First Things First (Linkolicious!)

Something cool happened today.

I went for a Mountain Bike Ride at Pemberton this morning. It was about 1 hour and 45 minutes worth of climbing and scrambling and slogging through sand and blazing down hill. When we got back to the parking lot and started loading up, changing clothes, and getting ready to hit town for a good breakfast, I noticed that my little metal wallet(mine is orange, not pink!) was missing. I ransacked the xTerra, had other people go through my Camelbak in case I was just momentarily blind, and finally threatened to re-ride the entire trail to look for it.

Fortunately, the folks I was with talked me down from that stance, reminding me of the heat (it got up to around 100 degrees today!! In October!!) and the fact that it was highly likely that someone would find the wallet before I did and I'd just be wasting my time. So I stopped off at the visitors' station to give my description and my phone number, in case anyone happened to turn it in.

A fellow who happened to be there purchasing a yearly pass to the park asked where I thought I might have lost it. I showed him our route on the map, and the approximate location where we'd stopped and I dug a GU pack out of the top pocket of the Camelbak. My wallet had been in the same pocket, and I felt pretty confident that I'd just fumbled around enough to knock it out. He said he was just getting ready to head out on the trails and that he'd keep an eye out for it. I gave him my thanks and figured that'd be the last of it, since..well..stuff like that never works out, does it?

IT DOES!!

Shortly after arriving home and determining to thoroughly clean out the entire vehicle in case the wallet had slid between the seats or gotten buried under a heap of papers, my phone rang. The caller ID said "Blocked" but I figured I'd take a chance and answer it.

"Is this Kerri?" Yes! Yes it is! "Hi, this is McDowell Mt. Park Visitors' Center calling; someone has turned in your wallet. The gentleman is standing right here, would you like to talk to him?" Wow, yes, please! "Hi, this is the guy you talked to earlier--the wallet was exactly where you said it would be. I can meet you somewhere if you'd like...."

After recovering from fainting, taking a moment to do a little happy dance, give prayer to the Karma Gods, and catching my breath, I agreed to meet him on his way back into town.

He warned me that he saw a coyote loping away from the scene when he arrived and that I might ought to watch my charges for a while, lest any random ACME purchases show up (i.e. dynamite, bird feed, or road runner traps). :D

He also refused to accept my offers to send him some sort of thank you (a gift card to the bike shop of his choice, for example), the only part of this story that sucks. So do something nice for a stranger, won't you? Pass it on?

I'll get back to the horsey trails soon, really. But my Mini-Machine's battery is about to poof, so I gotta go juice it up. I need a nap too, come to think of it.