News Trend Canyonlands National Park|Actual

"In the past, I've visited remote places partly as a way to visit remote states of mind, remote parts of myself that I wouldn't ordinarily explore." -Pico Iyer

After a glorious day at Arches National Park and a mind-blowing sunset at Dead Horse Point. I thought I'd seen every flavor of majesty that this corner of southeast Utah has to offer.

Well, I was wrong.

Because the next morning, after my close encounter with a bighorn sheep, we headed to nearby Canyonlands National Park for another eye-searing morning of sightseeing.

Though the two park entrances are less than thirty miles apart, there's a world of difference between Arches and Canyonlands.

There are certainly gorgeous vistas to be had at Arches, but most of the park has an intimate feeling. Canyonlands, on the other hand, is vast, open, and unabashedly untamed.

There's an immensity of place that draws the visitor into herself. It's a place that begs us to sit and wait whereas Arches invites us to move in and around the places we see.

I took a keen pleasure in the juniper berries, lush and pale blue on every bush in sight. They provided the only sense of closeness and detail in a place of unrestrained scale and size.

We traveled out to the Grand View Point Overlook, where the waters of the Green River meet up with the Colorado. Then we circled back to the Green River Overlook.

Red rocks.

Shimmering threads of water.

Broad basins of rock.

Canyons as far as the eye can see.

If Arches is a dancer, Canyonlands is an astronaut exploring vast regions of the galaxy.

If Arches is an evening at home with a few friends, enjoying cocktails and good conversation, Canyonlands is a months-long cattle drive.

If Arches is a perfect little cream puff, Canyonlands is a party-sized sub sandwich.

And if Arches is a place one could linger through for hours, it would take months or even years to explore Canyonlands.

In fact, it's quite difficult to get around many parts of  Canyonlands. The park divides into three geographic regions and most visitors, including us, stick to the area called Island in the Sky. A mesa with easy access to Moab and plenty of well-maintained roads, this is the place to visit if you have limited time and want easy access to some fabulous overlooks.

The Needles is for the more committed visitor. Here can be found some stellar arches and rock formations, but unlike those over at Arches National Park, these are deep in back country so visitors need to take on long hikes or four-wheel drive trips to see them.

The Maze is the third area of the park; it's the least visited and least accessible section of the park.

Not to be overlooked are the waterways, perfect for kayakers.

My husband visited here as a boy, and took a raft trip through the Needles with his adventurous dad and devotedly acquiescent mother. I cannot believe that woman went along with all of these crazy wildlife adventures but she did.

As for us, we stuck to some easy strolls around the overlooks, a picnic lunch, and one short hike out to this finger of rock.Called the Schafer Canyon Overlook.

Though we stuck to the well-traveled roads, we could see evidence of the park's more primitive pathways. Unpaved trails like this one offer a down and dirty way to get closer to the scenery, but four-wheel drive vehicles only, please.

And for the truly rabid animals among us, some visitors actually ride bicycles through the canyons along barely there roads like this ferocious grade.

We watched a trio of bicyclists descend this wild cliff - see them in the top half of the lower loop - but before we saw them, we heard their over-taxed brakes squealing with rage as they fought to maintain control against a big wallop of gravity.

Arches National Park definitely appeals to a tightly controlled and aesthetically precise energy; Canyonlands is a place, quite frankly, for thrill seekers and utter maniacs.

Cute red dogs, however, are equally happy to visit both.

* * * * *

Road Trip 2019: read all about it.

Leaving

Resting

Glacier National Park

Dakota Sunshine

Mackinac Bridge

My Newfound Brother

Fox Trilogy

Cleveland Rocks

Vermilion Legacy

At The Conservatory

Riding To Rifle

Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

Arches National Park: Double Arch

Arches National Park: Devil's Garden Trail

Arches National Park: Park Avenue

Dead Horse Point

Waiting For Breakfast

Canyonlands National Park

Cheeseburgers

Car Keys

News Trend Seattle Skies|Actual

Everyone knows that the Pacific Northwest is a gloomy, atmospheric, cloud-filled kinda place.

And I won't argue that. It's true.

But here's the thing. All clouds are not created equal.

Most of the time, our little corner of heaven is buried under blankets of flat, low, consistently grey cloud cover.

We call it the marine layer and try to pretend it's cute.

And while that monotonous cover of mist does conjure up lovely opportunities to wear cozy sweaters, sip warm cider and curl up on the couch for delicious afternoon naps, it is not by any means an interesting or attractive feature of our landscape.

And that is why days like this are worth a hundred dollars.

While I was out walking with Ranger, dark clouds tumbled and scattered across the stormy sky. Swept this way and that by high winds, the shifting shapes set forth an ever changing pattern of color and light overhead.

I felt just like I was turning and twisting inside of a blue-grey kaleidoscope.

As we turned onto the last leg of our route, these brooding beasts burst open.

We dashed for home

cold

wet

breathless from the sudden change in weather

and oh, so thankful to live in this beautiful place.

News Trend Waiting For Breakfast|Actual

"An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day." -Henry David Thoreau

With my family, I sat in the drive-through lane, bleary eyed and tired after a long day of exploring the Utah desert and a short night of marginally restorative sleep.

Dreaming about that first bite of the Sausage Egg McMuffin which would soon be mine, I glanced right across the emerald green side lawn of the Moab McDonald's and into the parking lot next door.

Where I was met with a gigantic visage of a big horn sheep.

A pixelated visage, at that.

Well, I'm gonna tell you what. Without blinking an eye, I unbuckled my seat belt, popped open the front passenger door, and muttered to my shocked husband, "I'll be right back."

And without waiting for his response or even so much as glancing back to see if he heard me, I stepped off across that freshly watered grass, camera in hand, and headed straight for that sheep.

I walked all the way up close to view the squares,

then moved back to take in the total effect.

Which was, in a word, magical.

I topped off my camera roll with a dozen shots of the mural and then, satisfied, walked back to our car.

Which hadn't moved an inch.

"I wanted to take some pictures of that sheep," I unnecessarily explained to my family.

"Yes, I saw that," my husband replied.

Then, not quite so tired as before, I continued to wait for my breakfast.

* * * * *

Road Trip 2019: read all about it.

Leaving

Resting

Glacier National Park

Dakota Sunshine

Mackinac Bridge

My Newfound Brother

Fox Trilogy

Cleveland Rocks

Vermilion Legacy

At The Conservatory

Riding To Rifle

Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

Arches National Park: Double Arch

Arches National Park: Devil's Garden Trail

Arches National Park: Park Avenue

Dead Horse Point

Waiting For Breakfast

Canyonlands National Park

Cheeseburgers

Car Keys

News Trend Cold War Kid|Actual

As I prepare to vote in this hotly contested presidential election, I find myself reflecting on the moments and milestones of my life that have shaped me as an American citizen and contributed to my worldview today.

* * * * *

I grew up as a Cold War kid, and from a tender age, I carried in my mind a crisp image of what that meant.

A red telephone with no dial but a big round button in the middle.

One sat on the desk of my president in the White House.

The other on the desk of the president of a place called the Soviet Union.

What I gathered from my mother, my teachers and eventually, MAD magazine was that, given ample provocation, either man could hit that button, declare a war, and effectively end the other country's way of life.

I didn't really grasp the parts about nuclear missiles, radioactive fall-out, and mutually assured destruction. Thank goodness.

Hey, even us Cold War kids couldn't worry about Armageddon all the time. I had stuff to do.

But even as a very little girl, I saw pictures in LIFE magazine of Soviet mothers and children standing in snowy cold for hours just to buy a loaf of bread.

I knew about the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall, and I grasped the fact that these boundaries split children from their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

And as my mother and I watched Olympic ice skaters and gymnasts compete, she explained to me how Soviet children with athletic promise were taken away from their families to live in pelatihan centers, far from their homes.

Nyet, nyet, nyet. I wanted nothing to do with this Soviet way of life.

And while I didn't yet understand ideals like freedom, liberty, unalienable rights and the pursuit of happiness, I knew that I had food and family and a sense of security that children in the USSR didn't have.

The president, as I understood him, was a cross between

my big, sturdy grandfather and my ever-patient and loving teddy bear.

I associated all those advantages with the man who sat at the desk with the red telephone.

My president.

He knew which kind of life was best for me.

He would not let the Soviet Union hurt my country.

He kept me safe.

* * * * *

Quite suddenly, the Cold War ended.

The walls were torn down.

The Soviet Union miraculously imploded.

Thought the Washington DC-Moscow hotline still exists, it was never quite what I imagined. Not a detonation device or even a telephone at all, it was more of a telegraph and sent only written messages.

But what remains - in my heart, in my mind, in my soul - is the conviction that the President of the United States is our defender, our protector, the preserver of our privileged way of life.

* * * * *

For more stories on this topic, read:

Speak Out

Clara's Golden Door

Tiny Habits Of Patriotism

The Watergate Years

My Political Posse

My Thoughts On Election Day

News Trend Cactus Come-On|Actual

"It was a woman's bedroom...And no man belonged in it except by invitation." -Kathleen Winsor

It's gotta be terrible feng shui.

My dreams are probably haunted by sharp objects.

And I've already warned my husband that if he ever needs to leap out of bed and collapse, he should make a point to fall backwards rather than forward onto the spikes

But despite all the obvious reasons not to keep a killer cactus in my bedroom, I do it anyway.

Because when the afternoon sun slants across the room and lights up this gentleman's handsome profile, I can't resist.

Hello, tall, dark and prickly. You are always welcome here.

News Trend Fall At The Mall|Actual

It might have been my fresh haircut that put the extra bounce in my step.

Or the soft breezes and sweet autumn sunshine, swirling the scent of unfamiliar conditioners and styling oils, that stirred my senses.

But for whatever reason, as I left the salon on the east side of Alderwood Mall on my way to the bus stop on the west, I impetuously decided to ditch the obvious shortcut through the building for a rambling outdoor route instead.

And I'm so glad I did, because every few steps brought me a fresh glimpse of autumn's unfolding glory.

Now I'm not exactly calling this a walk in the wilderness. But as I slipped into my seat on the bus and flipped through my camera roll, I was surprised and delighted to see these colorful little splashes of fall at the mall.

News Trend Cheeseburgers|Actual

"Life is too short to miss out on the beautiful things like a double cheeseburger." -Channing Tatum

Somewhere along the way, our culture has picked up some weird hang ups about cheeseburgers.

Thanks to our freakish obsession with pencil thin bodies, and our deep state fears that animal proteins destroy our health, the culinary creation of two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun has become short hand for irresponsible eating and full-on moral decay.

I call foul.

Before we drove away, we bought one more cheeseburger for my eldest daughter who was cat-sitting back at home. I have a long history of transporting In-N-Out burgers across state lines.

A proper cheeseburger layers quality beef with tangy cheese and a handful of ingredients from the garden, spiced up with a smooth layer of mustard, mayo or ketchup and tucked into a fresh bun.

Those are all reasonable, healthy things to eat.

And while we may not want to lay into the full serving of beef or the simple carbs of a white bread bun every day, this is a perfectly reasonable meal for a healthy person to enjoy once a week.

We split two orders of fries between the four of us. I call that restraint.

French fries, in my opinion, are a different matter.

Pure indulgence.

No redeeming nutritional value whatsoever.

But sometimes, you just gotta have some

Stand back, I'm about to take my first bite.

But when my family and I finally emerged from our adventures in the wilds of southeast Utah, we were ravenously hungry and ready to tuck into a proper cheeseburger meal.

Gracie did not get a cheeseburger but she did get a full dish of dinner and

a handful of chicken jerky treats. So I didn't feel too sorry for her.

And thankfully, we faced only a quick two-hundred-mile jaunt up to Provo on beautifully straight and mostly empty highways through the desert to find our way to the nearest In-N-Out.

Where the cheeseburgers of our dreams were waiting for us.

* * * * *

Road Trip 2019: read all about it.

Leaving

Resting

Glacier National Park

Dakota Sunshine

Mackinac Bridge

My Newfound Brother

Fox Trilogy

Cleveland Rocks

Vermilion Legacy

At The Conservatory

Riding To Rifle

Arches National Park: Balanced Rock

Arches National Park: Double Arch

Arches National Park: Devil's Garden Trail

Arches National Park: Park Avenue

Dead Horse Point

Waiting For Breakfast

Canyonlands National Park

Cheeseburgers

Car Keys