The second night on our trip we saw Dr. Jim Hardy, a fomer colleague of ours now at UTA, while he was walking his dog Lucky. He was as surprised to see us as we were to run into him. We met up with his family, wife Bonnie and children Doug and Allison, the next evening and visited at their campsite for a few hours.
Our hikes included Cat Tail Falls, Burro Mesa Pouroff and Grapevine Trails (the famous Balanced Rock). Our final hike of the trip consisted of the 15.5 mile South Rim Loop in the snow! We know it was 15.5 miles thanks to Dad's pedometer marking EVERY step we took. (My knees are still a little sore!) And we can't swear to it, but on the final leg of the hike, we are pretty sure we heard a mountain lion (or at least a cub) meowing in the grass. I didn't think I could move that fast after being on my feet all day and climbing, but Wade grabbed my hand and we found a little more gas in our engines!
As usual, we stayed at the Gage Hotel with a fabulous meal outdoors and again, as usual, I cried about having to leave my favorite place on earth. I took pictures of the Sotol Catus ceilings that I want in our future kitchen/dining area and the Mexican tile floor and walls that will be throughout our future house.
One final note - we met a woman from Maine and asked about Acadia National Park - a park right off the coast of Maine and one that Wade found on the way to Big Bend, so meeting her was serendipity as she lives right next to the park! Next May, we're planning a camping trip to the park (flying with our gear to Portland) and will take the ferry to Nova Scotia to camp there too!
