This is a trip Gail and I took to the Grand Canyon in 1981. I am posting it because it reminded me of another great trade off in my life. That VW Rabbit behind me...we bought that because we were planning to spend the coming summer in Mexico. It was diesel and had two tanks, with the price of diesel in those days, we could fill it for about $5 and get almost 1,000 miles out of a fill up. So, Gail and I wandered all over Mexico and Guatemala. Then after risking our lives in a hundred different ways, including spending the night alone in Palenque with a group of guys armed with Uzis and M-16s (guessing drug runners), the very last day, just a few hours from the border, coming up the East coast out of Tampico, a drunk in a cattle truck pulled out in front us. We hit this 2 1/2 ton stake bed truck hard enough with that Rabbit to flip it over. How we survived it...no clue. But, obviously we did. We left Mr. Conejo in the middle of the road and caught a ride out before the Federales showed up. This is a long story that I will tell in greater detail if I ever find the photos of the actual accident. The trade off? Gail and I got home, got our other car, and went to Death Valley. We still had a few weeks free and Gail thought the heat would help with the aches and pains. Well, obviously, we discussed the fact that we came really damn close to dying and that led to us wondering why we were putting of having kids. Nine months later, Whitny suddenly appeared. So, Whitny can attribute her very existence to a drunk and a horrible accident.
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