Cedar Mesa and Points Beyond

The west is certainly a beautiful and varied place.

After the brutal heat of Nevada, cooling off for a couple of days in the mountains felt wonderful. Kodi especially enjoyed hiking up by Buffalo mountain on Saturday. There was water, cool air, warm sunshine and squirrels! Needless to say he thought he was in doggie nirvana.

Sunday morning I left Kodi with his buddies John and Uncle Mike in Boulder and headed for Sedona. I love making the drive on I-70 from the foothills all the way west into Utah. Driving this route always gives me an appreciation of how beautiful the variations of topogr

aphy are just in Colorado. From foothills to snow-capped peaks to the beautiful orchards and wineries of Palisade all the way to the desert by the time you reach Utah. This is really just a small picture of the west in general. Beautiful mountains, harsh deserts, bucolic farmland, we've got it all out here.

Since it takes around 13 hours to drive from Boulder to Sedona, I decided to make this leg of my journey in 2 days. The destination for my first day was an area called Cedar Mesa, just south of Natural Bridges and north of Valley of the Gods in southeast Utah. This area is one of my favorite places to camp anywhere. I try to go there every year in either the spring or fall for a week or so, but the past couple of years have slipped by without me making it.

It was almost 9pm by the time I pulled into my campsite on Cedar Mesa so I didn't really get to do much more than spend the night. The sunset was incredible as I made my way down to where I pull off. I've been blessed to see a lot of beautiful sunsets from this area. I found a great spot to park under what might be the biggest juniper tree I have ever seen. What a beautiful place to camp! Not another human being for miles! I was surrounded by cedar, juniper and a variety of cacti and desert flowers (just past their peak). I made myself a small fire with dead cedar branches I gathered from around my campsite, relaxed and spent a couple of hours enjoying the beautiful silence of this remote place. Let me tell you, one of the greatest smells on earth has to be a campfire made of cedar logs!

It was an interesting feeling camping totally alone like this. For the past 7 years Kodi has been my camping buddy on almost all of my trips. The only time I have camped without him, I was in a campsite with other people. Being totally alone in the middle of nowhere was unique. At first it was a little uncomfortable, but then I started to relax into the feeling of aloneness, noticed the beautiful silence and enjoyed myself.

Monday morning I headed out of Cedar Mesa bound for Sedona. Yet another wonderful drive. I started off going down the Moki dugway. This is about a 1 mile section of gravel switchbacks that drops from the top of Cedar Mesa, about 2000 vertical feet down into Valley of the Gods! Fun times. Once I hit Arizona, I was in the Navajo Nation and going through Monument Valley, then Flagstaff with it's beautiful Ponderosa Pine forests. Driving south on I-17 you drop down from evergreen forests to the desert south of Sedona.

I camped for 2 nights at Beaver Creek campground in the Coconino National Forest. This campsite wasn't really that great. There was a little swimming hole, which you needed because this area is HOT. A little too hot for me. Tonight I am going to try camping up above Sedona off of Schnebly Hill road. The road goes up pretty high, into Ponderosa pine forest, so it's nice and cool. No campgrounds, just primitive car camping. Perfect!

That's the west for you though. Desert, evergreen forest, whatever pleases you, all within a small area. Beautiful.

The Grand Canyon and a Slight Detour

I've been told the native Havasupi in the Four Corners region called the Grand Canyon the "navel of Mother Earth". I can see why they would give this place such an awe inspired name. This is my second visit to the North

Rim of the Canyon and I am just as overwhelmed by its beauty as the first time.

Unfortunately my family seems a little less impressed. They definitely enjoy the Grand Canyon, but they also just seem in a hurry to head back. It's OK though, I've learned a lot about my relationship with my family on this trip. I love them, but we a very different. We simply don't enjoy doing the same things, which make visits a little strained. But if everyone had the same interests the world would be a boring place indeed. So I'm very happy for them and their new house in Nevada, and it's time for me to continue my travels.

Nevada didn't suit Kodi at all. It was just too hot for a big dog. He kept looking at me like "why did you bring me here"? Even with regular walks in the heat and chasing lizards, he wasn't a happy guy. My original plan was to head to Sedona from Mesquite and have my parents watch him for a couple of weeks. It was really nice of them to offer to do this for me. It's just too hot this time of year in Sedona to camp with a dog. But ultimately I decided he would be happier in Boulder. So yesterday I loaded up all my gear and spent 12 hours driving him back to Colorado. That means I have a 2 day trip starting Sunday to get down to Sedona, but Kodi is so happy to be in Colorado it's worth it.

I have to send out a huge THANK YOU to John and Uncle Mike for taking care of my best buddy while I'm off getting my Reiki Master in Sedona. They are my heroes! They say it takes a village to raise a child. Apparently it takes a village to raise a Kodi also. Thank goodness for the village!

It's nice for me also to be in a cooler climate for a couple of days. Tomorrow John and I are going to do a fun hike up to Red/Buffalo pass in Summit county. This will be just the first part of a long hike we want to do later in the summer from Silverthorne to Vail. It will be nice to be up high in the mountains. Of all the wonderful places I am fortunate enough to travel to, nothing beats the high country of Colorado for me.

Beautiful places. My life is filled with beautiful places. I am very grateful.

Next, Sedona, an amazingly beautiful and special place. The energy of Sedona is unique and it has been held as a sacred place since humans first came there. Just as the Havasupi held the Grand Canyon to be sacred.

I think the energy of these ancient, sacred places is just as important to mankind today as it was to ancient peoples. Possibly even more so. With our lives of smart phones and Wii games, sometimes we lose connection to the rhythm of Mother Nature. Spending time in the sacred beauty of nature restores this connection.

That is what I am hoping for this summer. To get back in touch with the rhythm of nature, and ultimately the rhythm of my life.

Kodi's Change of Season

Kodi playing in the snow on Friday...

and roasting in the desert on Monday!

Welcome to the Desert

Sweat. There may not be much water in the desert, but there is definitely a lot of sweat.

Thanks to Jeremy (aka Opie) at Go Honda my car is up and running again! Thanks Jeremy!!!

Saturday was a long day of driving from Boulder, CO to Mesquite, NV.. Lots of beautiful country. From the high mountains in Colorado to the red desert of Utah. Sun, tunes, books on CD (thanks to John) and lots of miles.

There is something liberating and somewhat distinctly American about road trips. I've lived in Europe, and although I loved the experience, the place just isn't that big. There just aren't that many places on earth where you can get in your car and drive for days without having to use your passport or learn a foreign language. It's what brought me back from Europe, the longing for more space.

There is lots of space in Nevada from what I have seen so far. Lots of pretty barren landscape dotted by oasis's of civilization. The desert is beautiful, no doubt about it. The colors, especially in the morning and evenings, can be incredible. The stark nature of rock and cactus has an austere beauty also.

But the main characteristic of the desert on the solstice is the heat. It's incredible and relentless. I know that the 105 degrees it got up to here yesterday isn't as high as the mercury goes, but for a mountain girl it was quite a shock. I look around at all the new development in Mesquite and realize none of it would be happening if air conditioning hadn't been invented! Laying by the pool yesterday afternoon was wonderful, but eventually you have to seek respite from the sun and heat indoors.

Kodi keeps looking at me like I've lost my mind. Friday we were playing in the snow up by Diamond Lake in the Indian Peaks wilderness area above Nederland, CO., and now we're in the desert. He's definitely questioning my sanity. I'm thinking he would have been happier staying in Boulder, but I would have missed his company. I take him out here in the mornings before the heat sets in and again after the sun sets, but it's still too hot for his taste. He has also noticed a distinct lack of squirrels here. Squirrels and frisbees are like religion to Kodi. Although he finds the lizards that occasionally scurry across the sidewalk entertaining, they are not squirrels. Anyway, who has the energy to chase anything when you're in the desert wearing a fur coat? Hopefully he'll forgive me later this summer when we are back in Colorado camping and then up in Canada. I keep telling him about all the squirrels in Canada!

Tomorrow the whole family is piling in the car and heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I'm the only one in our clan who has been to the North Rim before and I can't wait to see it again. With beautiful views, cooler temps and fewer people, the North Rim is my favorite.

For today though, I see a swimming pool in my immediate future. I did do a bike ride this morning. Even by 9am the temperature was climbing and I was melting. Sweat was pouring off me like a waterfall.

So there is water in the desert. It's just called sweat.

Getting Started

Tom Petty wrote a song that said "waiting is the hardest part". I'm trying to leave on the first leg of my summer travels on Saturday, but right now I'm in a bit of a holding pattern.

Luckily my friend John is letting me stay at his place in Boulder. Boulder is fun and the weather has been beautiful. It's the kind to place you can ride your bike to just about anywhere, which is especially good right now since I've had to put my car in the shop. Murphy's Law right? Getting ready to take a summer-long road trip and my car decides it needs some attention. I'm just grateful it happened now, and not in the middle of nowhere on the road. Hopefully it will be all fixed up by Friday and I can leave on Saturday as planned.

The first leg of my journey will take me to Mesquite, Nevada to visit my parents. They just moved to Mesquite this month, and the timing is perfect since Sunday is Father's day. I can't remember the last time I was able to visit my dad on Father's day. My brother is also in Nevada, so it will be nice to have the whole family together. I have to admit, I'm a little afraid of the heat. I checked the forecast yesterday and it's looking like 100 degrees and lots of sun while I'm there. For a mountain girl like me, that sounds like visiting the surface of the sun! Sounds like a great time to lay by the pool and work on my tan.

I'm not particularly good at just sitting around. That's one of the reasons I decided to take the summer off. I want to learn to be a little quieter, a little more still. I normally fill my time with projects and to do lists. I want to get to know who I am when I'm not taking care of everyone and everything else. I'm curious to find out what happens when I take all the giving energy that I put out into the universe and focus it back on myself. I know it sounds a little selfish, but sometimes a little selfish is what we all need.

Waiting sometimes is the hardest part. Then again, maybe that's when the best stuff happens.

Taking the summer off to take care of myself.