Brett's Plans Fall Apart...Again

Yesterday marked a milestone in the ongoing saga between myself and Red of Doesn't Speak Klingon. It was the first time she came to my hometown. Up until now, we have met somewhere in the middle or I have gone to her area.

Red coming here had more meaning than just less travel for me. She was going to meet my daughter Kirsten as well. This was, of course, very important.

After Red left, I asked Kirsten's opinion and she said, "She's just wonderful." This morning, Kirsten was talking about how pretty and funny Red is. I have to say the day went very well and Kirsten is correct. Red is wonderful, pretty and funny. I have been wanting to share more of our time together with my readers so you can see more of this as well, but it is not that easy.

Readers of Red's blog know that she is a very private person. She does not use her real name and the only photos of herself that she has ever used have been from her childhood. I approach my blog in a much different way. My life is (for the most part) an open book. I have divulged my real name, where I live and work and have not even used aliases for my kids. I had never considered what this might mean when I first started writing, but now that it's out there, I can't take it back.

Since I include lots of pictures of the activities I write about (which she has become a part of) and hate to leave my readers without details, I convinced Red to allow some of the pictures I have of us together to be used. So as not to betray her confidence, I will still not give away her name and gave her final say on what pictures could be used. So, my readers will finally get to see what she looks like starting with this post.

Yesterday morning, we intended to head south to Giant City for some rappelling on a 140 foot rock bluff. However, right before leaving we had to change our plans. My brother Kyle, who had all the equipment, couldn't make it. We (Red, myself, my daughter and her friend Charles) decided to go to the area anyway.

Giant City Water Tower

Giant City has miles of rugged trails and beautiful scenery. I first took her to an area where we could survey the park before we tackled it. We climbed the steps to the water tower (pictured on the left) and admired the miles of scenery we could see around us. It is a beautiful area with a breath-taking view for those who have the nerve to get to the top. It is well worth the climb, especially in the fall when the leaves are changing.  With this backdrop, I convinced Red to pose for our first public picture. Reluctantly, she agreed.

She is right behind the guy with the glasses. Isn't she beautiful?

After picking the direction we wanted to explore we ventured out into the wilderness. The Giant City State Park has warning signs posted on every path and throughout the rest of the park telling people to watch their step and use extreme caution. There are deep ravines and large drop offs everywhere. Much of the ground is rocky and gets slick when wet.

Red tripped right before the snap.

After leaving Giant City, we sought out a Root Beer Saloon and enjoyed root beer floats in the small town of Alto Pass. We then made our way to a natural bridge that I had heard about. After a long winding drive down a terrible gravel road we finally arrived. A short hike through the woods and there it was.

Between the bright background and her light colored shirt,
I think the picture is a little overexposed.

I know it's blurry. I wasn't ready.

After a long day of hiking and climbing rocks, we started the journey home. We didn't get far before my radio went out. While trying to find the problem, I noticed that I was losing power to the vehicle. I pulled into a Casey's gas station and 90 minutes later my van is being towed away to a mechanic. Being close to 8 o' clock on a Saturday night, it wouldn't even be looked at until Monday morning.

Red using the curb for a pillow.

So, the four of us are stranded 60 miles from home and it is getting dark. Luckily, we know other bloggers and called one for help. Adam, from The Train's Whistle agrees to come pick us up. We knew it would take at least an hour for him to get to us, so we got comfortable. It was a beautiful night, so we set up camp in the parking lot.

We were happy it was a nice night, because it took Adam a considerable amount of time to get to us. When we called him, he had just ordered a meal at Chili's, so he could not leave until it arrived and he had eaten it. Forty-five minutes later, when he had gotten on the road, he was upset that he hadn't been able to enjoy a dessert.

Having never been to Elkville before, he was following the GPS on his smartphone which led him through a small town that happened to be having a carnival. Still depressed over missing his dessert, he stopped and scoured the event for a food cart. After buying a funnel cake with extra powdered sugar, he got back on the road with a smile on his face.

Since he drives a pickup, Kirsten and Charles had to ride in the back and we arrived home four hours after the initial breakdown. Add to this the fact that Red still had a 3 1/2 hour drive to get back home and she had a very long night.

Despite the unanticipated turmoil, we had a wonderful day. Adam was wonderful for coming to rescue us. Red is still coming back next week. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery. We ate at a great Thai place and we ran into this guy in Carbondale.

He was out killing zombies.
Don't ask. We didn't.