We took a spontaneous camping trip this weekend.We didn’t want to spend too long away from home with lots of new seedlings in the garden and hot weather predicted (drip irrigation isn’t running yet), so we decided to camp nearby up in the national monument.

It was really nice to unplug for a few days and enjoy all the unexpected beauty that nature has to share.

We knew there would be many spring blooms this time of year, but hadn’t ever seen a cactus flower this color.

We were able to do several hikes that we hadn’t done before including one that ended with a view of this natural bridge.

The most unexpected thing from this trip was unfortunately one I wasn’t able to photograph. After dark, a wild turkey circled our camp, calling out all the way. “Gobble, gobble, gobble. Gobble, gobble, gobble.” It was delightful. Brad thought maybe we should try to get some to hang around the house. I think not.