From the desert to the mountains

K has a swollen and sore leg today, together with some lung symptoms, which is part of what I saw coming on yesterday. She probably micro-fractured her leg in the spot where the bone tumor was. My understanding is that there's a chance that a micro-fracture will heal, and there's a chance that the lung symptoms are just a very early sign that will wane. In any case, we're managing her pain, and she seems pretty happy today - happier than yesterday.

I must admit that, in contrast to K, I'm sad today. I feel pretty sure that the days of romping are over. But, perhaps I'm wrong. K has surprised me with her incredible resilience in the past.

To escape my inner turmoil, I was just remembering where we were two weeks ago. We started out in the red rock desert near Moab. K glowed in the sunlight on our first evening there.

She gave me a funny look along with a play bow.

The next morning, I rode my bike up high to an incredible viewpoint that was several thousand feet above our campsite. It was nice and cool at this spot because of the high elevation. This is a spot that K used to visit with me on mountain bike rides but it was too far for her to run this time. I missed her company as I gazed over the valley.

And, I could see across the valley that the snowy mountains sat beckoning us.

As I descended to camp, I noticed cacti blooming.

They were gorgeous. But, the weather in camp was not wonderful. Our thermometer read 97 degrees! Usually, the desert is still relatively cool in May. Not this year.

So, we fled to the mountains that I'd seen on my ride. Soon, we were camped in the middle of a grove of towering aspen trees at about 9000' elevation. This was the view from the LabMobile.

K played in the midst of the grove, happy to be back in her element - the high mountains. Those are some huge aspen trees.

Her eyes glittered in the sunshine. Her eyes always melt me.

And, she found snow banks to play in. What a contrast from that morning when we'd endured 97 degrees on the desert floor!

We ended up staying in the La Sal mountains for a few days until a cold front came through Utah. Then, we returned to the desert. We repeated this switch, desert-mountain-desert, several times during the trip. The west is amazing with the range of deserts, prairies, and mountains all within short distances of each other. As a girl growing up in the eastern part of the US, I never dreamed that our country included such extremes and such vast wide open spaces.

Now, K and I are going for a short wander over to the meadow behind our house. I bet that she'll find a way to make me smile!