You've been here before.

We actually did not plan this. Nor did we plan to match the second day, when we both wore grey tshirts and the same cutoffs again.

Emily met us at the Bear Something or Other in Sandy for breakfast just before our trek away from the Great Salt Lake. We made definite plans to be those old ladies who go on cruises together and leave their families behind for a week. I wanted to give you a visual so I googled "fat old ladies at the beach." Just don't. Or do, but be warned: you can't unsee that.

Naomi and I drove to Mesquite that night to stay with Christasha. It thrilled me to no end to know that I would be seeing those two while I was traveling. They were staying in a suburb of a tiny desert town and it was so fun to imagine growing up in a place where your back yard is scorpions and beige. Being surrounded by trees in the east for a few months makes the empty space of the desert that much more humbling. Christopher and Morgan took Naomi and me on a 4-wheeler ride through juniper bushes and over rocks and sand as the day was cooling off and the sun was setting. I'd forgotten what it was like to see that much sky at once. It looks like being on another planet. Back in the casa, Tasha had key lime pie waiting for us then Morgan and I went outside to look at bats. I am, in general, pretty ambivalent about kids, but when that 2 year old in a cowboy hat and rain boots sat next to me on the porch and talked about horses and racoons and his grampa Bill while I looked at stars, my Grinch heart grew 3 sizes that day.

Naomi, I, and our constant companion Diet Coke (along with gas station bathroom) slowly made our way toward LA the next day. We toured her new campus - sunny with palm trees and a small shopping/cafe district along with a 7-11 in the building next to her office. Seeing her new home made my heart ache for permanence and sunshine. She's endured a lot to get where she is and I can't describe how excited I am for her to begin this leg of her adventure.

I was going to post some pictures of mountains but my phone isn't cooperating.
End transmission.