Oh, how nice to get in without hitting refresh 2000 times. Gack.

Yesterday, Corey and I took our scouting trip to see how the lakes to the east of us look, and to see which one we want to take the kids to. On the way, I was finally able to mention the thoughts and stress I'd gone through the other night. He tried to be supportive, but he kind of took the wrong route, first by fixating on my expressed desire for a confrontation, then questioning my motive for it, and then getting pissed at me because I'm not sure what my motive would be. He did apologize, though. He just doesn't know how to sympathize because, thankfully, he's never been through that kind of situation. The subject was basically dropped, which was fine. I just wanted to get it out and I wanted to let him know what was on my mind, and I accomplished that goal. Weird though, because I cried about it, and I pretty much have NEVER cried about it. *sigh* Whatever.

Anyhow, we found that all of the lakes are looking pretty destitute. I thought that the ones in the mountains would be faring better than Lake Mead. After all, it's cooler, by far in the mountains around Williams. Also, there is no swimming allowed up there. I don't see why not. Oh, well, though. I figure we can do a little hiking, a little fishing, and hang out at the campsite. On a personal note, I don't consider camping at a campground really camping. I mean, they have restrooms, it takes no effort to get there, there are 20 other families, etc. Maybe I'm just a stuck up country gal. LOL. Anyway, I look forward to a time when the kids are ready for a good day-long hike to someplace a little remote, doing real work when we get there as far as clearing an area to pitch the tent, gathering firewood, etc. Packing in everything we need on our backs. THAT is camping.

ANYWAY (I'm so easily distracted), we finally settled on White Horse Lake. It's still a dinky little pond, but the trees are close to the water, and there's one site in particular that has a gorgeous view of the lake through the trees. We'll be leaving before most people get off of work on Friday, and I don't think we'll have any problem getting the site we want. But before we go, we're going to check out Lake Cataract, just in case it's a little bigger, nicer, and allows swimming. I'm going to be hard-pressed to keep my little fishies out of the water!

I need to get a lot of sealable containers, too. Apparently, thar's bears in them thar hills. I think I'll make sure all of the food is sealed up and put into the van - something harder for bears to get into, and far away from the tent! I saw a timely documentary on one of the Discovery-type networks that said that if you're attacked by a black bear, the best thing to do is to fight back. So I guess I'll be taking my knife. That'll throw the buggers off. Hee hee!

On our way home, I developed a nasty headache. We stopped in Williams for lunch at the little pizza place there, and I felt better after I ate. Unfortunately, after we'd been on the road for about 20 minutes, I gassing and cramping up really bad. I finally had to stop in Seligman, where I barely made it to the bathroom in time. I felt beaten up by the time I got back to the van, and Corey had to drive the rest of the way home. I fell asleep for about 15 minutes at a time, but I kept waking up every time I felt a wiggle in the road. I live in Arizona. There are a LOT of wiggles. LOL.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at home with just a general feeling of being miserable. I was tired and achy. I managed to make dinner, and I took a bath. After the bath I felt a little better, but still not 100%. I laid back down on the couch and fell asleep there. I didn't even wake up when Corey left this morning. I'm guessing that I just got whatever the kids had. I seem to be a little better this morning, although I can feel the threat of a headache lingering in the back of my head. So I'm pouring coffee down my throat (YUM - Folgers coffee that only cost me $1.06/can - yeah, baby! I AM the coupon queen!), and I'm not going ANYWHERE without a bottle of acetaminophen.

Oh, and the day before yesterday, one of Lucky's daughters had her first babies - there are about 20-40 of them! Woohoo!

the last trail...the next path