Going West

“When your spirit cries for peace, come to a world of canyons deep in the old land, feel the exultation of high plateaus, the strength of moving waters, the simplicity of sand and grass, the silence of growth” - August Frugé This slot canyon took our breath away over and over again. What a beautiful world full of natural sculptures - so smooth & flowing. It felt like the rock was alive around us. We also wandered by so many unique animals. Within the rocks below, I found one of the biggest spiders I’ve seen (definitely made sure to give him a wide berth!), beetles & an unidentified giant flying insect. We wanted to stay & linger for hours in the canyon. It was pretty incredible. There is one spot in the canyon where there is an 8’ drop & involves a bit of climbing. While waiting our turn to climb up, a group of 4 was coming down. The last of that group lost his footing on the last bit & likely broke his ankle right in front of us! 😣 Unfortunately being a few miles ...

  “Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” -Theodore Roethke This trip westward has definitely not gone as planned/hoped. At times, it's been scary, painful and confusing.  Covid-19 still going strong resulting in mask wearing, so much sanitization and social distancing.  Police/federal government brutality sparked months of protests that made it unsafe to explore much of downtown Portland.  Wildfires raged across the west coast of the US - leading to hazardous air and little visibility in Portland & an evacuation mandate in Idaho  A breakup after 3 years  However, I remain deeply grateful for so many parts of it. I've gotten to see some incredible places - many unlike I've ever seen before. And I still very much enjoy spending time with George - he's a great person & awesome adventure/hiking buddy.   Yesterday, we drove to Utah’s second national park, Capitol Reef. The red rocks & arches here...

  https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/wildfire/badger-fire-idaho-evacuations/277-745d4afc-7db0-466e-81b2-7dc9df23f518 Friday morning we woke up to an emergency evacuation 🚨 order due to a close approaching wildfire 😳. So we packed up the car (luckily, we only have 1 carload of stuff!) & headed down to Utah. I’m feeling incredibly privileged to have the financial means to drive out of harms way so easily. To pay for a second temporary home that has low covid & fire risk. To have a job that lets me e-mail multiple times in the past month... “I need to take today off for this emergency circumstance”. Wow. Also, I’m so grateful for the firefighters working in such dangerous conditions. Air quality & the speed wildfires can travel is no joke. But we made it - all the way down to Arches National Park. Definitely loving the Southwest vibes on this beautiful & very hot day! 😍😍😍

The air quality is down to moderate/good depending on the day! So I can finally go explore Idaho a bit.  First stop: Shoshone Falls " Sometimes called the "Niagara of the West," Shoshone Falls is 212 feet high—45 feet higher than Niagara Falls—and flows over a rim nearly 1,000 feet wide."   Perrine Memorial Bridge View Point

 We got out of Portland just in time. The wildfires were raging across Oregon and California.  The air quality was so bad that Portland was rated #1 in the world for worst AQI. Last I checked, there were 38 active wildfires in Oregon. The closest to us was just south - about 60 miles away.  Here are a few screenshots of the weather app. The ranking goes "good - moderate - unhealthy - very unhealthy - hazardous." And we stayed hazardous for a few days.  The air was so smoky & visibility was so low - it felt like a scene out of an apocalyptic movie. It also put a real damper on our mental state. We couldn't go to anything inside with covid or outside with the wildfires.   But luckily our time in Portland was ending, so we packed up and drove to Twin Falls, Idaho. Definitely a tough drive - this is the "scenic gorge" we drove through. At each rest stop, we pulled out the air purifier to try and de-smoke the car a bit. But in the end, we made it! And Idaho ...

Capturing the spirit of Black Lives Matter in the Portland suburbs.