Out To The Desert

 

Some of the easternmost extinct volcanoes in the Cinder Hills.

Usually I say I'm going down to the desert, meaning I'm headed south off the Colorado Plateau, but if I say I'm going out to the desert it means that I'm heading east. Technically this is also going downhill but still atop the Colorado Plateau. If you go to the Verde Valley or the Valley of the Sun you are dropping thousands of feet vertical. Generally speaking I prefer the high country but in a long winter the moderate temps of the desert are attractive.

By late winter I'd rather be in the warmth looking up at snowy mountains than to be in the snow looking down at warmth.

I didn't really have much of a plan. I watched basketball in the morning, went for my first run of the year at Fort Tuthill County Park,  then decided to go out to the Twin Arrows Casino on the Navajo Nation for a late lunch. Strangely enough, I do not gamble, except for the lottery which can be bought at any convenience store. However Twin Arrows has good food and the high temps were in the 60s out there. I'm slowly working my way through their various food selections. If it were closer to town I'd go more often. I ambled around outside for a few minutes to enjoy and take a couple of photos.

I meant to sidetrack to explore some abandoned buildings and maybe one of the side canyons but it completely slipped my mind and I drove home instead.

Another weekend gone. It wasn't completely wasted.

ON DECK: designing database tables for work, getting estimates for a new roof for my stepmother's house in Indiana (owned by my sister and I). Trying to find time to resume work on my second novel.

OPERATIONS: disposing of bulk waste to try to get my house under control now that the new flooring is installed.

LISTENING: Ryan Adams sad songs. Started second listen of Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising on audiobook, about a hypothetical  war between NATO and the Soviet Union set in the 1980s. I read the print version years ago.

LAST WATCHED: Purdue Men's Basketball won their last game of the season. Prior to that I watched the Jeff Bridges movie Hell Or High Water which was amazing!

CONDITION: Feeling okay for a Monday. Not too sore after yesterday's run.

THINKING ABOUT: Still thinking about spring. Also perhaps planning a summer trip.

OUTSIDE: I will be on call this coming weekend so I will probably just go running and/or bicycling.

SHIPPING FORECAST: More snow possible this week. I'm getting impatient for warmer temperatures.