Let's catch up, shall we? I've missed you. You've probably missed me to, although you might not have known it until my name lit up on your feed.

So, how are you? I've been crazy, actually, but I'm good. I should tell you about this weekend.

We traveled to a lovely town that is in a desert. Oh wait, I live in the desert. Well, this town is more desert-y and happens to have red rock everywhere. I'm going to send you on a little challenge to see if you can figure out the places I went this weekend. If you happen to be one of those lucky people who already knows where I live, then it might be easier for you.

Ok. So your first clue is the red rock. There is red rock everywhere here--sandstone, specifically. Here's a picture.



Lovely isn't it? I knew someone once who didn't have any love for rock. He thought it was boring. I'm so glad our relationship didn't work out. I love rocks and cliffs and gradations of color. It's all quite breathtaking to me. To think that I could have been with someone who wouldn't take me to all these places.

Clue number 2. It's surrounded by National something-or-others. National parks, National recreation areas, and National Monuments abound. Here are some pictures of them. I spent Saturday in one of them and it was glorius--as usual. The place we went on Saturday is probably my husband's favorite place on earth.

Here's one place.



















Here's another one.



















Here's a third.














Here's a fourth.













That's not all of them. There are many many more than the pictures I have shown.

Clue number 3. It's close to this place.















I guess close is a relative term in here. It's two hours away from that place.

We stayed in this place for three nights. The hotel we stayed at was almost adequate. It was great in that we had a stove and a fridge and everything, so we could cook our own food, but it was dirty and if we left anything on the floor the ants came out. Bleh.

Saturday, as I said before, we went to one of those places above. One of the rocky ones. Not the one full of lights. We were met by my brother and his family, who live in that place full of lights. Let's see what clues I can give you as to which place we went to.

There was water.
There were no boats.
Or canoes.
And only shuttles are allowed in this park.

It was the same as it's always been to be there. It's a bit overwhelming to be there. Everything is so big. But I did go hiking up the canyon a bit--just a little, as the flash flood danger was high that day. It was fun, although my ankles haven't recovered from the rocks, and the washer is going to struggle with the sand that my jeans collected.

Wow, did you know that it's hard to write a post and try not to give too many clues.

Sunday was a relaxing day full of church and walks and parks.

Monday we went shopping for my children who were inadequately prepared to be on vacation. Thank heavens for Target! And then we headed home to my sisters for an afternoon of swimming and dinner.

All in all, a lovely trip.

So you have, I think, 6 places to guess, along with which place we visited on Saturday. I'll give you one more clue on the city we stayed at.

Clue number 4. It's named after a saint, which is ironic since it was founded by Mormons.

Ok, enough of that. Stay tuned for the answers.

All the reading I did this week was re-reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series to the end. I do love these books. Very fun.

So, I think we're all caught up.

Did I miss anything?

This is also a clue.