My emotional responses to the majestic, iconic beauty of southern Utah have been many. A dominant feeling is an embarrassment of the extravagance of being here in such comfort and so completely on my terms. We never traveled much for vacations. With a few notable exceptions, my mother was a single parent during most of my childhood. Memorable vacations were not in the budget.

I now understand something about my choices for this trip that I didn’t completely understand at the start. It is a road trip first and foremost. I’ve taken little time to reflect, ponder, meditate etc. Being on the move, one night at a time, moving on the next day, has been perfect.

Driving through Zion on day #23 of the trip (I didn’t make it into the park) I found myself crying in response to the spectacular physical beauty. Five days later I spent seven hours in Arches National Park and camped overnight at Canyonlands National Park.

I pulled over at an intriguing-looking Rock shop and was quickly overwhelmed by the fantastic variety of fossils, geodes, agates, etc. I knew I didn’t understand what I was looking at as I know so little about rocks. In a state of bewilderment, I made some purchases.

It’s an impossible task to choose from all the beautiful videos taken while I was driving (yes, you read that right.) Here’s one I keep coming back to.

The choice to bring my two girl-dog friends, in retrospect, was a solid one. Their company has kept me grounded. It’s been such a pleasure to photograph them in beautiful places. I’ve made special efforts to keep them comfortable by finding secluded safe off-leash places to romp after a long day of driving. And I’ve been able to cook their rice food approximately the same as what I make at home. I will say Nova is not a natural traveler. She refuses to take my cues about adapting her behavior to particular conditions. Cleo on the other hand is observant and helpful. I’ll be leaving Nova home with dad on future camping trips (yes, more trips coming).