Monday Mischief in the Desert

On the day that I started my break, snow sprinkled out of the air during our evening walk.

Overnight, it turned into an intense snow storm.

By morning, more than a foot of heavy snow had fallen.

It was beautiful...

... but we needed a break from winter. By that evening, we were on the other side of the Continental Divide, in the desert. The same weather system that had dropped all that snow at home made it colder than normal in the desert. However, it warmed up rapidly after we arrived.

It was Shyla's second trip to the desert but she still seemed a little stunned by the sudden change.

However, she quickly adapted, and as our "Monday Mischief", I present our desert dust dog.

Fortunately, Labrador fur is short and "self cleaning". She looked sleek and shiny again after a short walk - no emergency trip to the groomer was needed.

In the evening, the almost full moon rose behind our campsite, illuminating the cliffs and mesas surrounding us. Clouds, shining in the moonlight, drifted in front of the stars.

This beauty, warmth, and new environment was exactly what we needed. I slept a lot and very deeply. My wrists didn't go near a keyboard - which helped them a bit. And, we enjoyed the wondrous beauty of our amazing world.