Valley of the Gods

After our big hike, we sat on the porch at Valley of the Gods for two days. I absolutely think everyone should go and stay there at least once while Gary and Claire are still willing to take visitors. Not only is it a gorgeously restored homestead in heartbreakingly beautiful country, but it's off the grid, and a wonderful demonstration of the power of renewables. We came home with a hundred ideas for how to push the envelope a little harder.

I was so lazy there that I didn't take a single picture! (What was I thinking?!) But the internet comes to the rescue, with photos, description and contact information:

http://www.zippitydodah.com/vog/

In one of those bizarre coincidences that always seem to be happening to us, our refrigerator is failing (bear with me...), and I've been shopping around for the most energy-efficient refrigerator that we can buy. Turns out SunFrost is the thing to get, but the capital cost is a little high, so I've been hemming and hawing. But Gary is a SunFrost distributor! So we bought one. It'll be shipped to us in a couple of weeks, hopefully before the compressor in our current fridge fails completely. (But WE are backpackers, and know how to live without a fridge for a while, if necessary!) How do these things happen to us? We don't know, but we like it!

I can also recommend a Navajo Taco for your first meal out after backpacking. I mean really, fried bread covered with meat and more fried bread? It's perfect for the stomach wearied by too much freeze-dried veg and minute rice...