My "Southwestern Sojourn"

Today, Cassie is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, preparing to set off into the Pecos Wilderness for a week of backpacking. Persistent back problems, work commitments and lack of vacation time prevented me from going with her, but her trip reminds me of my own explorations of the Southwest back in 2003.

Because of what was going on in my life at the time, my trip was more of an escape than a vacation, but that didn't stop me from trying to see as much as I could. I was also traveling solo, the occasional loneliness of which was balanced by an abundance of freedom to go where and when I wanted.

My friend Rick McKinney (with whom we spent last weekend in Maine) rode shotgun for the first leg of the trip, when we overnighted in Bisbee, Arizona, an artsy former mining town just south of Tombstone. From there, I went on alone, making successive stops in New Mexico at the Carlsbad Caverns, Roswell, Santa Fe, Bandalier National Monument, and the Very Large Array. I then headed back into Arizona, staying in Sedona before finishing the trip in luxury in Las Vegas.

If you'd like to virtually relive the trip, check out the journals and pictures from my "Southwestern Sojourn."