Onward to the Grand Canyon...

Chapter Two - We arrive at the Grand Canyon Saturday night. It was cold, but the ride was uneventful. we had a room in Maswik lodge inside the park - nice, comfortable. The next morning, Superbowl Sunday morning, I got up and looked out the window. It was pure white. Snowing. Blizzard conditions. A 4 foot snow drift outside of our window. I called the front desk and they tell me that those conditions will continue until midday Monday. The first problem was food. Getting from the room to the car to the lodge in a wheelchair in the fresh snow is quite an experience, but we did it, even though I haven't had to drive in the snow in 20 years. The next problem was seeing the Grand Canyon in blizzard conditions - you can't. We tried, but it is just like looking at a white wall - no canyon. Well, we had thought we would have to miss the Superbowl because of sightseeing in the Grand Canyon, but no. Watching the Superbowl was our only option. We got pizza, chicken, and beer and enjoyed a good game.

Monday came our real problem. Rolando needed dialysis back in Las Vegas - 5 hours away, but we were still snowed in. We scrambled. We got the Las Vegas unit to delay his dialysis until 2:30 pm, but that was still threatened. I had called DaVita Guest Services on Sunday to see if there were any units close to the Grand Canyon. There aren't!!! There was one in a remote location called Tuba City, 2hrs away, and a Fresenius unit in Flagstaff, 1 1/2 hrs away, but there was nothing more to do on Sunday. We called both units on Monday morning and found that all roads to Tuba City were closed so that left either Las Vegas or Fresenius in Flagstaff. Happily, the Fresenius unit went out of their way to accommodate us and scheduled us for afternoon dialysis 3 1/2 hrs instead of 4 1/2 hrs but better than nothing. The plows reached us at about 10:30 so we went to breakfast. While we were eating, we got a call inviting us in earlier for a full 4 1/2 hr session. Super! The roads were snowy, slushy, and then icy, but we got there. Thank God we had taken care of the catheter issue before going to the Grand Canyon - very lucky for Rolando (Yes, Rolando got lucky in Las Vegas

)

Best of all, because we were able to dialyze in Flagstaff, we were able to return to the Grand Canyon and try again to see it the next day, Tuesday. If we had had to go to Las Vegas for dialysis we would not have seen it. Tuesday was a beautiful day. although we had to fight the piles of snow and the snowy walkways with the wheelchair, we had some great views of the Grand Canyon. Happy and satisfied, and a bit wore out we headed back to Las Vegas at 5 pm to see a show at 10 pm and then to fly home the next day. It was quite an adventure!