I was at the Bear River till about noon. I was going to go birding with Betsy Beneke, but she ended up having to attend a meeting that lasted all morning. Disappointing because she's such a cool person, but what can you do? So I headed out at noon after taking more photos.
I decided to drive to wherever I happened to be between 5:30 and 6 pm. And where did that happen to be? In Moab, Utah! I mean, just a couple of miles from Arches National Park! So that's where I plan to spend part of the morning before getting back on the road.
I have the world's slowest internet connection, so I'm not going to post photos till later. But you can see the trip so far (without captions yet) here:
http://www.lauraerickson.com/bird/Places/ND-MT-ID-UT-NM2007Gallery.html
Photon is such a joy on this trip! It's been cool enough for her to stay in the car when I've been busy with Betsy, and she's been great about that. She's nine years old now, and when she's not busy she's napping. But when I bring her on hikes or just to get out of the car and look at scenery she's happy in her Zen-like way. She understands "motel manners," too. At home she barks two or three times when she hears strangers, just so's I know they're there. Here she makes the TINIEST "woof!" just once, and had learned to ignore people coming and going in the halls entirely. On a long drive, it's lovely to be able to put my hand over and stroke her. I can listen to NPR or whatever music I feel like listening to and she never complains or acts like she'd prefer to listen to anything else. And when we get back to our room I pull out her dishes and give her fresh water and food, and she acts like it's the world's finest meal, and like I'm the world's greatest cook and kindest person. Yep. The perfect travel companion.