Visiting Edmund

I skipped the last couple sessions of the conference this morning because I was so anxious to leave Las Vegas behind. It was really giving me the creeps.
I had been looking forward to driving through the desert and had a perfect day for it. The character changed as I drove east, from the gravelly barren hills and plains around Vegas to the thick stands of Ponderosa pines outside of Flagstaff. I hung out at the Hoover Dam for a little while but didn't take the tour offered. Look at the new road that they're building to bypass the actual dam.
I realized as I was driving that I hadn't seen an animal or a bird since I left the Twin Cities. And the drive didn't change that much - I counted fewer than a dozen birds as I drove and though there were plenty of bighorn sheep and elk crossing signs, none crossed my path.
But what's more important than what I didn't see is what I did see when I drove into the Travelodge in Flagstaff - Edmund's smiling face. Seems like a long time since we've seen each other. I'm going to drive him home after his shift tonight and we're going up to the Canyon tomorrow. It will be a treat to spend the day with him.