Home semi-sweet home.

So we made it home to Utah. The picture is a bridge over Glen Canyon/Lake Powell on the way home.

We drove from Santa Rosa, New Mexico day-before-yesterday in one 12-hour road binge. As we drove toward Lake Powell on Highway 95 over Cedar Mesa, a turkey came out right in front of us. Of course, we were the ONLY car on this road. And of course, this crazy turkey had to step out right in front of us. We slowed down, and as we did the big bird came to a stop almost in the middle of the road. A loose feather was hanging out of its tail, and as the turkey decided to run across the rest of the road after a split-second of negotiating whatever it thought we were, the feather floated free and came to land on the yellow lines. We were now past the bird-car intersection when I decided I needed the turkey feather and we stopped. I ran back to fetch the plume, but the turkey itself was long gone, having finally run into the brushy pinon and juniper woodlands. The feather was still warm when I picked it up. It was a nice "welcome home" gift, I think. It sits to my left as I write this. The day before that, driving home through Texas, we decided to cruise around Hill Country before heading west. We were on a backcountry road when we spied an armadillo (I've never seen one alive before--only squashed by the road). I needed a photo so we stopped. I opened the car door and the thing proceeded to walk up to me. I took the picture--then I told it to run along, and it did. It was very cute.

I just have to say that America is BEAUTIFUL...the drive across a third of the country really allows for the time to see the small places, the nowhere places, and the big places in the middle of nowhere that contrast the beauty of red rocks, old buildings, historic locations, the zen of the plains, I don't know what else...America is BEAUTIFUL. I just want to jump up and down and laugh thinking about how lucky we all are to live here. I wish everyone could see what I've seen, and know how great freedom really can be when you have the time to indulge it.

Our last morning on the road I ate a McGriddle for the first time in my life, and it was so good I started laughing. Really. I suppose I should explain that dining out where I live doesn't really exist like it does for the rest of America. We have no fast food in my town, and about four to six restaurants that are maybe open most of summer, and not at all in winter. It just reinforces my opinion that Utah is a culinary black hole, (WHICH IT IS--trust me on this) with the exception of Cafe Diablo in Torrey, which is over the mountain from us, and only open in summer. I can't wait to move somewhere where there is food passion--for flavors, for tradition, for the pleasure of cooking and dining. Of course, Taco Bell and McDonald's can be great too, in moderation.

That would be nice...Taco Bell every now and then.