Harvest is over, so we decided to hit the road.

First stop: Seven Feathers Casino to shake the claw of the Eagle. Forty bucks won’t get us far, but it was a fun way to start.

Then we headed to Mike’s favorite place:

To do his favorite thing:

After the big trees, the rest of the tip was all about rocks. Steaming, bubbling rocks:

Fenced in campground of rocks:

Endless “Loneliest Road” of rocks:

A Great Basin of rocks:

A Grand Canyon of rocks:

Some more road travel with nothing to see but rocks:

A river that runs through rocks:

A road that runs through rocks:

To a campground filled with amazing rocks:

And sandy roads bordered by rocks:

And a couple of crazy old people with rocks in their heads:

And amazing desert plants growing in the rocks:

Then on to a valley full of monumental rocks:

Where a man can sit on a horse on a high rock:

And then he can channel John Wayne and make his embarrassed wife pose for the camera:

In front of an amazing view in a great campground.

Then it’s on to Mexican Hat rocks:

Rock switchbacks out of a rock valley:

Into a park of rock bridges, Indian ruins, prickly hearts, and cactus blooms:

Through more rocky roads:

To Moab, where Mike rode his motorcycle where no man should and I took a day off to hang with Cola:

And then we entered a land of rocks and fun with Jeeps:

Where we nearly gave ourselves whiplash trying to see everything:

And I got the Jeep muddy so Mike could stop worrying about it because I’m that nice:

Before we climbed some wicked switchbacks:

So we could eat lunch here:

Then bounced down the road some more:

Until we could look back at our lunch stop from a different perspective:

And take a walk on the wild side:

Which made Cola very happy but scared the crap out of me because I was afraid she’d follow the bird shadows right off the edge:

And we were sure we heard a jet breaking the sound barrier, then saw the dust from a falling rock:

But I braved the edge anyway because I just had to get this shot:

And we survived it all with smiles on our faces:

Saw a bridge no one should walk on:

And then we gave the Jeep back and headed into the sunset in search of more rocks:

Which we found:

Along with a few new friends:

A beautiful night under the stars:

Some ancient graffiti:

And a very long road home:

With a lovely break to visit a favorite uncle in a very flat place:

And ended with a very welcome return to the land of trees:

It was fun, it was gorgeous, it was epic. And, as always, it’s good to be home.

Peace and love,

Chris