I haven't posted much recently. That's because I've been on the move--like, really on the move.
I left the North Rim of the Grand Canyon late Wednesday morning. It is now Sunday night in Dallas. In that 4.5-day span, I've done, among other things, the following:
- marveled at the variety of petrified objects in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park;
- run barefoot and shirtless at sunset on an endless sea of gypsum crystals at New Mexico's White Sands National Monument;
- camped at 9,000 feet in New Mexico's Lincoln National Forest;
- watched bats flying around in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns National Park;
- taken in the spectacular views from Guadalupe Peak--the highest point in Texas--in Guadalupe Mountains National Park;
- seen Donald Judd's concrete works at the Chinati Foundation and Prada Marfa;
- made black bear, javelina, grey fox, and roadrunner sightings in Texas' Big Bend National Park;
- slept under a brilliant starry night sky (that turned into clouds and rain, to my surprise, at 3 a.m.) (also in Big Bend);
- ascended to the South Rim of the Chisos Mountains (also in Big Bend);
- hiked over the Rio Grande into Santa Elena Canyon (again in Big Bend);
- visited and dined with friends in Midland and Dallas;
- and drove over 1,950 miles (including 660 today alone) to do the above.
I don't know how I managed to do all of this in the last 4.5 days. But I did. Unsurprisingly, this has made for an exhausting week; I'm sleep-deprived and fatigued. Still, I have absolutely no regrets; I could not have asked for a better week.
I'm now making my way east back to Washington D.C., my new home. It's crazy to think that, a week from today, this trip will be over. I still have so many photos and stories to share from the past few days. Over the coming days, I expect to have some time to clear up the backlog of posts that has accumulated.
Tomorrow, I head to Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, where I plan to go for a short run before bathing in the hot springs and getting a massage. Let's call it a spa day.