Some Time Away

Bryan said to me recently that he wanted to go somewhere for a week where I couldn't get good phone reception. He said that he wanted to see my eyes. So we figured out what week we could sneak away together. I made arrangements to have our 17-year-old Cairn terrier, Baby, to be boarded at the vet. Then Thursday, when I came home I found baby so weak she could hardly go outside. Then she just disappeared. She got disoriented and couldn't find her way back inside. When Bryan came home she had a seizure in his arms. It was clear to us that we needed to do the kind thing. So Friday, the day before we left, I took Baby to the vet to be euthanized. I thanked her for all she meant to my family. We got her for Matt when he was nine years old. For the last six years she has definitely been Bryan's dog. We already miss her snoring under the bed.

Today Bryan and I got up early and left for Death Valley. We met an English woman at a dinner party one time who said that whenever any of her friends or family come to visit her in Southern California they want to go to Death Valley. We decided to go see what the attraction was. When we got to Dante's View Bryan said, "That was sure a hell of a long way to come for that view."

The amazing thing about Death Valley is that it has the lowest, hottest and driest points in North America. The highest point in the continental United States is just 100 miles from the lowest point in North America. It got up to 105 degrees while we were there. We saw some amazing rock formations but the heat kept us moving.

We are staying in Lone Pine, CA. I picked it because I had read about the Alabama Hills just outside of Lone Pine. What an incredible place. We drove through the Alabama Hills, had dinner and then drove back through. I took a bunch of pictures but none can capture the beauty. (I lamented that truth to Bryan and he said, "That is why people go places themselves rather than just looking at pictures.") Can you see pumpkin rock?

I am trying to decide if I want to drive through the Alabama Hills again tomorrow morning.

But I really want to see Bristlecone Pines in the early morning light.