Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

From June 28th through July 3rd, I had the privilege of being on a raft on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. This was part of a family trip “for the guys.” On a trip put together by my father-in-law Allan, his two sons, me (a son in law), my three sons, two other grandsons, one grandson-in-law, and one great grandson spent five days and five nights on the Colorado River. These blog posts are part of the story.

Yes, I made a phone call from the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

No, you are not supposed to talk on the phone while on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. You are supposed to get away from it all.

We pulled up onto a beach near several other rafts. There were people milling about. Too many people. This was odd. The river guides told us we could get off the raft for a while, walk around, and even fill our water bottles from a faucet. I was confused.

I learned that we were next to (let me get all the names wrong) the Phantom Ranch, at the end of the Bright Angel Trail,  next to the Bright Angel Campground. The one thing I am sure about is that this spot is where lots of people stop when they hike down from either rim of the canyon to the bottom. There are several foot bridges that allow you to cross the Colorado River.

My spirits lifted as I walked about. Maybe I should be ashamed at that. You take a rafting trip to get away from people and things and buildings, but I was happiest around these people and things and buildings. I wanted to see how they built buildings down here, how they built bridges, how they piped drinking water, how they made signs, how they made all sort of things that they made.

Then I saw what looked like a pay telephone. I grew up without cell phones; I have used pay phones many times in my life. Something pulled me to the phone and I lifted the receiver. A dial tone! I quickly figured that this phone was for collect calls only. I also know what a collect call is. I called my wife and talked with her. I had a pretty good excuse. When we left Reston, Virginia for Las Vegas she didn’t know if she was to stay in Reston or visit the female relatives in Louisiana. She stayed in Reston; I enjoyed the chat. I haven’t received the bill yet to see how much this collect call cost me. Perhaps I won’t be so happy then.

The experience taught me something about myself. I enjoyed looking at the small buildings in the base of the canyon than I did looking at the canyon itself. I am an engineer, a builder and problem solver. I enjoy learning from how others engineer, build, and solve. That is me.

Learning about myself is one of the reasons I go to places like the Grand Canyon. The canyon taught me much of myself, and for that I am grateful.