Jim and Joe at Tempe Camera Repair

Laughing to keep from crying

We had a wonderful hike from friends’ Hank and Peggy’s property in Sedona to Red Rock Crossing State Park. The weather was unusually cool and the wind was blowing like 90. Still, it was a beautiful hour and a half trail walk ending at Red Rock Crossing. A place that would normally be packed with people was all but deserted. I guess not everyone enjoys 40+ winds. The creek water was crystal clear and freezing cold, I’m told. I didn’t test it out myself.

Jim got busy taking photographs. Of course, what he does transforms even an ordinary scene, so you can imagine what happens when he’s in a spectacular place. Actually, you can go to the website to see lots of his photographs.

I made the brilliant suggestion that he make a video with sound recording of the creek a la the endings on Sunday Morning on CBS. Out on the rocks, crouched down, he was shooting away. When he finished, he got up and started through the water. A few slippery rocks threw him off balance and down he went, complete with his equipment.

Jim was up in a flash. Actually, the camera came out of the water first. He worked quickly to get it dried off.

Fast forward to today. We started to make our way north, stopping at Montezuma’s Castle, an historic Native American  cliff dwelling. Jim found out quickly that something was wrong with the camera. So….

Off we went, turning south heading to Tempe, close to 2 hours away, hoping the fabulous people at Tempe Camera Repair could produce some big magic. Above, you see Jim with long time friend Joe, the owner of Tempe Camera Repair. The good part is that this didn’t happen way up north somewhere. Tempe Camera is the best in the West, no fooling. Joe took a look and shook his head. Apparently, even a tiny bit of water, even crystal clear water, does terrible things to the innards. And it’s all electronic. You can see the guts of the camera, hanging out, looking very complicated. Joe called in his Electronic Guru. You can see by the look on his face that this was going to be all bad news. Hearing that the chances were slim for the rejuvenation of the camera, we headed upstairs to purchase a new camera, just like the old one, only working. After heading to the State Farm Insurance agent and dealing with paperwork, we headed back north. Friends Hank and Peggy took us in for yet another night. Tomorrow we head north. Honest!

Dead Camera

Dead camera guts

Tempe Camera Repair Electronic Guru

Tempe Camera Repair Electronic Guru