Wordless Wednesday

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Christmas Early, Part IV

Christmas decorations in the Moab hotel

We'd planned to visit Onion Creek on our final full day in Moab. Lizard was worried he wouldn't be able to handle two long drives back to back; we'd have to return home, probably an eight-plus-hour trip, the following day. Onion Creek was at least an hour away. At least an hour up the creek on possibly post-flooded or muddy dirt road, then another hour back. We instead took a short drive up Kane Creek, where he used to ride the most challenging trails, and he reminisched about our many camping trips and rides in that territory. We then went up the opposite side of the Colorado River on the Potash road to Jug Handle Arch.

2008 Onion Creek Christmas Card

Lizard was SO determined to start up his blog again with trip reports from this dream-come-true adventure. I'm still trying to encourage him that it's not too late; we can do it anytime he is able to settle down and think clearly. Hopefully that return blog post will appear soon! He even took his first photos in years at Jug Handle Arch! (Operating a computer, a camera or his phone have become pretty challenging for him.)

I was trying to get a backlit shot of the arch when a large bird's shadow went over my head. I turned just in time to see a bald eagle rest in the tree closest to me!!! I was in heaven for the next 20 or so minutes!!! I was still getting glorious Christmas presents!!!

I had planned to do a session at the new Grand Junction Temple on the way home the next day while Lizard visited with his mom. The mountain forecast forced us to abbreviate our visit with Lizard's mom and rush home. We encountered light flurries outside of Eagle and again while climbing Vail Pass and then Eisenhower Pass, but the roads were great, and we made it home safely. I miss our winter climbs and our cross-country ski trips, but I am so thankful Lizard was able to endure and enjoy this trip! I hope it will be the first of many!

2014 Wave Trip

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No Flake Monday

Sorry, sistas! I couldn't get my act together last weekend. Had family visiting, and it snowed! So I didn't get a new flake done, even though that was one of my main goals for the weekend. I did, however, finish editing a few of the nearly 600 snowflake photos I snapped before sunrise yesterday morning!!!

I'll be editing photos for another week or more, but I'm SO, SO, SO very thankful for snow!!!

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Friday Fabulous

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Glorious Sunrise

(affiliate links to my designs)

We've had some spectacular early morning and late afternoon color the last few weeks. Lizard typically is sleeping peacefully, so I step out into the backyard and shoot over the fence.

Yes, I'd rather be shooting at a body of water, getting a great reflection, or shooting silhouettes in my summer garden, or shooting the pink or lavender glow on a fresh blanket of snow!!!

Yet, it is such a big blessing when Lizard is able to sleep peacefully. We're hoping, in time, better sleep might relieve some of his symptoms.

Regardless, colorful skies are among the best Christmas presents in my life!

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Wordless Wednesday

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Christmas Early, Part III

Lizard was far too exhausted to do anything special in Moab when we arrived during the afternoon we had planned to be Day 1 that had become Day 2 because of the mountain snowstorm that actually left traces of white along the Utah desert, too. Nothing like snow on red rock! I didn't get any photos, however, because I thought we'd be able to get some the next morning. Desert snow just doesn't last long enough!!!

After getting settled in our room, we went to the grocery store for dinner. Lizard had a craving for beef stroganoff. We couldn't find any in the frozen section!!! He settled for Swedish meatballs, and I got a veggie Mexican bowl. We heated them in the microwave in our hotel room, and he fell asleep several times while finishing his dinner. We had planned to soak in the outdoor hot tub that has a grand view of the also still-open swimming pool with a mini Delicate Arch waterfall with a row of flames atop. Lizard was so tired!

Our first full Day in Moab called for a hike up the Delicate Arch viewpoint trail, the scene of our first date. We were so new to each other then, and selfies had not been discovered yet. Sadly, I have no photos of that memorable adventure. We pedaled up to the trailhead 21.5 years ago after meeting in person for the first time (We'd known each other via an online climbing group for about two years) in the Arches National Park headquarters parking lot. No bikes allowed on the trail (and we both knew that). Lizard removed his clip-in shoes and his socks, then carried both our bikes, to the astonishment of all the other hikers all the way up to the viewpoint. Our fellow arch enthusiasts couldn't praise him enough! I carried his shoes and our picnic lunches, which I had made.

2008 on Hurrah Pass

(My choice of cycling shoes back then weren't clip-in. I was terrified I'd fall over trying to unsuccessfully clip out in front of him, as I had done my first time wearing my clip-in shoes. More than a year earlier, when I participated in a Moab cycling event that no longer exists, I fell over in front of all the other cyclists at the start line. I remember hoping he wasn't there because I didn't want him to see klutzy me, although he probably would not have recognized me. Turns out he wasn't there. Nevertheless, I didn't want to make up for it by falling in front of him on our first official date!)

2007 Delicate Arch reflection

There are many reasons for selecting Moab as our Christmas gift to each other this year. Lizard said he'd rather go to Moab than any of the other destinations I'd checked into when we learned we needed to use up some hotel points. Moab offered better return for our points than any other location I'd looked up because it was such off season. We could celebrate our 20th anniversary, which we hadn't been able to do in timely fashion because Parkinson's threw so many wrenches at us during the summer. The main reason for our December trip, however, was my genuine Christmas wish to replace, with pleasant memories, some of the worrisome hallucinations Lizard was beginning to experience again. His hallucinations last year were so traumatic, well, that's why I'm retired now, and that's why our life has changed so radically. I'm truly worried his hallucinations will become horrific again, and I'm trying to help him maintain whatever quality of life I can muster for him.

2012 Moab tranquility

We didn't take our bikes, so there would be no ride to the trailhead this trip. Lizard hasn't been able to get his leg over the bike again (recurring issue every single time we are unable to ride for more than a week), and we hadn't walked very far in so long, I can't even remember the last time. The drive to the trailhead would be difficult on my exhausted and claustrophobic Lizard. Neither of us knew whether he'd be able to walk up the trail again, but we both were determined to try.

All the snow had melted by the time we left the hotel. (Lizard needed a nap after the hotel breakfast.) We had to wait in line to get into the Park, but this gave us time to absorb some of the changes since our last visit, which was pre-pandemic. The Park now operates on a timed-entry system during peak season. Signs along the entrance drive provide travelers with a time estimate to reach the entrance gate. Because the wait is anything but brief. Wow!!! Thank heavens our entrance took only about 20 minutes.

Only two other vehicles were parked at the trailhead. Hallelujah!!! We would have the trail to ourselves! There are no benches for Lizard to rest on the way up to the viewpoint, but Lizard made use of a couple of large boulders. We encountered one other hiker near the top, and a small group of hikers at the top. All were on their way back down. We had the entire viewpoint to ourselves! And... LIZARD MADE IT!!!

We reminisced about our first date and all the glorious trips we've made to Moab since then. I snapped a few photos. We wished each other a very merry Christmas and literally dropped to our knees to thank God for allowing us this trip and helping Lizard surmount incredible odds.

Hallucinations were encountered on the way down. Lizard thought little people were wiring a tunnel along the trail. And he insisted Yoda was watching us. He's a Star Trek fan who also enjoys Star Wars on a limited basis. He spent many years wiring before I met him. I think the "little people" he often hallucinates are memories of his wiring days. If you are standing in a dark water diversion tunnel, wiring lights with a team, the co-workers down the tunnel might appear smaller and smaller, the further away they are. I often tell him his hallucinations are like photos we call up on a computer. Just an image stored in our brain that Parkinson's can't distinguish between reality and memory. We joked how much better Munchkins hanging Christmas lights along the trail (my idea) were than most of the hallucinations he experienced last year.

We planned to eat pizza at our favorite Moab restaurant, discovered on our first date, upon return to town, but the restaurant was closed for its annual party. (The sign even read "Christmas" instead of "holiday"!) Lizard asked if I could make his favorite home meal... southwest salad. So off to the grocery store we headed again, and about two hours later, Lizard was once again entertaining Munchkins in his much-needed slumber.

As we were descending the trail earlier in the day, he told me he always has Moab in the back of his mind, but now it was in the forefront because of this trip. What better Christmas gift could we give each other!!!

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