I Know what I did this summer 5

I'm afraid I've lost all sense chronology at this point... I'm skipping around a lot. This one is in September  and I still have photos from July and such, but this one was small, so why not.

B went to present at a software user group, and since they decided a week  before that he should be there both days instead of  just one, they couldn't get him a room, and put him up next door in a condo with  2 bedroom (both queen beds), plus a hide-a-bed couch,  3 full baths plus 2 vanities, full kitchen, living room, laundry,  and a balcony with a private hot tub.

So, even though I had a ton of work to do, Brett insisted I come. I worked in the hotel a lot, but in the evenings I got great food at the conference, and for the first time in years I got Brett into the hot tub with me.

I wasn't a fan of the hybrid native american/hunter's lodge/ aztec decour as a whole, but I loved this storage bench.

And there were two of these pig benches I adored. 

I still know what I did this summer, 3.5

In July, when we we hiked the slot canyons, we camped in Goblin Valley— Another place I'd been wanting to visit for a while. 

That was the hardest ground I have ever slept on. The dirt was so packed it was like  concrete, I swear it. 

B loves the idea of making jiffy pop  over fire... something about fond memories I suppose, but in the end, he didn't even like it that much.

I love that you can actually walk into the Goblin Valley. Then you can really see the scale. 

I like the one to the right of Brett

I know what I did this summer, pt 3

In June we hiked Anasazi cliff dwellings.

Psych!  Har Har Har Har Har. But really, the cliff dwellings are on my list. 

We didn't climb in a wardrobe, or get summoned through an ocean painting, but somehow, we ended up in Narnia, as evidenced by the tagging on the wall

okay, the truth: we fulfilled my several year dream of hiking a slot canyon

So, we hiked Little Wild Horse Canyon

8 mille hike, mostly level, with lots of fun winding

and some narrow passageways.

The beginning is deceitfully bland.

Even when it becomes a canyon, you start to feel a bit betrayed by  your expectations.

It picks up with some occasional scrambling

Then It gets really interesting for a while 

And it get's pretty

Sometimes it looks like you've hit a dead end, but you haven't... Where did Brett—Brett Go?

and more occasional scrambling

At one point, it narrowed to the width of a footprint 

And a a few points it widens out for a while.

Brett's favorite parats were the textured parts. 

The loop was 8 miles total, but we didn't take photo's of the second canyon... because the jeep access road that connects them was exhaustingly hot. Plus, the second canyon was faster, and less extreme in it's windyness, though still pretty