Blue

Blue sky that is, not a blue mood! (Unless you count the fact that Denise would like to stay longer, but she isn't usually ready to come home no matter how long our wander is!)

The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to bounce over to the door onto the deck to push the blinds aside and look at the sky. Oh! there are some clouds but they seem like fair weather clouds, lots of blue there too. Today is a traveling day, but we have a few hours to wander in the park before we start our driving-flying-travel.

The day started with another wonderful breakfast. The first course was vanilla yogurt topped with granola and berries, and then there was a wonderful omelet loaded with veggies - onions, yellow peppers, spinach, and mushrooms. Denise was happy, and I liked it too. What do you mean "little red dogs don't eat omelets"? Of course I eat people food!

It was a morning of following the light, looking at mountain peaks covered in snow, red rocks highlighted by white decorations. The deep narrow valley made for interesting changes as the sun moved overhead, some peaks shaded, some in bright sunlight. If it were a warmer day I think it would have been easy to just stay in one place, watching the light change.

Too soon, it was time to jump in the car, time to drive west to fly east.

As we drove through the corner of Arizona that houses the Virgin River Gorge I thought I saw a sign for a park. Denise didn't think we had time to explore today so we didn't stop. I just looked, and you know what? We're going to have to go back. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) runs the Virgin River Canyon Recreation Area, and it's just off the Cedar Pockets exit on I-15. There are hiking trails, access to the river, and two wilderness areas. I know Denise would like to play with her camera there. I wonder how long it will take her decide that she needs to go back to Zion. Or maybe we'll make the trip a little longer and go to Bryce too. Denise has been to Bryce but it was a long time ago, before I jumped into her panniers on her cross-country trip back in 2002.

We're at the airport in Las Vegas right now, waiting for our plane. It was supposed to leave at 4:05 PM, but right now it's showing a delayed departure at 4:40PM. Denise and I are both hoping for strong tailwinds to help push us home. I just checked Southwest's web site and they are showing a projected arrival time that is only 10 minutes later than normal. Right now we're due in at 12:15 AM. That makes our at home sleeping time a bit short tonight.

It was a good trip, so beautiful even with the odd (snowy) weather. Seeing Zion in the snow was a treat, even though the icy trails curtailed our wandering a bit.

--- Rover