LAZY DAY FOLLOWED BY A CAMPFIRE CIRCLE

GOT THE START OF A GOOD MORNING GOING HERE

Had only read a couple pages of my new book when I knew I was going to like it. The thoughts & feelings of author Lawrence Hogue were right in line with my own. When I read the line, "the place has a hold on me that is hard to describe" I knew this was going to be a good read.

I first saw mountains back in the very early 70's while driving west from Ontario Canada across the northern States heading for British Columbia. It wasn't until 1992 that I saw mountains again on a trip that took me through the Dakotas, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, & Montana. I think it was on that trip that the hook was in. Saw my first prickly pear cactus growing along the roadside near the Colorado/Utah State line. Followed the Colorado River into Moab. The Arches, Castle Valley, Zion & Bryce Canyons, Monument Valley in Arizona, the deserts, the canyons, & the list goes on. I was definitely hooked on the American Southwest.

OK, SO WHO'S GONNA TELL THE TALLEST TALE HERE TO-DAY

In 1994 Kelly & I flew to Las Vegas on a 4 day junket & as soon as we got off the plane & before we even had checked into our Hotel room, we rented a car & drove out into the desert for hours & hours. I still remember heading east out of the city & pulling over to the side of the road, getting out & scrambling up on top of a big pile of rocks. Little did I know that was to be the forerunner of many hikes & rock scrambles to come years later. Two days later we drove all the way over to California's Death Valley for the day taking in as many of the sights we could in the short period of time we had. It was 10 years before we got back to the Southwest again & since that time we have been coming as often as we can. Once the lure of the mountains & deserts gets in your blood, that's it......your hooked!! Like author Lawrence Hogue says, "the place has a hold on me that is hard to describe." THE CAMPFIRE CIRCLE

Ok, ok................. what the heck is an egg pocket!!!! It never dawned on me in last night's blog to describe what an egg pocket was & people have been letting me know that to-day. So, to-morrow morning before we head out for some new hikes in the Bow Willow area we will stop at Calicos, get ourselves another egg pocket & photograph it before we eat it:)) I'll post the picture in to-morrow night's blog complete with a yummy description. Thanks guys, great excuse to get another egg pocket I'd say:))

To-day was a total relaxation day. Spent most of it outside with my feet up reading my book. Kelly slipped into town this morning because it was half price day at The Frugal Coyote thrift store. The Frugal Kelly brought me home a superb "many pockets" photography vest that she paid $3.75 for. Now them's my kinda prices!!Many of the RV's that were here a week ago for the Christmas holidays have pulled up stakes & left. Only 5 of us now in this immediate area so Butch invited everyone over to his rig at 4 this afternoon for a campfire. We knew everyone except the couple parked closest to us. Like I said before, independent boondockers are a quiet bunch who keep to themselves & don't always do a lot of socializing. And so it was that we met Bob & Suzanna who are fulltimers from the State of Washington. Doug & JoAnn, Ken & Vicky made up the other 2 rigs. Nice campfire but once the sun dipped behind the mountains & the temperatures plummeted, everyone made a bee line for the warmth of their RV's.

Didn't take many pictures to-day & the ones I did I'll put in the blog, so no photo album to-night.............. HEY BUTCH, ARE YA GLAD YOU INVITED EVERYBODY OVER NOW

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