Hot and cold

The summer was at it's end. It was October, Halloween nearly here and it was hot! Our RV was parked on the banks of the Virgin River and a rope dangled from a tree over the river. Being a rigid believer in rules, I had to swing out and jump in. You learn by doing. No one ever accused the early Mountain Men of over-cleanliness...now I knew why. This was Zion, not Glacier and my expectations were higher. From high and safely above my splashing, Grace took the pictures. Once again proving she was the smarter one. Happily her photos proved to be as good as ever.; out of focus. We swam only once more on that trip, the last evening in Phoenix. The water temp was 93 and it felt cool. 

We were riding through Monument Valley and were a mere smudge on stark, broken, but beautiful landscape. Paria is where the TV show, Gunsmoke was shot. Kitty, Marshall Dillon and Chester. The only things left were a few dilapidated false store fronts, lots of dust and tumbleweed. But, we could now say that we had been on the set!

We never met Jim Chee, Joe Leaphorn or Kit Carson, citizens, real or imagined of Navajo Nation. Hopefully Tony Hillerman's fictional creations will be kinder to the folks of Chinle than Carson was. Few could be worse.


Revisiting places already visited is not a new experience. Surprisingly all of my returns have exceeded expectation. Some more than others and one above all. Both of us loved the wild, and gorgeous coast of California, but this different and eerie beauty of the Southwest was mine alone. The only plan for my next return experience is to admire the beauty without a schedule or time frame.