Today is when things got really fucked up. I had been instructed the night before that the rest of the crew would be coming up from Vegas in the morning and that I was to meet up with them at 11am at the main entrance to Zion National Park. Since I knew they would totally forget about the time change that meant they would be there at noon. This meant I had some time on my hands in the morning.
I jumped on my brother's computer and checked my email and found a message from Jessica, the daughter of my roommate Kathie. It turns out that Kathie passed away on Sunday and no one had been able to get ahold of me until then to tell me. Apparently she had been drinking Saturday evening and was sitting in the hot tub when she passed out and drown. She was found on Sunday evening when her friend came by the house to check on her after not hearing from her all day.
I freaked out and tried to call both her daughter and her son to find out what the hell had happened. Neither answered their phone, but that wasn't entirely surprising as it was only 7am. I called my friends Lenna and Gillian and they were able to swing by the house and make sure it was locked up and everything was ok. They found a card for the detective in charge of the investigation who I called and was given the details. She also suggested that we get a company out to clean up the hot tub as that was where she was found. I made the proper arrangements and it turned out that they had to completely dispose of the entire hot tub.
I didn't know Kathie for very long, but she turned out to be a very good friend and one of the very best roommates I've ever had. She even gave me a little St Christopher medallion to attach to my motorcycle key. Somehow it fell off, but was miraculously recovered by some stranger who found it in my driveway. I made sure to take it with me on my trip to keep me safe and as a little piece of her to keep with me. She and I made a great team and had become very good friends, and occasional lovers, over the few months we lived together. She loved hockey and allowed me the pleasure of taking her to her first hockey game ever. I know I can be kind of a cold hearted callous jerk sometimes (my friend Lenna chewed me out pretty good tonight about that, rightfully so), but I loved Kathie and I know I'll miss her.
So anyway, after meeting up with everyone else, I decided that it just wasn't right to continue on with the vacation so as everyone turned South to head to the Grand Canyon, I turned North and punched it up to Mach 2 as I crossed Utah, finally stopping in Ogden for the night.
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