Found: This doodle from a cabin weekend, made while reading Karen Russell’s Vampires in the Lemon Grove.

“The Great Plains! The words alone create a sense of space and a feeling of destiny—a challenge.”

I should have bought this book when I was passing through North Dakota. But surely, I thought to myself, surely you have enough books on geology that you’ll never truly read.

Hot damn.

There are internet forums dedicated to the act collecting National Park and National Monument stamps and I could become one of them, I really could.

I enjoy the slight color differences in ink choice from NP to NP, especially the brown of Theodore Roosevelt. Bold choice, T.R., bold choice.

Note: I visited Canyonlands on April 20, not May 20.

I began the long haul back to the Twin Cities today. I return with gifts:

A severe tan line from the southern Utah sun.
A gigantic bug bite from a mosquito who lives in Portland.
Hands so deeply tanned I don’t even recognize them.
Scars on my knees from scrapes from desert rocks.
Bruises on my legs from trees in the middle of the river.
A collage of solarplate prints from Green River High School students.
The smell of campfire in my clothing.
Two cans of Utah beer, warmed in the car, cooled in the stream, and repeated.
Sand, everywhere.
A copy of a collaborative ultimate camping list.
A blue beaded bracelet made by Ellen.
Maps from National Parks littering the floor of my car.
4,000+ miles and counting.
And friends, of course, and memories.

And knowing how full I can feel with relatively little.

I’m back at a computer after a week of Utah camping. Here is how you can get your hands on one of those chapbooks I made: All proceeds go to the Epicenter, which is obviously a place I support with all my heart.

(via Stories and Drawings from Green River by Kristina by Epicenter)

“I Don’t Even Have Keys to My House Here” chapbooks, completed!

More to fold when I get back to MN.