Flagstaff!

Hey All,

As many of you already know I am back in Flagstaff. It will be my first summer here. When I retired from teaching and moved here eight years ago I was on my cycle of going to the Tetons to do my ranger thing every summer. This caused me to be gone by May and back sometime late in September. Due to some personal issues I resigned my new ranger position in Yellowstone for this summer. So . . . I'm back.


Along with attempting to settle some of those issues that brought me back I'm going to try to do some things that I haven't been able to do in the past 10 years of rangering in the summers. The first thing on the agenda looks to be a short backpacking trip into "the canyon" (Grand that is) next week. My friend Keith, with his family, has graciously invited me to join them on a trek to Phantom Ranch. Although I am definitely not in backpacking/hiking shape will try to do the 17 miles (in 3 days) to mark my new status. Have not done a canyon trip in about five years. We use to do up to five a year in the "old days." I am in "gym shape," which is different, but should help some.


I arrived home from Wyoming a week ago today. It was a nice trip up, and I was happy to see my friends in Grand Teton Park. I did not have enough time to meet anyone at the new job other than my perspective boss, Peter. He seemed like a very nice guy. But I have to admit, it is a relief to be home, even with the aforementioned personal issues that needed to be dealt with. Probably, I could have gone back up to the job once things were settled here, but really did not have the will to do that. And who knows, the same, or similar issues could flair up again and I'd feel obligated to return. In the mean time, my plan is to make short forays out of Flag throughout the summer. Early next month I will try to head over to San Diego County to see my grandsons play some Little League Allstar games.


Movies: Daughter Natasha and I went to see Angels and Demons last Friday. It is supposed to be the prequel to the DaVinci Code but they have made it into a sequel. Both books were very interesting in their twisting and turning plots. The first film was OK if you had read the book. The second Angels was a better "put together" film but not stellar. Tasha noticed that they had left out one of the minor stories that had taken up about 4 chapters in the book. The romance angle that was prominent in the book between the two main characters was deleted as well. Again, I would recommend it as summer "escapist" fare,


Adios Amigos y Amigas