Monday, May 02, 2016

Freshman Fifteen Reunion Day 2


 Day 2 was beautiful!  We went to the grocery store to get some breakfast and treats first thing.  Then we headed out to Red Rock Canyon for some hiking!  We really just wanted sunshine and outside time!  Our morning did not disappoint!  



 I love this picture of us!  Each of us are so different - and yet are close friends!  
We hiked a short hike to this Keystone Thrust.  




There was the most exquisite smell on that hike!  These desert blossoms were heavenly!
 Our next hike was Ice Box Canyon - per the suggestion of a friend.  Before we started the hike, we met the nicest girls - Jackie and Danielle - who were on a long road trip - I think 7 weeks!  They were from Connecticut and were driving a van that was custom fit for camping.  Complete with camp stove and fridge inside!  KJ checked out their van, and we became fast friends.  We saw them again on the trail, and had a mini missionary experience!  They had recently gone to SLC, and said they must have gone during a convention or something because "there were mormons everywhere!"  We told them about General Conference and it was a good dip of my toe in the missionary pond!  ;)  Those cute girls took a couple pictures for us too!  

 This hike was pretty rocky - but boy, was it beautiful!





 We made it to the end!  It was spectacular!





Here's where we get a little more excitement than we bargained for!  We had just started down the mountain, maybe 10 minutes, and KJ slipped on rock and landed on her ankle.  The sound!  Oh the sound!  I thought she had broken a rock!  She fell back and yelled, "I broke my ankle!"  She was right!  It was really broken!  
We sent Haley right away down the mountain with my phone to call for help.  She and KJ didn't have their phones.  We had NO service in the canyon, so Haley braved the rocks and hurried down.  I stayed with KJ and 3 big, military men (I can't remember now where they were from) helped move KJ to a rock in the shade.  Three more people - middle school teachers - also helped to stabilize her ankle and try to make her comfortable.  Our new friends, Danielle and Jackie, came and gave KJ ibuprofen and water.  
There were SO many people that helped and offered help!  I was looking for a nice, LDS man to pass by and I could ask for a blessing for KJ, but there was no such luck.  After the fact, I realized that the Lord put the best he had there in our path.  We chatted with those 5 people - all about our age or a little younger - for the hour and a half while we waited for help.  Right off the bat, someone asked if anyone had any weed.  I did pipe up at that point and say that might not be our best option, as we are Mormons.  That led to a good discussion about the Word of Wisdom and a few other LDS topics.  What a blessing that was!  A couple passed by and offered weed and beer - honestly, I just kept thinking how sweet it was of them to even offer!  We were SO well taken care of!  
Haley hadn't come back yet, but we heard a helicopter coming into the canyon!  It got REAL after that!  That helo was coming for KJ!!!  They dropped a guy down, and he came and assessed KJ's foot and gave her some pretty serious drugs through her nose - and it made her pretty loopy!








 Haley got there shortly after that with the calvary!  She brought with her more EMS help!  We found out that Haley got a little lost on her way down the mountain.  She prayed her guts out, and called for help.  They told her they were sending a helicopter!  I wish we would have had walkie talkies or something!  :)
 They got KJ hooked into a swing thing.  I was still thinking they would hoist her up INTO the helicopter!  It wasn't until we saw them flying with her attached to the end of a rope - flying down the canyon that I realized what was happening!































She flew out of the canyon and down to the entrance, where she was put into an ambulance and taken to a hospital.  We were told to huff it down the mountain quickly and meet her at UMC - the hospital. We got to UMC and she was NOT there!!!  It took another 45 minutes to find her - at Summerlin - and finally be reunited!  KJ didn't have her phone, so I knew she would be worried and couldn't call us, or Aaron!  We did make it there and we counted all our blessing!  KJ's ankle was indeed broken - in 3 places!  They gave her strong meds and set her foot in a temporary cast and then let her go!  





We got out around 8:30, and picked up Cafe Rio on the way home.  We hadn't eaten since breakfast!  Exhaustion was setting in!  We dropped off KJ's prescription on the way home, and I ran back out at 10 to pick it up.  We all showered - KJ bathed the best she could.  
We stayed up a little and looked at our old scrapbooks, but then the excitement of the day got the best of us and we quickly went to sleep!

Freshman Fifteen Reunion Day 1

This trip has been in the works for years!  We haven't been together in 5 plus years!  Sure, 2 of us have been together since then, but the dynamic threesome has not been together in forever!  We coordinated schedules and met in Las Vegas!  I rented a tiny car and drove down, picked up Kjersta and then we both awaited Olson's arrival!  We were pretty clever and made a quick sign at the airport. :)
 First things first, eat!  We found a quick sandwich joint (which had a snowing ceiling), and ate a delish sandwiches!
 We dropped off our things at the condo where we were staying and then headed out to see some sights!  We drove out to the Hoover Dam - none of us had been, and it was a great drive to chat and catch up!  




 I don't think I actually knew that the Hoover Dam was on the line between Nevada and Arizona!  






 The wind was intense!  But it was a dry heat! ;)  


 I had on a skirt - so the Marilyn Monroe incidents were a plenty!  I took pictures with my skirt between my legs!  Trendy, I know!

Then we hit the Strip!  We stopped at the M&M store - I just HAD to see this wall of M&Ms!  We tried the "new" M&M flavors - none of which I would actually buy, but I don't pass up free samples!  

 We put our name on the list for dinner at BurGR - a Gordon Ramsay restaurant.  The wait was going to be a while, so we walked over to the Bellagio in hopes to see the famous fountains!  The wind was too crazy, so the show was cancelled. :(  
 I was, however, slightly violated by these two characters!  They kept coming up to us and giggling (creepily) in my ear!  Note the fear in my eyes!



Our dinner was lovely!  We shared delectable sweet potato fries with powdered sugar.  Yum!  And we splurged and got milk shakes here too!  I'm pretty sure you are just supposed to take pictures of your food at fancy restaurants, so here's mine!  


What a lovely reunion day!  With full bellies and happy hearts, we headed back to the condo for some rest before another fun-filled day!