I write this from a lounge chair in Utah, facing a stunning pool, surrounded by majestic mountains. Sometimes my day job has nifty perks.

These perks are a rarity so I am getting the most out of this adventure. My first commitment isn’t until 8:00 p.m. tonight so I took an early flight to enjoy a full day. After a 3:45 a.m. wake up and an unusually smooth hop through the airport,  I boarded a long flight. And what a great flight! 

I finished Arran Bhansal’s beautiful novel, Infertility, Infidelity and Insanity. His very smart, brutally honest portrayal of a terribly challenging time in his life is shared in luscious prose. I couldn’t put it down and I applaud Arran for his bravery and his clarity of thought. Visit his page to learn more.  I’m not a reviewer, but I can tell you if I were, Arran gets very high marks.  I don’t trust hyperlinks on my phone so… http://arranbhansal.com.

I made good progress on Book 2. The characters are developing voices and starting to speak to me.  The joy that brings me is impossible to describe. I was a little worried it was a one and done thing, but it seems to be ongoing. My god I love writing. Don’t you?

So I finally arrived in Salt Lake City. I have never traveled this area of the country as there are no beaches. I decided to be a big girl and rent a car and explore. Lord only knows when I’ll have this opportunity again. I picked up the little SUV and got some excellent advice from the rental agent for how to spend my day. I followed her instructions to a tee and they were great instructions.
Without getting boring with details,  suffice to say I did the following:

Navigated all the hell over the place all by myself, on unfamiliar highways, blaring Mumford and Sons with all four windows open, staring at unfuckingbelievably gorgeous snow capped mountains with tears in my eyes.

I hiked a very steep trail. Alone. I could have fallen to my death in any number is places and no one would have ever heard me scream.  And I should mention I was neither raped nor murdered. Authors note: we don’t do much trail hiking alone on a weekday around DC.

Lastly I explored Park City and had a marvelous lunch overlooking a city that looks more like a movie set. A hostess was very shitty to me and I did NOT tell her to fuck off. Yay me.

All in all it has been a great day. I had to share. The moral of my story… Get the fuck out of your comfort zone. It’s a hell of a lot of fun out here.