We are back from our Red Rocks trip, and it was WONDERFUL!!!! (surprise, surprise). As I didn't have enough vacation time, Jim drove to Vegas by himself starting Thursday morning, and I flew in on Friday afternoon and he picked me up at the airport. It was thrilling to see him drive up in our camper (named "Turtle" ... like having your house on your back) .... pulling our new little Suzuki samurai 4-wheel drive jeep (named "Turtle Jr," of course). I hopped in, gave him billions of kisses for having been gone so long, and we drove for about 2 hours to the "Valley of Fire" State Park, getting there just as the sun was setting. Jessica found this park last year and told us about it, as we'd never heard of it before. It's BEAUTIFUL!!!! Gorgeous red rocks, of the "slick rock" kind that I love the most, simply sitting out in huge clusters across the desert. The campgrounds are built right in amongst bunches of the rocks, so you are able to clamber all over the rocks whenever you want, right from your vehicle. Fantastic. I immediately ran to the nearest rocks and touched them, EMBRACED them, and then laid down, barefoot, on them. Such energy. wowie, I DO love red rock. Anyway, we had a lovely dinner in the camper (risotto) and a romantic evening playing scrabble and snuggling together. I have to get up several times per night these days (hot flashes or nature calls), and each time I'd get out of the camper I had such a marvelous time enjoying the brilliant lawn of stars overhead. SO clear .... warm and QUIET. The desert calm is rejuvenating ... peaceful. Very spiritual ...

Anyway, the next day we got up in the dark and walked out among the rocks. In the deep purple sky we could see a smile of a moon, Orion, a bright planet, and then … as the sun rose, the rocks came ALIVE!! The colors were truly like fire. We could hear an owl calling and calling, echoing in the rocks. An amazing sunrise. We hopped back in Turtle to have our grape nuts, and then spent the morning exploring the park, going on several hikes. We unhooked Turtle Jr and took him for his maiden (is “maiden” correct for a car that seems to be a boy?) journey down a dirt road. It was great!! Jim had packed Turtle Jr with complete survival gear (water, food, tents and sleeping bags, emergency supplies, etc etc) and whenever we drove in him, we always wore hiking boots and brought hats and jackets, in case he broke down -- what can you expect from an old car that cost $1,000? But, he never did have any trouble (whew, I'm glad because sometimes we were 20 or 30 miles from any other people or roads, and that would have been a LONG hike back). We clambered up to the top of some very tall rocks, and then we explored along a trail down inside deep canyons, to find a water-filled depression in the rock that had once been a secret hide-out place for a renegade Indian. The floor of the canyon was covered with pink sand and we were able to see the tracks of various small creatures from the night before ... beetles, lizards, and even desert rats. We also did some birding, finding House Finches and Dark-eyed Juncos, and a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher. Much of the hike was over the rocks, yeah! Then we saw three mountain goats, and a little chipmunk (which we think should be called a “prairie pig” as it tucks its tail over its head and looks like a tiny piglet). We drove around to find a famous rock called "Elephant Rock" -- which took a little imagination, but eventually we agreed that there was a SMALL similarity to an Elephant. We also climbed up to a really pretty arch, and enjoyed taking photos of each other either sitting under the arch, or bravely standing on top (it was about 20 feet high). We were really getting our "rock legs" back, with all this clambering.

We then returned to the campground to get Turtle, and took off north to Utah. We stopped by the side of the road, near a creek and some pretty trees, and had our "usual" lunch (which we had almost every day of the trip!). We made up this sandwich recipe several years back, and a camping trip just wouldn't feel right without them: bread, spicy mustard, red onion, dill pickle, pepperoncini, cheese, tomato, and sliced baked tofu. SOOOOOO delicious. Although, quite TALL (and messy).

We stopped in St. George to buy an air bed mattress for the back of the camper (we were acting like the Princess and the Pea), and Jim managed to win a cute purple stuffed dog in one of those $0.50 cent arcade games with a claw. So, our new mascot, “George,” found a place of honor in our home away from home. We then stopped to say “hi” to Michael Fatali at his gallery in Springdale (we have two of his photos hanging on our walls).

Our next destination was the trail to the Overlook at Zion, to pay tribute to Kalpana. Last year I had thrown some flowers to her memory beyond the overlook, and it was quite special. Very moving. A raven stood by watching, and then suddenly flew right in front of me. We knew she was saying “hello.” This time was rather different, but still just as special. First, we were quite anxious about getting a parking space, as it’s very difficult to find pull-through parking (with the second vehicle attached, we can’t really back up). Just as we were passing the LAST possible place to park, which was full like all the other spots … the parked car suddenly pulled out! Whew. Otherwise we would have had to drive all the way OUT of Zion and come back again, to start looking all over (there’s nowhere to turn around along that road). So, we pulled in with great excitement. And the second thing, as we were walking along the trail, we were passing a LOT of groups of people, who were all very loud. In other words, Her Highness had not only had to find us a parking place, but she had to get rid of all these people who would have marred the moment! SO, since she was so busy with these arrangements, we forgave her for not providing another raven. Anyway, I had brought a rock from home this time, one of the blue rocks from our yard on which I’d written “In honor of Kalpana Chawla” across the lovely blue surface. I found a special spot for it, deep in a crevice in the rocks overlooking the railing on the overlook … we hope to find it still there, next year. And again I had picked yellow and red flowers along the hike and stood at the railing and threw them to the valley. This year I have two other friends to memorialize as well (Mitzi Begley, one of my father’s best friends, whom I had adored, died a few weeks ago; and my uncle Yetti died only the day before our trip). And although I simply grabbed handfuls of flowers, and threw them all at once, when we later looked at the photo that Jim took, there were THREE bunches of flowers floating out on the air. So perfect.

Jim had also brought along two bottles of beer, so that we could sit on the rocks and savor the view, and have our “sundowners” … celebrating the continuance of life. SO, after I had my very good, very long cry, he popped open one of the bottles … only to be COVERED with beer as the contents literally exploded out! That broke the ice, and we were laughing and smiling for the rest of our memorial visit.

We drove on, then, to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park as the night approached. We had reserved a campsite in this nice out-of-the-way spot, and although it was dark when we got there, we had no trouble setting up the camper and heating up some Indian food for dinner. After a touch of port, we read our books and then called it a night.

Morning found us with dark rain clouds, and incipient rain. Darn! After a quick breakfast we zipped over to the boardwalk, intending to go out on the gorgeous salmon-colored sand dunes, but the rain had already wetted the sand. SO, we settled for a few pictures taken in the rain, and ran back to Turtle. This day was obviously meant for driving! So, we drove north and halfway between Zion and Bryce we decided to take a drive on a backwoods dirt road in Turtle Jr. It turned out to be only mildly fun … it was great to be way out in the country all alone, but the scenery was rather boring forest instead of the dramatic rocks that I’d expected from the map (it was called an “amphitheater scenic backwoods drive”). I guess the mountains provided the amphitheater. Hmmm.

So, back to Turtle and on northwards. After stopping for a decadent lunch at a quaint restaurant (buffalo burger for Jim, grilled cheese for me … with fries and lots of grease), we enjoyed passing the scenery of Red Rock Canyon, viewed through the rain. And we really liked the book I brought along to read out loud, “The World Rushed In.” This is a story based on a very complete diary written by a California ‘49er … who took the overland trail in a covered wagon, from his home near Niagara Falls, to the gold diggings in California. An amazing story … it took our entire trip to read the book and we both learned a lot about the incredible difficulties that he faced, both on the trail and once in the diggings. And, he’d left an adoring wife and a 1-year old child behind … didn’t get home for 2 years (and only came back with about $700 in gold, compared to the $10,000 he’d intended to find). When I finished the story, with his being re-united with his wife … we both cried our eyes out. We’d each secretly thought that he’d perhaps have died from one of the many dangers (especially the rampant cholera), and worried that they’d never see each other again (the book also includes all the letters that they wrote back and forth). They lived until they were in their late 70’s, after having several children and grandchildren, so it ended quite happily.

Anyway, back to OUR overland journey! We zoomed along to the Escalante Staircase National Monument, where we stopped in Escalante for a cup of coffee (and some ice cream, even in the rain) and then drove a few more miles to the Calf Creek campground. This is a delightful campground, which we’ve driven past several times over the years and I’ve always wanted to stay there. So, we stayed for two nights and LOVED it. Again, the campsites are nestled in amongst towering red rocks, but at this campground there is also a noisy burbling stream (Calf Creek). It was great to hear the sound of the water at night! And even though it rained a bit during the night, by the next day the rain was gone (although it was still a bit cloudy). The campground is down in one of the deep gorges of the Escalante region, and the scenery is simply incomparable. Rocks EVERYWHERE, surrounding and encompassing!

After settling Turtle in a perfect campsite, we took Turtle Jr on a drive to find Metate Arch (which we had learned is the centerpiece of one of the Fatali photos that we have, and Jim essentially purchased Turtle Jr so that we could drive down the 15 miles of dirt road to find it!). The arch is located down the “Hole-in-the-rock” Road (which Everett Ruess traveled down, on his last journey before disappearing in the 1930’s). Lots of history! The arch is in a spot where there are a group of amazing sandstone formations, lots of tall columns and several arches and “goblin” looking structures, cream and rust colored. We scampered about, climbing up and over arches and down the slick rock surfaces. Such FUN!!! In fact, although Metate Arch itself is probably 35 feet tall, we were brave enough to stand out on it (well, a LITTLE ways out onto it … it was REALLY scary looking down!) And got lots of wonderful photos. This was one of Jim’s favorite places that we visited, it was very beautiful and evocative.

We heated up Thai food for dinner, played Scrabble, read our books, and enjoyed sleeping in the very cold air!

After an early morning wake up to see sunrise and munch grape nuts, we took off in Turtle Jr for a drive through the Escalante. As we climbed along the road up over our campsite, we looked down on the brilliantly colored aspens winding along the river ... glittering radiantly yellow in the sun, and quacking in the slight breeze. The aspens present a stunning contrast to the taller dark green pines and the red and pink rocks.

Then we drove along a gorgeous back-woods dirt road, which snaked along on the high ground above the strikingly gorgeous canyons … extremely steep cliffs of rock, descending to the aspens below. We really enjoyed crossing the “Hell’s Backbone Bridge,” which was built by the CCC in the 1930s, and is perched along a thin spine of rock between two chasms. Yes, I was frightened! We got out and climbed carefully around the cliff rocks for some incredible views. Rocks covered with multi-colored lichens, white tailed deer bounding through the trees, and a cute little jackrabbit hopping along.

We stopped at a small lake, surrounded by green pines and the bright white trunks of aspens, and the banks were littered with fall-colored leaves. In the water we saw Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks, a Pied-billed Grebe, and many noisy Coots eating the marsh grasses. It was cold and crisp up high in the alpine mountains. After descending down to lower altitude, we stopped in a mountain meadow for our delicious famous sandwiches, gazing up at the rocks.

That afternoon we decided to go for a hike. Our guidebooks described the Calf Creek Falls as a moderately difficult hike (6 miles round trip), so we decided to go for it. We’ve now discovered that Jim likes to hike FASTER than I, as I huffed and puffed to try to keep up with him. I pride myself on being able to climb straight up mountains … but on the flat ground, he outruns me by a large factor. Anyway, it was a great hike … incredibly striking vistas and quite refreshing to be alongside the creek for most of the walk. And the falls – I simply don’t have words to describe. The water cascades over a 120-foot high red rock wall, and as it touches the sloping rock it makes amazing torrents of water – comets and whimsical white sprays – and the rock behind has multiple shades of green and blue moss. Wonderful.

On the way back, even though I was sweating and wheezing to keep up with Jim (I wasn’t ABOUT to ask him to slow down … my pride doesn’t allow for such things), when I saw an especially pretty rock on the side of the trail I picked it up to bring home for our yard. Now, when I say “rock” I don’t mean a little something you hold in your hand. This one was about a foot and a half across, and was VERY heavy. But I liked it! Jim wondered whether I’d acted too soon – it was still more than a mile back to our campsite – but I was worried that there wouldn’t be another nice looking rock. HA! What was I thinking … there were fantastic rocks scattered all around our actual camper, much less a few feet away. But anyway, the further I walked with this thing, the more vested interest I had in KEEPing it, so I labored along for quite a while. At one point, though, Jim pointed to another rock which he delicately suggested might be even MORE pretty. And he was right. So I put down the first one and switched to the new one (which, thank goodness, weighed a bit less). As we walked, Jim asked what I was going to name this one, as all the other rocks in our yard are named (Lingberg/Byrd, Shackelton/Scott, Amelia, John Wesley Powell, Everett Ruess, Clarence King, Antoine de Saint Exupery, Laurens van der Post, and Kalpana). I babbled on for awhile about the fact that I hadn’t found any new heroes in any adventure books lately, and so I wasn’t sure what name to choose, and when I finally stopped gabbing, Jim said “how about Yetti?”

Perfect.

And, furthermore, this was Monday, the actual day of Yetti’s memorial service up in Park City. What a special way to honor his day! So we took a picture of the spot where we’d picked up the rock, and Jim took a picture of me holding it, with some flowers, and when we got back to the camper we pressed the flowers to bring home to make a card for Ann, his wife, along with the photos. And I placed the rock in a very special spot in the yard, and will include a “good night” to Yetti every night as I say good night to my other special friends.

During the walk, we saw Ravens, Jays, a Robin, and a Spotted Towhee. Also, a pair of wild Turkeys! Then, Jim picked up a sweet little snake, which promptly peed on him (boy did that smell bad).

We were naughty that night and watched a DVD after a dinner of beer, cheese, and tofu. We saw “Open Range,” which was apropos for our trip -- a typical Kevin Costner western.

Our next day we enjoyed another intense sunrise, and spent most of the day motoring from the Escalante to the Valley of the Gods. We stopped along the way in the small town of Boulder for some book shopping, in the town of Hanksville to make some Roiboos tea, and then took two little side trips in Turtle Jr on dirt roads. The first was to see an overlook of the Dirty Devil River, at a spot near where Butch Cassidy had once hidden out. It’s an incredibly windy river with views similar to the Grand Canyon but on a much smaller scale. Then we investigated a spot on the map called “Little Egypt,” which was SUPPOSED to be “amazing geologic formations” that the settlers claimed looked like the sphinxes in Egypt. Hmmm. We wondered what they were smoking back then … we couldn’t find any similarity to anything remotely “Egyptian.” There WERE some interesting red and orange “goblin-like” rocks, so we enjoyed those for a bit.

We really loved the scenery along the drive on the way past Lake Powell, with tall straight rock cliffs and little groves of aspens. At this part of Lake Powell, the water has been down so low (the lake is down about 120 feet) for several years, so that it almost looks as if it’s once again just Glen Canyon of the Colorado River. Makes me happy to see if so well recovered! The funny part was seeing the sign that USED to say “Hite Marina” … and now just says “Hite.” No possibility for a marina with no lake …!

And then: HOME.

As we arrived at the top of the bluffs towering over the Valley of the Gods, and looked down on the Valley of the Gods Bed and Breakfast, I (of course) burst into tears. We love that house … we WANT that house. The owners, Claire and Gary, unfortunately don’t want to sell it to us. But they SAY that we are at the “top of the list” if they ever do. Anyway, this little stone house out in the middle of the red desert, with soaring rock spires scattered around, and surrounded by huge red bluffs, was built in the late 1800’s. It’s chock full of history (Everett Ruess even stayed there on some of his trips through the area!) and sits amid my favorite views in the country. We really enjoyed staying there for two nights (even with our underlying envy). There were three other couples staying there too, and we had lots of fun chatting with them at meals.

The Red-naped Sapsucker was in the tree out front (as he has been in years past), and we stayed in “our” usual room with a huge window facing east. We sat on the porch to watch sunset, and after dark bats came zooming in and out among the wooden roof beams.

The next day we took Turtle Jr along a dirt road following the “comb ridge” formation, and then hiked up into one of the many canyons that descend from the ridge. It was a fun hike, especially trying to find our way in the myriad tangles of tamarisk in the river bottom (not to mention the MUD). But then when we clambered up onto the slick rock formations we were able to see great views. At the head of the canyon was a huge amphitheater – this time made of rock! A tall cliff with a steep overhanging lip -- a perfect alcove for pueblo houses. There were quite substantial ruins of Anasazi dwellings in the alcove, and we had great fun exploring them. We saw lots of petroglyhps (painted on the rock) and pictographs (scratched into the rocks). Also Jim found numerous pottery shards, and chipped rocks from making arrowheads. There were markings and depressions on the rock slabs from where knives were sharpened or corn was ground. We even found tiny ancient corncobs!

After this lovely walk, we went to the small town of Bluff for lunch (and to check email! I’m such a dedicated employee). I had “Navajo Pizza” (cheese, tomatoes, and olives on Najavo fry bread – VERY greasy but delicious). After spending some more time exploring and scrambling along the rocks on the other side of the comb ridge, we returned home for beer and Scrabble, and then our wonderful dinner served by Claire and Gary. We all sat in the living room in front of a roaring fire, talking till late in the evening.

Morning – with another brilliant sunrise peeking through our window, and great breakfast potatoes. After saying good bye to our hosts and the other guests, we drove south through Monument Valley, leaving southern Utah with its red rocks and myriad national and state parks, for the Navajo reservation. Passing through Monument Valley is always spiritual for me – the tallest red rocks of all! But then, south of those evocative spires, the landscape becomes more typical high desert, with scrub brush and rocks of more “normal” colors (buff or beige). Still beautiful, but more stark.

We stopped to shop for necklaces at a table of Navajo goods under the grey rock outcrop called Algotha, where we often like to stop. Then, we went food shopping and bought water from a machine to refill our jug, as we “always” do when we’re in Kayenta! Stopped at an overlook of what’s called “Beautiful Valley” (questionable name … it wasn’t all THAT pretty) for our patented sandwiches. Then, we traveled through the Hopi reservation, including First Mesa, Second Mesa, and yes – you guessed it – Third Mesa. We’ve never been to visit the Hopis, and this was quite interesting for us. We shopped in a lot of the shops, and drove through the town of Oraibi (on the Third Mesa), which is the oldest inhabited town in the US! We really liked meeting the Hopis, we found them to be quite different from the Navajo. Very educated and aware of current events (also, they had cleaner towns and houses); we had lots of fun political discussions (fun, since the Indians are ALL for Kerry). We bought some jewelry for Jim (a silver bracelet and ring; when he tried on the ring and was worried it wouldn’t come off, the proprietor of the store joked that he had “ancient Hopi RING MEDICINE” to help, and then brought over a bottle of Windex, laughing) (yes, he’s seen “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and giggled when I asked). I bought a fleece jacket, made from recycled plastic bottles (so I am a perfect citizen). I also got a small book by John Wesley Powell, about his travels to Oraibi in 1860, and found it really interesting that he also liked the Hopi people (he called them “kind and hospitable”). I bought two t shirts, one that says “Don’t Worry, Be Hopi” and another that has a photo of four Indian braves on horseback, with the title “HOMELAND SECURITY – fighting terrorists since 1492.” Very good.

Since there are no campgrounds to speak of in the reservation, and we didn’t feel comfortable just stopping by the side of the road, we went to the little airport near Tuba City and asked a guy in a “security” car if it would be ok for us to park there for camping overnight. He said it would be fine, and that he’d be coming back a few times and hoped that didn’t bother us! Very nice. So we had a great evening and morning, camped out next to the runway out in the desert. It was gorgeous – some pretty rock cliffs all around, and the stars and the quiet were amazing. Even with the beacon rotating all night, sending out white and then green beams of light, I enjoyed the sight of Orion in the early morning dark.

Jim made us waffles for breakfast and then we were off to the Grand Canyon. First we stopped at the Cameron Trading Post and did a little more shopping … this time buying two pieces of pottery. We “had” to buy them, since one had a fantastic carving of a panther, and the other had two eagles. They are now in a spot of honor on our living room mantle.

And then, we arrived at the Desert View over the Grand Canyon. I’ve not been this far east along the canyon, and Jim has not been to the south side at all, so this was new for us. It’s very lovely. Of course, you have the canyon in front of you, which is mildly attractive (hee hee) … and at this part of the canyon, a statuesque rock tower was built in the 1930’s (by a FEMALE architect! the one who also designed Phantom Ranch, at the bottom of the canyon) to give an even better view down into the canyon. We climbed to the top, and truly enjoyed the tower itself, along with the view. We stayed on top a long time, watching the Ravens flying. There were several flying as couples, romantically dipping and soaring and diving in formation. You won’t believe this, but JUST AFTER I FINISHED WRITING THAT SENTENCE, I looked out the window and there were two Ravens doing exactly what I just described. Wow.

I’ve got to stop for a moment.

Anyway, wow. That was exciting.

Back to our trip … twice we saw a Raven individually pestering a much bigger bird (once a Red-tailed Hawk, another time a Kestrel), chasing and croaking and poking at them during flight. We can think of no other reason than “teasing” for this behavior – they don’t really compete with each other, so there would be no reason for a Raven to want the raptor out of its territory.

Then we drove along the rim of the canyon, stopping at all the view points to take photos or to clamber out over the rocks. At the Moran Viewpoint, we even climbed out on a promontory which almost no one else was brave enough to do … and had some really amazing views … and absorbed the peace and quiet. Such vistas.

At the Grand View turnout, we brought out our canvas double chair, and placed it on the rocks away from the crowds, overlooking a steep cliff. There we made our trademark sandwiches (I even brought out the knife and cutting board from the camper), and enjoyed them sitting in our romantic chair and gazing at the view. We were quite a sight, apparently, as many tourists came over to us and asked to take our photo! It WAS a perfect spot. And, we also saw a lovely Clark’s Nutcracker fly by.

We spent some time in Bright Angel Lodge, having an ice cream and walking part way down the Bright Angel Trail. I took a photo of Jim in front of the rock arch, of which I have a photo of myself taken years ago by Kalpana, after we had climbed out of the canyon. I had another cry as I looked down the trail, and remembered every moment of that monumental trip. My first trip down to Phantom Ranch. My first bird sighting. OOO, I miss her. Wish those Ravens would come back.

Anyway, we then left the canyon and drove south to the town of Valle, where we decided to again spend the night at the little airport. This time, we were rewarded with the surprise of an airplane museum at the airport!! After a lovely evening playing Scrabble and eating nuts, cheese, and drinking beer, we spent the night right UNDER the beacon tower (less light) and woke to a fantastic sunrise. Morning brought grape nuts and a visit to the Planes of Fame museum. It is a GREAT museum, with many fascinating planes and wonderful exhibits. We spent hours pouring over all the info (and of course I cried at the “Women in Aviation” section, with all my heroes ranging from Matilda Moissant [about whom I read to Bill Bay] to Amelia and then to “the female astronauts”). Out in front is McArthur’s actual Constellation, named “Bataan.” We really enjoyed going on board and having a complete tour of that plane.

On the road again, we stopped at a KOA in Seligman, to (finally) take a shower (SO lovely) and check email. See, I checked work stuff TWICE on the trip. J We had our sandwiches on the road as we drove. Claire had suggested that we’d like the “historic” town of Oatman, so we took a detour through the mountains, along Route 66, to see it. Well, the drive through the gnarly high-desert mountains, with myriads of beautiful cacti, was quite nice, but when we arrived at the old mining town, we looked at each other and wondered, “whatever made her think WE’D like THIS?!” It had a single street lined with shops filled with junk – I mean, souvenirs – and the place was filled with motorcycles, bikers, and ladies of questionable repute wandering amongst fat white tourists. The memorabilia was focused on the “Route 66” topic, along with scrappy shops selling tank tops with Confederate flags on them and other useless items, and a few disgusting looking “restaurants.” A few of the buildings DID have some false western fronts, which was cute, and there WERE burros wandering the streets, which I enjoyed, but we didn’t really stay very long. At least, when getting back in the camper, we saw a bevy of Quail, making the trip almost worth it.

This night we spent at the airport in Boulder City, which was very peaceful and nice, but with lots of wind. We camped right under an acacia tree, reminding us of our previous vacation! Again we stayed up reading, eating nuts and tofu, and snuggled all night to keep warm. In the morning we enjoyed a Northern Shrike flitting about the trees, and after our grape nuts we drove off for a tour of Hoover Dam. That was quite interesting. Jim especially liked seeing the generators, and I was amazed at the film clips of the building of the dam. What an engineering marvel! And all the people that were required. I would have liked to have been a “high scaler” (the guys who swung along ropes high on the canyon walls, to remove rocks that could fall onto those working below).

And then, Jim brought me back to Vegas, where we had dinner at the Bellagio (unfortunately due to the wind, the fountains weren’t going! that’s the only thing we really LIKE in Vegas), and I took a cab to the airport while he started driving north. He got pretty far that night, and so he made it home by the end of the next day and we were reunited once again.

Now, it’s back to the usual life!! Mark was off on a field trip for that entire week too, also in the desert (but he was in Nevada), learning about photography. He was on CLOUDS when we spoke the other day – he loved the trip, he’s loving school, and he’s very happy. Jessica is coming to visit this weekend (to bring their cat to Adam’s parents’ house in Napa, as their landlord found out about the cat and will evict them if they don’t get rid of her, and they couldn’t find another apartment so quickly). The good news is that we get to see Jessica, and she’s bringing a wedding dress to try on (she saved the trying-on to do with ME!) So she’ll be trying on the dress, and Jim will be taking pictures, and I’ll be crying. We all have our jobs.

Jim is thinking of remodeling the guest bathroom in an Africa style to match the guest bedroom. I bought Africa-looking towels as my huge contribution. But hey, I’ve gotta go to WORK sometimes, so he’s got more time! And speaking of that, work is going very well, interesting and exciting, so I’d better get back to it!