i took Leben and Erde for a long walk toward the dunes in what i can only describe as desert-like. Boy, did the two of them gi crazy. they found smells they had never encountered before and couldn't get enough of them, badgers, coyotes, kangaroo rats, jack rabbits. (sorry, no wolves. they're all gone in Idaho since Obama lifted the restrictions on hunting them.). beyond these animals, the area is occupied by eagles, owls, and with a few scorpions to boot.
got off late (11:00) and so had to move along to make up time. but the haste did not spoil the drive on an easy, fast highway. Not a boring minute on the drive. wide open plains bordered by hills in the distance, and then once we hit Utah, mountains, snow-covered. Wow is the word I deployed most today.
we made it to our planned destination at 6:30, the Rockport State Park in Utah, not too far from the Wyoming border. and what a wonderful little park this is. we are not only the only tenters once again, but the only campers, so we got our choice of sites. at last, we are in a site that has grass on which we pitched the tent. we went through the whole evening routine in less than 2 hours, and by that time, before we went in-tent, i had a chance to take in the enormous sky that is more star than sky. the last time i saw such a sky was in 2001 on the way back from Alaska with Leben and Erde in Ely, Nevada. since then, we have learned that we are not alone, so gazing at the sky tonight meant something quite different than it did 12 years ago.
Tomorrow, we had east toward Cheyenne or maybe Laramie, Wyoming. the only public parks there are all national forest parks, which are closed now thanks to our dysfunctional politicians. but what we are experiencing now is nothing compared to what is to come because of this dysfunction.
Photis
- Leben and Erde walking near the sand dunes. the tracks are Leben's
- what in God's name did they find that was so good?
- the drive into Utah
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