What a Great Christmas Present

Christmas 2015 has come and gone, and soon we’ll be celebrating the New Year and 2016.  I always remember sending in the new year with Casey Kasem and the Yearly Countdown.  And then turning on the TV to watch the never aging Dick Clark.  Kids today don’t know what they are missing.

Now that I’ve gotten that nostalgic memory out of the way, here’s another one.  I got one of the best Christmas presents from none other than Marla Vickers.  Yes, THE Marla Vickers.  And guess what?  She found her Trip Out West™ journal – and sent me a copy.  I laughed and laughed and yes, even teared up a little reading through it. 

But – there was no mention of Mary Lee Flanagan! Marla only wrote that we visited a rock shop.  She must have just made that side comment while reading her journal back to me in the van.  I’ll share some other parts in a later blog post.

When I sent a reply back to Marla, I asked if she remembered walking with me and Beth C/T on the way to the rodeo and experiencing The Shortcut Debacle.  A little while after writing that blog post, I knew there had to be more to it because it didn’t make sense that Beth C/T blew up so easily.  She was an extremely laid back person – I would think you’d have to be to go on a three week cross-country trip with a van full of 13 and 14 year olds and Mrs. Vickers (who was NOT a laid back person 😉 ).  Later in the trip, I asked Marla why on earth she came with us when she could have just ridden in the van and avoided walking two miles.  She said she knew Beth and I would get into a big fight, and she wanted to be there to see it because she thought we were so funny when we argued.

BTW, I ran across Beth via email a few months ago, and she has no recollection of The Shortcut Debacle.  Marla doesn’t either, although her memory might be jogged once she reads my blog post.  Therefore, I can make up pretty much whatever I want, and it’ll be the truth.  Hah!  History is written by the victors!

Here’s the lead-up to Beth’s blow up:

::The three of us walk up on mystery canyon::
Me:  OMG we’re lost!!!
Beth:  We’re not lost.
Me:  Then why are we standing at the edge of a canyon?
::everybody stares at canyon::
Marla:  Maybe we can go down and through it?
Beth:  No, it’s too steep.
::everybody stares back at canyon::
Me:  I can’t believe we’re lost.
Beth:  We’re not lost.  This canyon is just not on the map.
Me:  It is on the map.  We’re just not where you think we are.
Beth:  I know where we are.
Me (to Marla):  We’re lost.
Beth:  WE’RE NOT LOST!!  Well regardless, we have to retrace our steps and go back to where we were.
Me:  WELL WAY TO GO, BETH!
Marla thinks to herself:  And here comes the payoff.