From the Bottom Up: Post 1
From panic to preparation. Time to get on with it.
My birthday is coming up, and I just bought myself a very special gift. After a year that was both the best of times and the worst of times, I’ve decided I need to mark my sixty-fourth solar return in style.
I recently returned from my third visit to Grand Canyon National Park and Page, Arizona. I closed out 2025 (a “9” year: 2+2+5 = 9 = endings) and rang in 2026 (a “1” year: 2+2+6 = 10 = 1+0 = 1 = new beginnings) with a 1-11 ceremony at the east end of the Grand Canyon at Horseshoe Bend with a group of friends.
Once home and still on a high from the trip, I discovered a photographer named Adam Schallau, whom I wrote about briefly in my last post, dated January 25, 2026.
Adam is a dedicated landscape photographer, photography instructor, and Grand Canyon specialist, having been selected to work as an Artist-in-Residence at Grand Canyon National Park in 2009.
After admiring one of Adam’s photographs, I perused his website and learned he offers an annual expedition down the Colorado River. He leads hikes into side canyons and teaches photography each day as part of the 225-mile rafing adventure. There were two spots left on a tour leaving in late April.
I read the description of the trip and studied the photographs Adam had posted.
My heart started to pound, and I felt as if I might burst into tears. It was very strange and very powerful. I’ve never had such a visceral reaction to what was basically no more than an itinerary.
For the next twenty-four hours, I kept thinking about the trip. It was a crazy idea. Camping with sixteen complete strangers, cut off from all communications, sleeping on the ground, bathing in the river, rafting for hundreds of miles, hiking every day. For two weeks. What was I thinking?
But I couldn’t help myself. I called Adam. If I was hoping he might discourage me from going, I was sorely mistaken.
No rafting experience? No problem. There’s just one rafting rule: Hang on.
Worried about not being able to keep up on the hikes? No worries. He’s not a fast hiker, either. He always hangs back while the more ambitious participants race ahead to nab the best spot for their tripods.
Don’t want to lug heavy camera equipment up and down canyon trails? No need. Bring your iPhone. It takes unbelievable photographs. He’s happy to show me.
Toilets? Yes, they bring them. It’s nicknamed “The Groover”. Google it.
Bathing? Every other day seems to work fine for most people.
Lastly, don’t be concerned that there are very few women on these trips. The two that are going on this one (along with the eight male participants and the 5 boatmen) have actually gone with him before, so they’re repeat customers. You can’t ask for a better recommendation than that. And his wife’s been going for years, and she hasn’t left him yet.
I was out of questions, save one. When did I need to decide?
Now, he said. Then, after a beat, perhaps out of pity or just plain niceness, he said he’d hold one of the last two spots for a few days even though it was against his own rules.
I was out of questions and objections. I thanked Adam and said I would get back to him in two days.
I could hardly think of anything else. I vacillated between a relentless pull of excitement—sleeping under the stars, seeing the canyon from the river, exploring seldom-seen side canyons with an experienced team of guides, challenging myself physically and emotionally—while still churning the same fears over and over in my mind. Would I actually be able to sleep in a sleeping bag? (I can hardly get through the night in my comfy bed.) What if I got hurt? (I tend towards clumsiness.) How would my new hips hold up? (I’m not even a year out from double-hip replacement surgery.) What about my hair? And don’t even get me started on the toilet situation.
It was my oldest son, a Major in the Marine Corps and, therefore, a very experienced outdoorsman, who sealed the deal. As I lamented—and he listened quietly to—all the reasons why this was absolutely the craziest and the most intriguing idea I’ve ever had, he simply said, “If the toilets are your biggest concern, Mom, maybe you're not ready for a two-week camping trip.”
That was it. That was what I needed to hear.
I will not let The Groover get the best of me! I can do this!
And so I signed all the releases, paid in full, and downloaded the fifty-page River Trip Information Guide, which is accompanied by Adam’s suggestion that we take it “a little at a time—reading a section every day or two tends to work well and keeps it from feeling overwhelming.”
Who’s overwhelmed? Certainly not me. I’ve got this. (I hope.)
My next read:
Stay tuned for regular updates on the preparation and the journey. I plan to take full advantage of this experience by learning all I can about the canyon—its geology, its flora and fauna, its tribal history, its endangerment— and write about my experience here. And who knows what else might come of it. Perhaps another book? Stranger things have happened.
Lastly, here’s our “album cover” taken at Horseshoe Bend on 1-11. Strike a pose, Jen instructed us. None of us knew why, but we did as told.
The song—a complete surprise from Jen, who had been secretly working on the lyrics and a corresponding photo montage for days—was presented to us on the last day. It’s really good and a perfect lyrical summary of our time together. It’s available on Spotify. Here’s the link:
If you want to see the complete video, it’s on my IG post here: @notplainjaynemills.
That’s it for today. Thank you, as always, for being here. Remember. . .
Life is short. Read fast.
From one lover of the written word to another,
With love,
Jayne
Coming July 8, 2025! IT’S HERE!! Bottom of the Breath is the story of a woman catapulted from her tranquil life on the Florida panhandle onto a cross-country road trip with her recently estranged husband. She must outrun a hurricane, digest a shocking, decades-old family secret, and come to terms with her own pain-filled past. Laced with mysticism and set among the majesty of Sedona and the Grand Canyon, the novel explores the power of friendship, the importance of forgiveness, and the vital need to create a future that embraces the past.
The only way to go....you will be so empowered with each and every step....enjoy
You go girl! Have an amazing experience