The other day we went north from St. George through deep red-orange cliffs, hills, and mounds, with snow-dusted mountains that looked like someone had held a giant sifter of confectioners’ sugar over them and sifted lightly in the background. We turned west in the small town of Veyo, and found ourselves winding down into a tree-covered valley next to the Santa Clara River.

The small town of Gunlock is in that valley–old houses along a main street that used to be a cow path. Some houses were basic, a few had a long porch and gazebo. One new monstrosity was being built. It had the requisite LDS church and post office, but not a lot more. Still, it felt peaceful, like the chaos of the world was passing us by.

A trip over the Red Mountains took us by tons of Joshua trees. It almost looked like a forest. Most were green, healthy, and looked like they were putting forth new growth. This led us to the town of Littlefield, AZ … although there’s not really a lot of there there. A quick grab from a good burger place (Yardley’s) eaten in our car.

Finally, a drive through the Virgin River Gorge on I-15. Dramatic! Amazing that such a small river could carve so deep.