Brian and I have a nickname for almost everyone we know. The more we like someone, the more nicknames we have. A few of mine are ma sqaw, not the mama (from a show called The Dinosaurs that was on when Emily was little), crabby for thirty years, Rach etc. About the time we hit Death Valley Brian started calling me Schleprock. After a couple of days I asked him what that was about. He loved The Flinstones when he was little so he told me that Schleprock was a character on the show that always had bad luck. He said Fred and Barney would tell him to go away.
I was the one who planned the vacation so I earned the nickname.

Here is a recap of our disaster vacation.
1. We went to pick up the rental car and the lady gave us two choices so we picked the bigger one. When we checkout a different lady says it’s a bigger size and we owe more money. I said that’s not happening that lady told us we could have that one. So I had to track her down in the parking lot and she attempts to blame me. I confronted her and she signed the paper so it was the same price.
2. At the end of the race my phone jams up and I did not get a picture with the bear.
3. Brian had heard about the California mudslides while I was running but thought surely it won’t affect us. Of course it did and that drive turned into nine hours.
4. Our first night we spent at sequoia it rained overnight. This caused the restaurant help to be severely understaffed from call ins. Therefore, breakfast took over an hour.
5. Some of the stuff we wanted to see was unavailable due to the rain.
6. On the way to Death Valley I look to see how much that park costs to get into and find out they had rain the night before. A bunch of people got stuck at Scotty’s castle and half of what we wanted to do was not available.
7. The place I wanted to see the most was badwater and it had already been closed from the rain the week before.
8. Death Valley had spotty cell service and our dog got lost. It’s our cell numbers on the dogs tags.
9. We arrive in the Grand Canyon to sleet and find out they usually have snow by Halloween.
10. We arrive at the airport three hours early and still almost miss the plane.

Although all this makes it seem like we had a horrible time, it really was the best vacation ever. Here are some positives
1. The plane didn’t crash.
2. It was fun to watch Brian be amazed by the trees, wildlife, and nature. He was in guy heaven.
3. I found an amazing ring made by Navajo’s.
4. I ran my race faster than I thought I would.
5. Many hours of quality time due to no wifi and cell service.
6. My dog was found and safe.

Brian bought himself some property so I told him I’m picking the anniversary trip. I think he was pleasantly surprised how man like it was. He loved the Grand Canyon tour and said it was more than worth the money. That says a lot more than I could ever articulate.

Mole moral~ When crazy things happen on vacation come up with a funny nickname and have fun with it. As we were booking down the hall to get on the plane I put my hands over my head and yelled I am Shleprock.