57 below zero I left Fairbanks early Friday Morning on February 5th at 1:00 a.m. The temperature at the time of my departure ws 57 below zero. I arrived in Phoenix at 10:00 a.m. and was met by my Great Uncle Bill. On the drive home the sun is shining and the temperature is 76 degrees...ABOVE ZERO!! Arrive at Uncle's house and call Susan to let her know I am in town.
Red Enchilada for Susan Susan stops by to pick me up and deliver my dredge after work. The dredge takes up the entire free space in her van. Uncle Bill prepares a red enchilada for Susan. While Susan is waiting for her Enchilada, I put the GOLD nuggets in her hands. I got some reaction out of Susan. I was expecting her to act like she holds nuggets that size every day. heh heh Susan isn't easily excited but the GOLD nuggets at least had a visible effect on her. After Susan is done eating it is time to unload the dredge. It is dark now and my Uncle tells me that I need to unlock the gate to get the dredge into the back yard. I get the key and go to open the gate. GATE??? What gate? I don't see no stinking gate! He said there was a gate around here somewhere. All I can see is this wall of vegetation! Well, I had to root through the vegetation to find the lock and the gate. The growth all around the fence and gate is some sort of plant called a "Mile a Minute" plant. It is a banned plant in Phoenix now. It almost never rains in Phoenix but of course it started raining when I arrived at my Uncle's house and then I had to crawl through this soaking wet plant. By the time I was done...I was a wet back!!
Susan's Parents After unloading the dredge from Susan's van it was time to go visit her parents. Susan called her mom and said she was bringing over a mystery guest. On the way to her parent's house I say, "Hey Susan, look! A Dairy Queen!" We didn't stop. Arrived at their house with a cooler full of salmon that Will (AK) had sent down. The best part was putting those two GOLD nuggets into her hands! Words cannot describe her reaction!
Had a great time visiting with Susan's mom and dad. What a great couple of people! Been wanting to meet her mom for a long time. She has been on chat before. Susan's parents are the kind of people that make this world a better place to live.
Laura Arrives We left to pick up Laura late Friday night. On the way we stopped by Susan's place where I met her room mate. She is another nice person. She and Susan seem to be very compatible roomies. Susan gave me a real prize gift on the way to the airport...a bag of PINONS!! Most of you will not know what that is but to a New Mexico boy...it's a real treat!! On the way to the airport, "Hey Susan...Look! A Dairy Queen!", we didn't stop. Laura was already waiting for us, her plane arrived early. She was dressed to kill. Looked like a tourist with her motor all revved up and with no place to go! heh heh. On the way to the van Laura & Susan and I exchanged gifts. We decide to drop me off at my Uncle's for the night and Laura & Susan will pick me up on the way to the airport in the morning to pick up Bob~O. I'm eating pinons like they are going out of style until we arrive at my Uncle's house. We arrive and while I'm looking for my keys to open the door....I ask Laura to hold out her hands. She thought I was going to put some pinons in her hands but instead....I put the two GOLD nuggets in her hands. Well...her eyes got big and her mouth blurted out a few four letter words. Well...maybe more than just a few.
Bob~O Arrives Saturday Morning Susan and Laura came by to pick me up. Uncle Bill meets Laura and gets a hug. heh heh . Uncle Bill says he wouldn't give Laura any trouble!
We head out to the Airport to pick up Bob~O. We manage to arrive at the airport before Bob~O arrives. We decide to wait for him in the luggage pick up area. He shows up and we are all happy to see him. Been a long time since Happy Camp. This is our mini-reunion. While we are waiting for his luggage to appear I show Bob~O the GOLD nuggets. He wanted to know why I didn't bring any big ones. ha ha ha His luggage arrives and everyone wants to know where THE BIG STICK is. Bob~O explains how the airline people would not allow it on the plane. Laura is so disappointed but accepts the bad news, nothing else she can do about it anyway.
TUCSON We hop in the van and it's time to head to Tucson! On the way to Tucson, "Hey Susan look! A Dairy Queen!!", we didn't stop. On to the Annual Gem & Mineral show. Seems like it's only been a week or so since Happy Camp. Sure is nice to be together again. Good friends in a Van in the middle of the desert in Winter. Nothing like it! We are on the way to my friend's house in Tucson and I realize that I don't have the phone number for our Tucson contact. Arizonac is our contact and he agreed to be our guide during our stay in Tucson. When we get to my friend's house I call home and have Lee Ann look up Arizonac's phone number on the computer. Fortunately, I find her at home and she is able to pull up the information I need. I give Arizonac (RAY) a call and he says he'll come over right after he eats his lunch. We decide to get some lunch ourselves.
Laura is reunited with the BIG STICK We head out to the van and Bob~O gives me the sneaky eye. That can only mean one thing...it's time to reveal the "New Improved BIG STICK". Laura and Susan don't know but Bob~O had already let me in on his surprise for Laura so I get the camera. Bob~O pulls it out of his bag and hands it to Laura. "YOU CUT IT!" comes out of her mouth and I am laughing so hard that I'm amazed that I can hold the camera and point it. Bob~O cut THE BIG STICK into three pieces and as only Bob~O could do....he put hinges on the three pieces so that it can be folded up into a smaller size and put a handle on it so it can be carried. One of his employees described it's appearance best...it looks like portable firewood! I think we must have laughed in the driveway for a good 15 minutes. My back hurt, my sides hurt, my stomach hurt and tears were pouring out of my eyes! I couldn't stand up anymore so I had to sit in the van! We were all laughing so hard that I think the neighbors thought we were insane!!
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