jeff kushner
Well-Known Member
Kerry and I recently returned from a trip that included a day trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon We arrived Easter morning for a very moving sunrise service and I realized during the tail end of the service that it really didn't matter what "religion" anyone there was....we were just people, together enjoying the very best that nature has to offer us. Chills stuff....if you were human, you felt chills....very cool.
Later, while sitting near the rim in one of the benches, I listened to folks as they strolled up.....Kerry went off to find the museum and I just listened to people as they approached the rim and it struck me....."WOW" sounds the same in every language my friends....whether it has an Brit, Aussie, Eastern European, Spanish, Asian or Deep South ring to it....it's the same word spoken by nearly everyone! It was the coolest thing! Sometimes we are happy to be part of the human race.....I was that day.
For frame of reference in the pictures.....the opposite wall of the Canyon is 10 miles away. The floor of the Canyon is approx 1 mile, straight down.
After standing here for a while, we sauntered up the path along the rim.....being Jeff, jeff picked up a rock, about the size of a large pear. I was going to see how far I could see it go down....like the dimes tossed from the ESB in NY decades ago(only about 20 stories-if it's clean and spinning in the sun)! Just to see it. I had the rock, I was "weighing" it in my hand as I pumped my arm, calculating how hard to throw it w/o throwing out my arm..... and I took a few steps back and was "getting ready"....in that split second I heard at 110db, "You can't throw that!"
Why not? I asked sheepishly...
"Cause there's PEOPLE down there!"
Oh yeah? I thought the mules were "over there"......"No, they are right underneath us!"
(That rock would have killed the mule, much less a person)........LOL...sry, poor taste but it is funny.............Thank you God for Kerry!
This was a cool trip....the Grand Canyon is something I've wanted to see since I was a boy................I was very happy!
My ramblings---you can avoid this part by just looking at the pics!
I'm not keen on any of the areas down South of Flagstaff in the state............like someone decided to grow a city...in the middle of a scrub desert. "Where should we get water?" "I dunno, hows about 300 fricking miles away!" When your life depends on a water main.......just doesn't seem to bright to me, that's all.
I told Kerry I wouldn't live there if it were free. I'd slit a wrist in 6 weeks <LOL>....EVERYTHING is BROWN!! The heat wasn't bad for someone w/42% lung capacity....I spent last Weds out there in 102F working on a 40 yr old Mercedes for 7 hrs. It actually wasn't bad due to 9% hum, compared to the rain-forest 80-90% humidity of the East coast. The air down South outside of Phoenix sucks.....it's filled with pollution from becoming the 5th largest city area. The air at 8600 ft in Flagstaff was best.
As always "open image in new tab" for full sized pics!
If you see the water in the center, there is a suspension bridge crossing it. I would not have known this looking over the edge.......but there was a plaque, showing us where to look. So I took a pic or two...
I missed the focus point...duh!
We climbed Bell rock in Sedona. This is some over-achiever at Bell Rock(there were a LOT of those folks there)..................the pic above thin one is "jeffs path up" I actually led the way and they were all shocked that Superman sprinted to the midpoint straight up, got out of sight....then I died....what they don't know is that I've got a solid 30 secs before I'm gasping on the ground(copd)....so I ran up the side, they walked the path around and by the time they got to where I was, I was good to go and asking them "what took you guys so long?" LOL....
We made it to the Snowbowl....my plan was the Sedona climb in the morn, then ski in the afternoon but my body told me "NFW jeff" by the time we got there so I just watched her son boarding....
Prob best I didn't ski.....that jump would have put me in the hospital.....yeah, I know me, been hanging around with me for a long time...... I would not have been able to resist....not to do "tricks", just to go off fast and land it......yeah, that had Fail Army all over it!!!!!
Later, while sitting near the rim in one of the benches, I listened to folks as they strolled up.....Kerry went off to find the museum and I just listened to people as they approached the rim and it struck me....."WOW" sounds the same in every language my friends....whether it has an Brit, Aussie, Eastern European, Spanish, Asian or Deep South ring to it....it's the same word spoken by nearly everyone! It was the coolest thing! Sometimes we are happy to be part of the human race.....I was that day.
For frame of reference in the pictures.....the opposite wall of the Canyon is 10 miles away. The floor of the Canyon is approx 1 mile, straight down.
After standing here for a while, we sauntered up the path along the rim.....being Jeff, jeff picked up a rock, about the size of a large pear. I was going to see how far I could see it go down....like the dimes tossed from the ESB in NY decades ago(only about 20 stories-if it's clean and spinning in the sun)! Just to see it. I had the rock, I was "weighing" it in my hand as I pumped my arm, calculating how hard to throw it w/o throwing out my arm..... and I took a few steps back and was "getting ready"....in that split second I heard at 110db, "You can't throw that!"
Why not? I asked sheepishly...
"Cause there's PEOPLE down there!"
Oh yeah? I thought the mules were "over there"......"No, they are right underneath us!"
(That rock would have killed the mule, much less a person)........LOL...sry, poor taste but it is funny.............Thank you God for Kerry!
This was a cool trip....the Grand Canyon is something I've wanted to see since I was a boy................I was very happy!
My ramblings---you can avoid this part by just looking at the pics!
I'm not keen on any of the areas down South of Flagstaff in the state............like someone decided to grow a city...in the middle of a scrub desert. "Where should we get water?" "I dunno, hows about 300 fricking miles away!" When your life depends on a water main.......just doesn't seem to bright to me, that's all.
I told Kerry I wouldn't live there if it were free. I'd slit a wrist in 6 weeks <LOL>....EVERYTHING is BROWN!! The heat wasn't bad for someone w/42% lung capacity....I spent last Weds out there in 102F working on a 40 yr old Mercedes for 7 hrs. It actually wasn't bad due to 9% hum, compared to the rain-forest 80-90% humidity of the East coast. The air down South outside of Phoenix sucks.....it's filled with pollution from becoming the 5th largest city area. The air at 8600 ft in Flagstaff was best.
As always "open image in new tab" for full sized pics!
If you see the water in the center, there is a suspension bridge crossing it. I would not have known this looking over the edge.......but there was a plaque, showing us where to look. So I took a pic or two...
I missed the focus point...duh!
We climbed Bell rock in Sedona. This is some over-achiever at Bell Rock(there were a LOT of those folks there)..................the pic above thin one is "jeffs path up" I actually led the way and they were all shocked that Superman sprinted to the midpoint straight up, got out of sight....then I died....what they don't know is that I've got a solid 30 secs before I'm gasping on the ground(copd)....so I ran up the side, they walked the path around and by the time they got to where I was, I was good to go and asking them "what took you guys so long?" LOL....
We made it to the Snowbowl....my plan was the Sedona climb in the morn, then ski in the afternoon but my body told me "NFW jeff" by the time we got there so I just watched her son boarding....
Prob best I didn't ski.....that jump would have put me in the hospital.....yeah, I know me, been hanging around with me for a long time...... I would not have been able to resist....not to do "tricks", just to go off fast and land it......yeah, that had Fail Army all over it!!!!!
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