Where've I been? Camping!

That's right, the BSU and our elderly dog, Sandy hit the road for the mountains this weekend for some cooler temperatures and some real peace and quiet. It is July in Utah, so hot temperatures are to be expected and this year has really been a cooker. Local temps have been reaching into 3 digit levels for most of the past 2 weeks and the thermometer in my truck has read 107 and 109 degrees in the afternoons on my way home from work last week. So a trip to cool off was definitely in order!

So, we went to the mountains. To Shady Dell Campground on the Mirror Lake Scenic Highway. We liked Shady Dell when we stayed there a year ago and we were pleased to find another site waiting for us when we arrived Friday afternoon.

We sat. We watched the antics of one very acrobatic Anna's hummingbird who introduced himself with a number of up close and personal inspections while we sat under the awning. A Western Tanager laid claim to the trees and ground near our site and so we got a wonderful view of it as it went about its business.

I read a book! This shouldn't be news as I used to be a huge recreational reader but after 3 years of school, I've kind of lost the habit. Camping is a great excuse to sit down and read, just for the fun of it and that's what I did. I read Knights of the Black and White. Its a story of the knights and Crusades and the occupation of Jeruselem by the Europeans. Its about the secret society of knights that go to Jeruselem searching for their ancient order's long-lost treasures and documents. It is a ripping good story and I read all 749 pages this weekend, enjoying every page. This book really digs into a set of interesting and believeable characters, a part of ancient history I don't know much about and a storyline that has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reading interesting and entertaining. I liked this book a bundle and I'm going to be watching for the next episode in the trilogy Standard of Honor when it comes out later this year.

Saturday we took the drive all the way up the scenic highway and I can tell you, this is a beautiful drive. This road is the only way through this part of the Uinta mountains and there are numerous campgrounds, fishing lakes and pullouts where you can stop and take in some really remarkable scenery. The high point is at Bald Mountain and the pass is 10,739 feet above sea level. Yes, we saw some snow! We drove up to the Bear River store, bought ice and ice cream for a break then turned around and drove back, sharing the road with multitudes of other RVs, motorcycles ans sightseerers. Its a beautiful drive and I recommend it if you want to see the beauty that is Utah.

We slept in this morning then had a great camp breakfast and afterwards we broke camp, cleaned up and headed home. It was 79 degrees when we left camp and 2 hours later at home it was 95 degrees. Except that there's no showers, I certainly could have stayed longer!

Anyway, a couple pictures from this morning.






We need to more of this!