You never think it could happen to you...

And then, just like that...tragedy strikes. I'm not doin' too well today. Ya see, my vacation started out all well and good, but things took quite a turn on Saturday.



Thursday was fun. It was nice to spend the morning with Ron. Then I met up with Melanie and Tyra for lunch, something I never get to do because I work too far away and only have a half hour for lunch. I picked up food on the way, picked them up from work and we headed to a nearby park for a leisurely summer lunch. We ate and chatted at a picnic table, in the shade of a lovely tree. Ahhhh...



After I dropped them back at work, I headed for the aquarium shop to pick up my chiller. I thought only cold water tanks, or tanks with tons of lighting needed chillers. Turns out that even the tropical reef fish need cooler temps. They don't do well with temps in the 80's all the time. It's best for the fish to have temps at roughly 72 ~ 78 degrees. Makes sense though. Just think about how big and deep the ocean is, compared to the lakes and streams freshwater fish come from. There are all sorts of factors that affect the much more sensitive saltwater fish in a closed system. SO...before I get all fishy-technical again... I got the chiller and set it all up myself. No gysers and no leaks! Amazing! I kept going back to check my connections, expecting a disaster at any moment. Didn't happen...and the expensive new toy works great. Cooled the tank from the 82 degrees it was at all week to a nice 77, in just a few hours. Yay.



By the time I got the chiller sitch squared away, Melanie was home from work. So I headed to her house for our weekly bike ride. After our ride we headed to the grocery store to pick up all the goodies we'd need for the camping trip. Meat... Check. Alcohol... Check. Water... Check. Wood... Check. S'mores ingredients... Check. I also picked up some groceries for home, since I'd put off grocery shopping for about a month by then. Bad me. I just HATE shopping of any kind. Especially at night, after a long hot day and a bike ride. We got home at ten and by the time we were done unloading, I was so exhausted. So I went home so I could unload the essential fridge stuff and hit the hay.



Friday I packed in like an hour... It was no surprise when I discovered I'd forgotten my deoderant later on in the trip. *SIGH* I ALWAYS forget my damn deorderant! Oye. And Melanie and I can never, ever manage to leave for a trip in the morning hours. It's no matter that we have the day off. I mean, get up early? What for?? Hah. We'd shot for leaving at 11 a.m., which in our time frame means 2:00 p.m., which is exactly when we finally got on the road. Well, 2:30 actually. It was a HOT drive to the river, with a couple a stops to eat and pee...we made it there by about 7:30 p.m. Ugh. But it was wonderful to see that the boys had us all set up.



We met up with Melanie's old camping group from high school. That's actually where she first met her boyfriend...camping in high school. Then they met up again ten years later and started dating. Interesting... Anyway, it was Melanie's boyfriend I.G., his two friends who're brothers, C.O. and R.O., their cousin M, his girlfriend J, L and her boyfriend D and a couple other friends of the group C and R. Yea. Got all that? Later that evening, the brother's father H.O. and uncle H.O. (yes, there's two of them, just try to keep up) joined us.



Friday evening was a blast...well, what I remember of it. Ya see, the boys had built a makeshift "bar" with some planks of wood. They built it onto a tree branch and even re-enforced the thing with two-by-fours dug into the dirt hill behind it. So once we got there, we started drinkin'. And eatin'. And drinkin'. And smokin'. A great time was had by all. I even managed to smear chocolate all over my face, arms and thighs at some point during the evening 'cause I woke up all chocolatey (and headachey) on Saturday morning. Well...not ALL over...it was pretty streaky. But it was plenty sticky. Good thing I was just on top of the covers.



So we had a great breakfast, made by M's lovely girlfriend J. I think I rolled out at about 8 a.m....she'd been up since 7 just a cookin' away. There were bagels, hash browns, eggs, bacon AND sausage. Oh, and flour tortillas. I made myself a helluva breakfast burrito. Then we spent much of the morning lounging around the campsite. It was so relaxing. Just thinking about it makes me long to turn the clock back and spend that day differently...to be able to finish the day without the relaxing camping experience being destroyed by catastrophe.



Awright, so I'll stop beating around the bush. Hah. Pun intended... We naturally went down to the river bank as it got hotter so we could tool around in the water. The boys enjoyed swimming across the river to a big rock and taking jumps off it. Something I didn't dare try because a.) the water was literally just above freezing (think about the ice water contests as a kid, who can hold their arm/hand/foot in the ice water longest without losing a limb) and I'm getting too old to try to 'get used' to that kind of cold and b.) I prefer my face the way it is, not scraped off by a jagged edge. So we're hanging out, drinking beers and relaxing. The uncle, H.O...of the brothers R.O. and C.O., comes down to join us. Uncle H.O. is an older gentleman, about 62. I'm not sure where his brother H.O. was at this point... There's about 7 of us at the shore now, Melanie and I, the uncle, R.O., L, uncle H.O. and a snobby family of three or four. I won't get into why they were snobs...they just bugged me. Huh. What else is new?

Anyway, we were all talking and I was trying to get used to the water so I could swim across the river with Melanie's boyfriend. He kept asking me to go with them, but I didn't want to just yet. I had more "getting used to" to do, which I doubted would happen. I finally gave up and sat down next to Melanie, telling her there was probably no way I could swim in the frozen water. That's when Melanie suddenly pointed to the middle of the river...

"Is that H.O.?!", she asked in a panic stricken voice.

I'm thinking...he didn't go in the WATER did he?? This is because the man is not only older and overweight, he also happens to be diabetic! I'm guessing it was the beer the helped him decide that it was okay to swim.

"You guys, YOU GUYS! LOOK!" Melanie's frantically pointing out the man drifting down the middle of the river, who was indeed H.O. He's looks completely frozen with panic and is obviously unable to swim. By the time we start to react he's drifted dangerously close to the upcoming rapids. Mind you, we weren't hanging out too close to the rapids...we WERE in a calm spot between them. But if you're not a great swimmer and not wearing a life jacket...

*sigh*

You can probably guess what happens next. We're all on the shore flailing our arms, yelling his name, yelling for him to SWIM! SWIM! as we watch him yell for help. I.G. and C.O., who had joined him for the swim across, are swimming toward him as fast as they can. But they were too far behind. In all the commotion, a few of us thought we saw him make it to the side just before the rocks. Melanie, L and I run up the hill to the campsite so we can find a car and drive downstream. M and J pull up in their truck just in time for us to jump in and tell him the news. We take off down the road along the river, stopping to ask the random people we come across if they've seen a man in the river. Time keeps passing and passing as we run back and forth, up and down... No one's seen him.

We end up about two miles downstream and pull up next to the rafting group we'd seen going by earlier, a little while before uncle H.O. entered the picture... Most of the rafters are over to the side and one of the guides walks up to the truck. By this time we're almost completely hysterical...I'm climbing over, trying to get out when I hear the guide say that they found him and it's not good. I'm thinking he's badly hurt...until I hear the words, "He didn't make it." M, J, Melanie, L and I all burst into tears. I don't know how we got out of the truck. I'm completely shocked and disoriented, devastated...I get a peek over the edge down to the river bank and see a raft and legs... White legs...

Then I'm nauseous, dizzy, light headed...I don't know whether to puke or shit. Overwhelming sadness that's still in my gut today as I try despirately to get through this slow work day. After hearing the horrible news, we jump into another truck, I think it was R's, as he was just about to leave before the incident... We rush back to the campsite to find everyone else...

The rest of the afternoon was nothing short of one of the most depressing days of my life. It's one thing to hear about someone dying...but to actually witness it is something else. I mean, I've had my share of deaths in my family and group of friends, but never this close to home. The closest was the day my cousin died in a motorcycle accident. This was just awful. Even though I had only known the guy for not even 24 hours... We spent a few hours just roaming the campsite in shock. Crying, yelling out in anger, sitting around staring at the ground. Every time I looked at his brother, H.O., my eyes welled up with tears. Kinda like they are now. I can't think about it without crying. Melanie's poor boyfriend, I.G. This guy was like family to him, moreso than his own. I know how he feels, too, 'cause we have family friends that are just like that. I couldn't imagine...

Needless to say, we didn't stick around another night. None of us could stand looking at that river anymore. After a few hours of mourning, hugging and crying, we packed up and left. Melanie and I had driven out together, so after we helped the others clean up, we took off for the long ride home. We got home at around midnight, both physically and metally exhausted. I'm so glad I took Monday off 'cause I just couldn't go to work. I made it in yesterday, but went home early after breaking down in tears while telling the story to the coworkers. I wanted to be alone. Or with someone who'd experienced it. Like Melanie. I went to her house last night for a bit...just to hang.

So uhm...that was my vacation in a nutshell. Very emotional. I can't write anymore right now. I have to try to get a little work done...not to mention eat. I've got an appetite again. The funeral is this Friday or Saturday. Even though I didn't really know him too well, I knew and enjoyed his company in his last hours. I must go pay my respects. I'm onna go get 'em a card, too. Poor poopies. Poor, poor poopies.

*SIGH*

Later...