June 23, 2006 @ 9:48 am | Filed under: Uncategorized

Four whole days with no cell phone service (to speak of), no media (with the exception of one magazine I picked up on the way into the Canyon), and no email or internet.

Count ‘em. FOUR!

But the trade-off was a good one. I have lots of stories and lots of sweet memories. City girl met the big bad outdoors head-on and, not only lived to tell about it, but actually walked away feeling good about it all.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t thrilled to get to a hotel last night though! I think my guys must be rewarding me for good sportsmanship or something because we’re in a great hotel with lots of hot running water, the kind of bed I like, and high-speed internet access – a whole day earlier than planned!

Mike snapped this photo of me last night as I went into the bathroom.When I finally emerged I had managed to wash all the sand from the four-mile Canyon hike out of my hair, and had more than made up for four days without what I consider to be basic necessities. Things like thick towels, hot water, and mirrors.

I did find a lot of inspiration during these last few days though – from my family, my surroundings, and the solitude. It really does do a soul good to get away from it all for a while from time to time. I’ll share much more from this trip and what I carried away from it after we return home in a couple of days.