Yesterday afternoon marked the beginning of the last 4 day weekend-only a two day weekend left before I get to come home! We had made this elaborate adventure plan that involved driving to Flagstaff, AZ last night and then hiking for two days in the Grand Canyon. However we hit two major snags-the first being that mother nature decided snow/rain/wind was a great option for this weekend and the second being that the federal government couldn't get their stuff together and the parks will probably close. With all of that to consider, we still decided to hit the road after our day in Red Mesa at another Indian Clinic. And this is where our story begins...
Red Mesa is a clinic about an hour west of Shiprock-its a smaller facility that is only open 8-6 and has an outpatient pharmacy. We went to see the facility and to just experience the cite for one day. We got there around 8:30 in the morning and were greeted by our temporary preceptor, Muhammad. Muhammad was from Syria and had the attention span of a dog-no seriously, remember the dog from Up: Hi My Name is...Ball...Bird...(I hope you get the point) Anyways, Muhammad made us laugh throughout the whole day with his ADD/mannerisms. At the end of the day we had to give our presentations and this is when things got interesting. I'm not sure quite how, but I think my preceptor asked me to take his wife back to Shiprock and then come back to Red Mesa to run away with him...I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face-it was just ridiculous!
After we finished at the clinic, we hit the road for Flagstaff. We stopped at an Anasazi cafe on the way and had dinner. I ate an amazing Navajo taco-it was better then Grandma's! We got to our hotel in Flagstaff around 830pm and although I was exhausted, we decided to go out since it was our first night off in a while. The night started at a double-decker wine bar. Holly and Nick shared a bottle of wine and I drank an old fashioned black cherry soda. We played scrabble and reminded ourselves that even on our nights off we are still ridiculously nerdy. From the wine bar we decided to check out this bar in an old hotel that had been mentioned by several people. IT WAS HILARIOUS. We get to this bar and its a karaoke night-drunken people singing in their 'best voices' to woo someone into going home with them at the end of the night. "It was like a bad car wreck-you just couldn't pull your eyes away," was Holly's sentiment on the whole situation. After about an hour at the karaoke bar, we decided to progress to another pub down the street.
It was at this pub that we met my new friend Steven. Steven is a mexican-american hippie who plays the trumpet and the ukulele. He has been in Flagstaff for 11 years and was very friendly. He told me about the ukulele and then proceeded to invite us outside for an impromptu jam session. I have video of some of the songs he played-it was pretty freaking stellar. Steven convinced us all to go back to the karaoke bar and listen to him sing some more-so we went. At the end of the night, right before last call, we got up and sang 'Standing Outside the Fire' and then politely told Steven he couldn't come back to the hotel with us and then left. Holly and Nick decided they were starving (which apparently happens when you drink a lot) so I drove them to get food.
As we were leaving McDonalds (at 230 in the morning), I realized that we were lost and that I was turning onto the wrong street-so I stopped turning and pulled back into the normal traffic lane. The next thing I knew there were red and blue lights flashing behind me. I panicked-I CANNOT GET ANOTHER TICKET.
So the cop comes up to the window and asks how we are doing. I politely respond that we are from out of town, that we are lost, and that I have two drunk people who I am trying to get back to a hotel. He responds with, "I know, I can smell the alcohol out here. Have you been drinking?" Holly shouts from the passenger seat, "Nope! It was all Us! She is completely sober! She is Mormon!" I apologize to the officer at the state of these two yahoos and he says, "Nothing to be sorry about, but if you don't mind can you please step out of the car."
HOLY CRAP MY PANTS MOMENT! Get out of the car?! But I haven't been drinking! Of course, I have to listen so I get out of the car and walk over to the sidewalk with the officer. "I just had to get you away from the other's so that I could smell you and make sure you weren't drinking." (WHAT A RANDOM STATEMENT THAT WAS?!-Oh I forgot to mention, this officer was about my age and drop dead GORGEOUS)
Again I explain to him why we are in Flagstaff and mention where we are from-"VCU, you know the final four?!" "No idea what you are talking about" "Oh." Silence.
"Well, Amber I'm going to need you to go sit back in your car while I run your licenses and make sure you haven't committed murder or anything." "Ok."
I get back into the car-where the two yahoos are laughing to the point of tears. I start laughing at how ridiculous the whole situation is and cannot stop. Tears are streaming down my face and I'm just completely floored. NEVER have I ever been asked to 'step out of the car.'
Anyways, Officer N comes back to the window, tries to joke that Nick's car is stolen and then gives us directions to our hotel. We make it to the hotel where we all collapse into fits of laughter over the whole day. Finally around 430am, the laughter died and we fell back asleep.
Now all I can think is: 'What else can we get ourselves into this weekend?!'
1 comment:
I like how you try to use VCU in all of this, "You know, VCU, the final four??" And it totally backfires! :)
And...as Marissa would put it, can we take is comment out of context? "I just had to get you away from the others so I could smell you." Wonderful.
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