Epilogue

Our Father's Day fun ended. We were all hot, dusty, sweaty, windblown, and bounced to our limits. We hit the highway (not the dusty trail) with Mr. Chad and his family behind us, thinking that a refreshing cold beverage and a dip in the pool would be most welcome. 

We kept our eyes on our former Jeep as we coasted down the mountain (without stalling) past the towering saguaros and into town.

We honked our horn at Mr. Darrell and his family as we passed Pizza Hut. Mr. Nicco never lost his worry and kept looking behind to make sure our friends were still there. We lost them at a light. Nicco was concerned. The Daddy tried to text our friends to make sure all was well and when we got to our house and Nicco and I were in our swims (roughly two seconds after walking through the door) Patrice had a message. Chad's Jeep overheated and he was stranded with his three girls on the side of the road.

My Knight in Shining Armor rode off to rescue the damsels (and their Daddy) in distress. Apparently with all the bouncing and shaking going on, some part of Chad's vehicle cut the radiator so it spilled all the coolant and was rendered useless. At that point, the only thing to do was to tow it home. It broke Patrice's heart a little to see his former Jeep disabled, but what could he do, right? Nothing. So he watched Chad and his brother-in-law tether the Jeep to a big truck. He reminded them that the tow line needs to be tight, if there's slack you will break one of three things: the rear bumper of the tow-er, the tow line, or the front bumper of the tow-ee. And wouldn't you know it, there was slack in the line and Patrice's heart fell when he saw his former Jeep literally in pieces on the road.

Chad eventually did make it home, and now one Jeep needs new tires, the other needs a new drive shaft and heat shield, and a third needs a new radiator and to reattach the front bumper (or whatever). We never heard from Patrick and Amber, so we can only assume (and hope) they made it down the mountain in one piece.

Patrice came back from his rescue mission, Nicco and I had already swim swam swum, and Mr. Rob showered away the layers of dust and sweat. We watched some Doctor, ate some food, and went to bed relatively early.

It was an exhausting fun day. I think (hope) the mishaps did not completely ruin the Daddy's day. I think (hope) he'll want to go out adventuring again.