This morning finds us with no cell phone signal but we’ll call when we have one again.

We’re camped at the Navajo National Monument in northern Arizona. We’re in the middle of the Navajo reservation so not a lot of services and one of our trailer tires picked up a screw and is leaking air. We discovered the leak while trying to fuel up at a station that turned out to be closed due to a power outage. The UPS driver who was trying to make a delivery to them told us about a guy down the road to the Monument that fixes tires. Reluctant to take the trailer down an unknown dirt drive in the middle of a reservation, we drove to the campground, unhitched and went back. The driveway turned out to be about 3/4 of a mile long through beautiful and strange (to my eyes) terrain, ending at a home with multiple dogs laying outside. We sat in the truck until a man came out of the house and then told him of our need for tire repair. A man of few words (at least with us), he asked if we wanted him to come to the campground to fix the tire. We took this generous offer to be a polite negotiation and countered with an offer to bring the trailer back to him in the morning. That’s the current plan and it will be an adventure in its own right.

Happy Birthday, Mom. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Grayson decided to spend today wandering somewhere … we don’t know where … and we were distraught. Last seen about 9 am, he was gone for 11 hours; the National Park Rangers as well as the entire campground were on alert. The microchip registry folks were notified and our cell phone outgoing messages updated. Did any of that matter? Maybe on some level Grayson felt the vibe and knew how much we wanted him to come home but in any other respect, no, it didn’t. As darkness began to fall … Grayson’s favorite time to prowl … we went calling again. While telling the tale of our missing cat to some newly-moved-in campers (who happen to be putting in tomorrow for 25 days on The River), he just showed up at our feet. We’re still processing the relief!

“Here” is Lee’s Ferry Campground overlooking the confluence of the Paria River with the Colorado. It is the put-in for the Grand Canyon whitewater run and it is beautiful. We were planning to explore today but instead we worried. Steve did take a hike along the river and I scrambled up a dry wash calling the cat but the enjoyment factor was missing.

Tomorrow the cat stays locked inside and we get to play!