Working hard........Playing hard.........

One the coolest formations I have ever seen while spelunking----5 seconds before I pulled
an "Indiana Jones Ice Slide of Death"!!!

I hope any safety people do not see this photo....

I thought I would share a couple of things from my week. First, I am working up in Flagstaff. Missing out on the triple digits in Phoenix? Priceless. This is a remodel job for N.A.U., and it is not fun. The roof is a 45 degree angle, so we are on ropes all day. The school wants to spend as little money as possible, so instead of new panels, we wire brushed and painted over the rusted areas on the metal and re-installed it. (very nasty and very temporary) As you can see from the photo, we had to build a jig, fasten it to the basket, tie the panels to it, and take them up one at a time. The wind blows every afternoon which makes the whole process that much more adventurous!!

I strongly believe in the philosophy: "Work hard, Play hard", so one day after work, I took the guys to the Lava River Cave just outside of Flag. It is simply a tunnel that was created by flowing lava, but it is really cool. Literally. In the cooler months, the water that drips or seeps into the cave freezes. It is always different--you never know what it will look like. This time, a frozen waterfall was just inside the entrance as we made our way down into the cave. It was free-standing. We could put our arms completely around it!! About five seconds after I had my picture taken next to it, I started to move for the next person. I stepped on solid ice and disappeared. I slid down into the black abyss. No light. No idea how far I was going to go. No idea what was waiting at the bottom. Everybody was yelling and then shining their lights down on me. When they saw that I had escaped injury, they all were laughing. Oh well, I am used to that..........