cadillac and go home.
They would hitch a ride to Mammoth, where Debbie’s friends owned a condo and they could stay there. Mammoth was a good 200 miles away, and it was getting dark already.
They would wrap themselves in the boat like a burrito and spend the night that way. At least they would be warm.
Their concern was that we had met a mere 6 days before in a meet-up group and neither knew me from Adam. Who was I after all? they worried. Yet with every solution they could only laugh hysterically as if they were two drunks holding toy paddles.
Finally, when they saw the plume of dust being left by a speeding car they knew that was me, and they were relieved. I wasn’t the least worried about the boat, it could be replaced in a second, and my relief was seeing them alive and well and on top of that, laughing their heads off.
The Final Story
We headed for the last campground of the night after stuffing the boat in the back of the car. Everything was soaking wet, dirty and muddy, but we didn’t care. We were going home the next day.
That night, over the fire and a delicious meal prepared by Debbie of rice, Indian food and a perfect salad, we recounted our adventures of the day. I took out my tape recorder so I wouldn’t miss one event and as we recollected our day, telling each other what we had done in between bouts of laughter we missed a truck that went by our campground.
A very angry campground host screeched in front and surprised us. We had been drinking wine and the fire roared in the pit. What was up with this guy?
“Don’t you know how windy it is? Can’t you see that a spark can take the whole dessert into flames in a minute? How dare you build a fire in this weather?”
I had no idea what this guy was talking about. What would burn? The dessert? There’s nothing in the dessert, that’s why they call it such! I looked around for some tumble weeds and found none. The shadow of an isolated tree in the distance told me that’s what he must be talking about.
Muttering obscenities under his breath he took out a huge bucket of water from his truck and poured it on our fire. I was about ready to complain, but Steve just motioned his finger to his lips for me to be quiet. He would handle it. After a few minutes of constant complaining the host left in a huff, no one said a word, although I’m sure we were all thinking of a few things to say.
With our party shattered in a moment’s notice we decided to go to bed. Rain threatened again (did the camp host know that?) so we all piled up in the car. Steve managed to put all our gear under the car, in the front seats and under the picnic table. We had plenty of room.
As Steve and I whispered and giggled plans of future travel Debbie fell soundly asleep. The next day we went home.
Note:
At every turn in this adventure all of us wished we had a camera. For some reason all 3 of them we carried stopped working after day 2. Batteries were dead, we couldn’t find replacements and/or memory was used up.
Everything in this story is true. The real names of my trip buddies have been changed. Both Debbie and Steve came into my life as fast as they left it, but they will be forever remembered in my heart as the most fun and adventurous, and yes, even a bit crazy people I’ve ever met. May I be so lucky as to find other travel partners who can so enrich my life as did Debbie and Steve.
It began the day I made a commitment to walk 39.2 miles over 2 days. It's a daunting task, but the excitement builds as we train over the months and raise funds to qualify to walk. Each one of us must raise a minimum of $1,800.00 to walk any one city.
We spend months training and when the weekend of the walk finally arrives we are excited to put to the test all our new acquired skills at raising funds and walking. We certainly hope that we can finish it, and most people do, but others only want to do half or even just a few miles. What matters is the participation and knowing we are helping a cause that's important.
When event eve arrives we must register and obtain our pink wristband that identify us as an official walker. We arrive at the event eager to see who else is walking and meet new friends we'll find along the route. Vendors and sponsors line along the walls of the event hoping we will buy a trinket or pick up a brochure or even just say hello.
Once the registration is over, we are free to go home to come back the next day and begin walking, but most of us hang around the hotel visiting with friends and even helping others finish raising the funds they need to participate.
Saturday we wake up really early and gear up to begin. We arrive at opening ceremonies where over 2000 people who are also walking are gathered and waiting to start. We have a quick breakfast of bagels, coffee, fruit or sweets to get us going and after a few words of encouragements and a video of the rules of the walk we start. Our hearts are pounding and the excitement of walking the streets of Long Beach and surrounding cities is overwhelming at times.
At first the walk goes slow, it's not easy to get this many people going at the same time, but once we get on the beach trail we spread out and everyone finds their own pace. The morning is bright and sunny and the trail is deserted from other walkers except us. We try to keep up with the people in front of us, but then we realize we have a long way to go so we get back into our own pace and routine. We still have the rest of the day before arriving to the WellnessVillage.
Along the way cheerers and supporters encourage us and this swells our hearts.Yes, we are doing a wonderful thing and many people are very thankful for our efforts. The rest stops and quick stops supply us with water, candy, some food and support. The crew members manning these stations are just as happy to see us there as our own supporters and their encouragement only give us more resilience to continue.
Finally we arrive at lunch where we get a chance to sit-down and eat a hearty meal.We may do it alone in a corner or with a group of people whom we don’t necessarily have to know. All of a sudden I have 2000 friends I can talk with and visit anytime I want. We may also change our socks into a fresh pair for comfort and add some Vaseline to our feet so to prevent blisters. Some people already have blisters due to badly fitting shoes or not enough training but the medical staff fixes them up and sends them again to walk. “Do the best you can,” they say.
Off we go again to hopefully finish the entire 26.2 miles of the Saturday Marathon.Pink signs along the route encourage us again so we know we are not walking alone, even if there’s no one around. At times we feel the next stop will never be seen and we feel alone and deserted. Then suddenly a sweep bus goes by and asks if we are Ok and if we need anything. Their smiles and friendly attitude encourage us and let us know again, we are not alone.
Some of us quit after the halfway point of 13.1 miles. Busses take us to the WellnessVillage where we get to eat, relax and enjoy the area. Others are vent upon finishing the entire marathon so we continue relentless and determined. There are stops and cheering stations along the way that remind us again and again we are not walking alone, but at times we think of so many others who, right at that moment are suffering from breast cancer. We can’t stop, we must finish.What we are experiencing is nowhere near what a breast cancer victim is suffering. This alone gives us courage to continue, in spite of blisters, painful muscles, heat and exhaustion.
At any time we can quit and a sweep bus will pick us up and take us to the wellness village but the majority of participants, especially those who are doing it for the first time, are intent on doing it all, so they keep walking and trudging along, in spite of anything.
Arriving at the wellness village after walking 26.2+ miles is an accomplishment that is seldom experienced in our lives.Hundreds of people line up to welcome and congratulate us.Cold water bottles are handed to us and we pour it on our heads like the athletes do it on television.The adrenaline is running ramped and we love it. Our friends and family wait for us and we know the hardest part is done. We begin to relax and get ready for the next day.
We eat a hot meal for dinner, all we want and desire.We attend the Fireside Follies where news of the walk are announced including how we, as a group, raised over 4.6 million dollars for the cause.We are proud and tears of joy fill our eyes.We are doing a very good thing.
We pick up our luggage and take it to our overnight tent. After a hot shower and a good meal we settle in for the night and sleep as soundly as we ever had.
Sunday morning is special.This day we will walk only 13.1 miles to the closing ceremonies back at the Queen Mary. After what we endured yesterday, Sunday walk is as easy as it can be. We begin to enjoy the journey without worrying about the distance or time. The walk becomes a social event in which many participate by laughing and exchanging conversations. The day is even better.The heat has dissipated and now a few clouds keep us cool and refreshed.
Again we visit the crew members with their quick stops and rest stops.They are just as cheerful as the day before, but I know they are tired as I am. They also put in a long hard day of cheering and working for the walkers. It’s harder to crew than it is to walk.
Closing ceremonies are emotional for all of us. We hold hands, cry and hug each other at the prospect of helping such a great cause, of doing something for our friend, sister, mother, daughter or co-worker who has battled breast cancer. We have a feeling of accomplishment and sadness at the same time. Why do we have to do this to help those who need us? Why can’t there be a cure for breast cancer?
We walk in together holding hands and cheering ourselves. Our feet hurt but our hearts soar with hope and excitement. The guest speaker and heartthrob Patrick Dempsey reminds us why we have walked and as he thanks us for walking and making a difference, our hearts soar again in pride and joy.
We go home smiling and crying and as we lay in bed we can’t get the images of our amazing weekend out of our minds. Yes, we made a difference and the adrenaline still flowing, we are considering doing this again, maybe in another city next year?
I know just how addicting this is.I participated in 8 cities from 2005 to 2007 and together with my team raised over 3 million dollars for the cause during those years. I made life long friends whom I still miss and wish I was still walking all 9 cities where the Avon Walk hosts the events.
Maybe next year I’ll write about Houston, D.C., Boston, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, Santa Barbara (new location,) New York and Charlotte. I’ve always had the time of my life walking and making a difference.
Join me and thousands others across the country to walk, raise funds and help erase breast cancer in our lifetime.Visit www.avonwalk.org to sign up for the next event, and look me up if you go, we’ll become fast friends and have a blast together.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Why I sometimes Loathe Corporate America...
I've been wanting to work on my laptop using a very large HDMI 32" television which has been sitting doing nothing. That way the screen would be very big and I would not have to use my glasses or wear my contacts. Yes, I'm getting old!
So I went out and bought a box that assured me that I could connect my laptop to my television set and be happy. After two days of fighting with it, writing to the company and waiting for a response (they do not take phone calls for support) I find out that it was not my fault, the stupid box was faulty.
I wrote the following letter to them today. I'm also posting it here and in every blog in the world and if you can spread the word about this product, it will make me very happy.
Dear KWorld, manufacturers of PCTV product #KW-PCTV NTSC V1.4
I reviewed the file sent and find that you are not giving me a solution to my problem. what you say is that the resolution on my TV does not match that of my computer so therefore the image will be blurry.
Well, that's too bad for you, because I don't want a product that does not give me a good signal. You advertise that I can see my laptop screen using a TV by buying your product, but that's not true. All I can see is a blurred image, which I cannot use. How's that true to your advertising?
When you charge $60.00+ for a product that does not deliver what you promise, you are going to have a lot of pissed off customers who spent a lot of their time and effort buying your product, contacting you and trying to figure out what we are doing wrong, only to find at the end that it's not us, but your stupid product that does not work.
You sent me a response to my e-mail requesting support which only referred me to the manual that came with the product. I have it, and I read it several times. The issue was not resolved until my 3rd letter to you which resulted in you sending me the PDF file resolving my issue. You told me again and again how to make the connections, I tried it over and over to make sure I was not making a mistake, yet in the end, the reason was not that I was making a mistake but that your product is shoddy and you cannot even tell me that after all that, I will have a good image. Do you think that if you put in the box a disclaimer saying that "you may experience blurred images on your TV which we will not be able to resolve" that I would have bought your product? Of course not!
However, I did buy the product, I did spend countless hours trying to make it work and now I will take it back and get my money back. Who won here? NOBODY! in fact, you, as a corporation is the loser, because now you have one more pissed off customer who will write a really bad review on the internet about your products that everyone can see and eventually no one will trust your name.
Instead of trying to fool the consumer, why don't you just NOT make the stupid product that doesn't work anyway? You will save yourself some grief and maybe not go out of business after pissing so many people.
On top of all that, you tell me not to reply to the last e-mail because no one will read it and instead refer to your FAQ's which were totally useless anyway.
Why don't you put the PDF file you sent me on the FAQ's of your website? That would have saved me about 2 days and 2 trips to the store.
Regards,
.•:*¨¨*:•. ¸.·*¨) (¸.·´ *Renáe Lindsay
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wild Cave Touring at Sequoia National Park
Experience slithering through a tunnel cave like food in an intestine
Photo by Renáe Lindsay
This is not your regular walking tour or even one for the timid or sensitive to total seclusion, vertigo or claustrophobia.
From the moment a registration is made, an instruction page is mailed to the participant explaining in great detail the conditions of tour. You must not be more than 45" wide on the hips or chest, you must be in good physical condition, you must not be over 30 pounds overweight.
There's a reason for these warnings. Six participants and two guides dive head first into total darkness wearing knee and elbow pads, special gloves to protect the sensitive environment of the cave and hard hats with powerful lights that blind. It feels as if one is traveling through the intestines of the cave, except nothing is flexible, only your bones and muscles.
The cave passages have strange names that will make sense only after you get home and wonder how you made it through. Fin rock, castration passage, filter tube, down to earth stop.
The guides give you a sample test and make sure you can drag yourself in the dirt like a snake without eating too much dirt, slither though a small opening where you maneuver the soft tissue of your body around so it fits and then come out of an even smaller hole at the other end. A few inches above you will be another wall which the guide will tell you to be careful not to touch but to make sure you get on your back to look at it, then back on your stomach to slither some more to get out of the cave, right back the same way you came in. All the time you are wondering why you did this, and if it's worth the $130.00 you paid to subject yourself to such torture.
It is worth it, if you like adrenaline flowing through your veins, sweating profusely and wishing you'd never came. The six plus hour tour will take you behind the normal tour where thousands of people walk through with an over sized flashlight and a knowledgeable guide. You will see your guide disappear head first into a tunnel and will only hear him say loudly "CLEAR" which means you can now enter. You'll turn your body upside down and under to travel through yet another tunnel where the lights will be turned off and you'll experience complete darkness while your face is only inches from the ground.
Yet you will see nothing you'd ever experienced before. The stalactites hanging delicately from the ceiling dripping slowly and just knowing they've been doing that for thousands of years will blow you away. You'll see pools of crystalline water and watch the formations of the marble get lost on the bottom of an underground lake. You'll feel the thrill of knowing that only a few people will ever enter those caves and explore the narrow passages and view such beauty.
You'll be sore and bruised and you'll never forget it. Whenever your remember your experience, you'll be proud.
If you go: Crystal Cave Wild Tours May to September, Saturdays only Sequoia National Park
I woke up the next day thinking Mike had gone on his daily walk somewhere. For a moment my fears overwhelmed me until I realized it was almost daylight. I had made it through the night and I was still alive. I felt a sense of accomplishment and proud of myself. I did not know how it happened, but here I was, still in the cold of the early morning, staring at a tall tree telling myself to just be happy to be alive. Joy overcame me and as I turned around I realized Mike was still asleep. I imagined he was tired, he had done most of the work on our adventure, carrying the weight of the pack while I merely pretended to have a backpack.
No matter, it was a new day and there were trails to hike, nature to enjoy and new experiences to expect. I had no idea what Mike had in mind for our new day but I completely trusted it would be amazing.
He suggested we leave everything as it was and take a hike on the continuing trail. He gave me yet another down jacket to keep me warm outside of the sleeping bag. I'm completely sold on down feathered attires now. My desire to protect animals from being killed for my benefit wanes steadily. I watched the sunrise just feet away from our campsite.
He took the camera and I walked ahead, soon it got warm so my hat came off, then my gloves and then I opened my jacket. We arrived at the Little Jimmy Campground only to find the bathrooms were filthy. Due to the remoteness of the location service trucks cannot be brought in to clean the vault toilets. Mike said they just close the campgrounds for 6 months and let mother nature clean them.
The next surprise was to walk to Windy Gap where the view of the mountains was stunning. Below us the fog enfolded the city and the few hills stood like islands amongst the clouds. Everything looked a million shades of blue until the sun appeared and changed the colors to many more million. I thanked God for such beauty.
As we walked on the old road leading to the Little Jimmy campgrounds he talked about his adventures. I remained quiet and tried to imagine his experiences sleeping in the snow, skiing in the back country, facing unknown dangers yet feeling a tremendous respect and awe of this man who is not afraid of anything.
He found a flat spot on the road, yes, right in the middle of the road. No cars would come, there were no tracks he pointed. We were far away from the nearest campground where he was sure a million boy scouts were swapping campfire stories. I looked up and saw the big dipper staring at me. I would close my eyes that night with that picture in my head. We didn't need a tent and we would be plenty warm in his special down feather sleeping bag.
He helped me get into it and showed me how to close it around my face. Mind you, I know how to do that, but Mike seemed intent on teaching me anyway. I let him. Soon I was warm and very impressed at this awesome sleeping bag. He said he would sleep right next to me so I wouldn't be afraid. Somehow I still was, but I didn't let it get the best of me. I prayed the bears would stay away from our open camp just this one night. I looked up once again and the magic of the night overwhelmed my senses. I fell asleep without knowing.
