Where in the world am I?

In response to the questions from my family and friends... I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants on my way home to Ohio, stopping where I want to stop and taking my time getting there... well, as long as I get there by the 7th or so. I've been out of my house since the 15th and though I'm always passing through places where I have a bed to sleep in, I'm still kind of living out of my car and I'm tired of that. So a week from now, I should finally be there!

Yesterday had an awesome time in Santa Fe and drove north to the Santuario de Chimayo where they have holy dirt in a hole in the floor and I was allowed to take a jar of it! I rubbed it on my leg where I ran into a cactus and it didn't heal it unfortunately.

Tucson

Stayed with my aunt Casey and uncle Punch in Tucson where I became a complete load. Slept, read, swam, watched the sunset, swam, sat in the hot tub, read, ran through the desert, took pictures of the horses and chickens and my uncle's artwork, slept some more... and a ridiculous amount of tv watching. I hadn't seen a tv for so long and thought I was so out of the loop and then I realized the news was as depressing and uninteresting as it used to be. Visited the Sonoran Desert Museum and watched the javalinas dig their noses in the dirt and went to a Peace March with Punch. One day I drove down to Tubac, near the border of Mexico, and border patrol stopped me on the way back to check out my sketchy car with all my stuff in the back covered by blankets. They asked me what was under the blanket and I said, "uh, my life," and they still wanted to search it. They found just what I told them they'd find... no people under there.

dream dog

My dream dog jumped in my car before I left Utah. It wanted to come home with me... a baby pitbull with pretty brown eyes.

Capital Reef National Park

I took my first big girl camping trip, all alone... (though the Italians in the site next to me decided they didn't like their patch of grass and camped with me). It wasn't as scary as I thought. Set up camp and then walked to the orchards to pick some apples for dinner. The next morning I got up and did the scenic drive and hiked a bit and came back for a breakfast of fresh-baked cherry pie and homemade bread from the museum!

You can eat as many apples as you'd like in this park service operated garden of eden. I picked a handful and ate them on the spot... the best apples I've ever tasted. And that's not just because I was surrounded by beautiful Utah rocks and dirt.

Fall Color in Zion

Drove up the KT road to see the Aspens and Maples. The Cottonwoods in the canyon hadn't changed yet.

Deertrap Mountain

One of my last days in Zion I decided to hike out to Deertrap to take in a new view of Zion. Incredible view. The rocks looked so different from up there, it took me awhile to recognize them. Got lost on my way to the trailhead and found myself accidently driving down a trail. I realized this when my little hatchback no longer fit through the trees and brush. Then I couldn't find a place to turn around so I did one of those 40-point turns. Glad I have a little car!