[b]Les and Jeff's (and Murph and Maddie's) Excellent Adventure - Part 2[/b]

We finally get to a spot where there's somewhat of a jump to get to the next rock. Maddie and I easily make the jump and look back to see Jeff staring pensively at the gap between the two rocks. He doesn't think he can make it while holding the leash, so I have him toss it over to me and call Murph to me, who easily leaps across. Figuring Jeff will follow along, I start down the next rock. Murph has other plans and decides he likes another route better and heads off behind me. As I turn to try and yank him back in the right direction, I tilt backwards just a tad. The weight of Maddie on my back is just enough to make me totally lose my balance. Now falling backwards off a six foot drop, I have a momentary thought about squishing Maddie, so I throw my left arm out towards a tall rock next to me to get my body in an "L" shape. I glance down to see cactus below me, so I spread my legs in an attempt to miss them, not being completely successful, <Ooooo! That’s gonna hurt... Annnndd... It does>. Nothing left now, but impact with the hard rock. <Weeeeeeeeeee!!!> Fortunately my dog pack is like an external frame pack, with a nice metal bar surrounding it. Instead of breaking my tail bone, I only end up severely bending the frame. <whew>

As I lay there marveling at the fact I haven’t broken anything, I peer up to see Murph perched on the rock above me, peering down, with his tail wagging a mile a minute, with an excited expression that calls out <WooBoy! That looked fun! My Turn! My Turn!> At this moment I realize my momentum carried me over to lay flat on my back on top of Maddie. Not a peep out of her though. I quickly look back to be met with an icy stare and I can almost hear the voice of Vicki Lawrence’s Mama character, come oozing out of her, <What the Heeellllll are you doing?!?!?> to which I give a sheepish grin and shrug in way of apology, fleetingly forgetting that she’s blind and the gesture’s lost on her. I give her a quick scratch on the head and then glance over to see Jeff still rooted to his initial spot on the rock, with a shocked expression on his face, which I’m not sure whether is due to fear that I’ve seriously hurt myself or aghast at my sprawled, unladylike position across the rocks. So I holler up at him, “YooHoo! Help here. Annnnnytime now.”

(Continued in Part 3)