Everybody has been telling us we must visit Bartlett Lake, so, off we go.
We luck into a perfect weather day, cool enough to keep Linda from
passing out from the heat yet warm enough that I am not freezing my pretty ass
off.
At the edge of Tonto National Forest we decide to pull into the ranger
station and get maps or at least more information about where we are visiting.
An impeccably dressed and razor sharply creased Clint Eastwood lookalike,
complete with requisite drawl (I swear, I'm not making this up) leans over the
counter and says to Linda, "Can I help you, little lady?" Linda is in
love... might be lust actually; I notice a little pool of spittle forming in
the corner of her mouth and she's starting to quiver a bit. The perfect ranger
chats Linda up as I move away and feign interest in some brochures nearby, I
don't want to interrupt her excitement or (at this moment, anyway) get
splashed.
It starts to become obvious I'm probably going to need to
drag Linda off old Clint or we will never be able to leave. I notice she's
starting to look around for some blankets or shredding so she and Clint might be
able to continue their conversation snuggled up in the corner of the shack
somewhere.
So, I ask if we get a discount with our National Park pass.
He and Linda are really surprised to see there is someone else in the room with
them.
I bought one of those National Park passes before leaving Toronto so we
could have unlimited entry to all US National Parks and Monuments. $80 plus $10
shipping seemed like a sensible deal (some parks charge up to $35 for entry)
although there seems to be a bit of ambiguity as to what you can and can't get
into for free. It certainly isn't that important, but I sure want to get my
monies worth, so I'm constantly asking if we get a discount or free entry with
the pass.
Old Clint says he doesn't know and the "little
lady" he's talking to doesn't care about the lake anymore, anyway. She is
never going to leave this place. I wonder to myself if I should just go on my
way and let her know I will come back to get her in a few days if she wants.
Eventually, Linda begins to realize that if she gets any closer
the main thing on ranger Clint's mind will probably be whether he will lose the
perfect crease in his pants or worse, that Linda may want him to remove his stunning
Ranger hat, although I doubt she will. I can see a Ranger hat in my future, for
sure. Fifteen years of a successful marriage finally carries some weight and
she confesses later the idea of teaching Clint some of the tricks of mine she really
enjoys might not be worth the effort, so she allows me to haul her off him. We
get out to the car and she just sits there humming to herself for awhile. I
offer her a paper towel and after a moment or two start the car and carry on to
our destination. Perfect Clint imitation, we both love you...
Linda decides she has to go for a swim so she hops into a
washroom and slips on her bathing suit. I wonder if I should break some local
law so old Clint could ride down (Jeep? Horse? Skidoo?) to save the little lady
from the frigid waters. Linda loves water and cold so, it's her party. My job
is to laugh and point. We're alone on the beach except for a young couple. A
lovely friendly and zaftig lady with her biker looking rather large fellow who
is covered in tattoos. He says something to us in a thick Spanish accent which
I don't understand but thinking I get the gist of what he said I answer,
"Were good, thanks." He's flying a kite and I quickly deduce I should
definitely make sure I don't do any laughing and pointing in his direction. I
definitely don't want to make him nervous.
I'm also struck by the contrast of the size of him running
along the beach with his little kite... What a sight! I desperately want to
take a picture of him but decide his lack of English and my lack of Spanish might
produce a terribly mangled translation as I ask him to go fly his kite. I'm
pretty sure I couldn't count on Clint for help with this one, this fellow would
surely wreck old Clint's perfect crease in a second. I end up thinking its best
if I just uncharacteristically keep my yap shut and go back to watching Linda
as she bravely swims out into the water.
As usual, the day was filled with overwhelming sights. The landscape here can easily be described as extremely dramatic which is why I felt my infrared cameras might do it some justice.
Later that night I was relaxing alone on our second floor
balcony and one of the other condo residents was walking below carrying one of
those poor poodle dogs who don't seem able to walk, as she is carried
everywhere. There are so many dogs down here which seem to be afflicted with the can't walk disease in this area,
it's so sad. Anyway, he called out to me with "Hey, how are you
doing?" I replied that I was doing really well but Linda was having a lot
of trouble with the unbelievable heat (it went up to 101 Fahrenheit yesterday).
Without missing a beat he called back, "Well, I'm pretty sure you will see
a big change in her now that I've shaved almost all her hair off"...
