RN, baby!

WOOOOOHOOO I got my NCLEX results today and I passed!  I'm a nurse!  I remember the moment 3 1/2 years ago when I was digging in my garden one late April day in Montana and thought "I want to be a nurse".  And since that day everything in my life has been geared towards making that goal a reality.  Today I got there.  How do you even describe what it feels like to reach a major life goal?  I don't think you really can.  I'm not even going to try.  Just know that today I feel a tremendous sense of achievement.

Ok, now for the road trip portion of the evening.  This episode is titled "Why Utah is awesome".  Here's why:

Do I really have to say more?

After a full day of riding (yay Porcupine!) and a quick dinner, I left Moab around 4pm on Friday, heading for Hurricane, UT.  Hurricane is clear on the other side of the state, by St. George.  It's home to some pretty excellent biking, as well as Zion National Park (see above).  I enjoyed my drive for as long as the light held, stopping at a rest area just as the sun set to catch a picture of the moon rising over the desert.  Then it became a little less fun.  With the help of a little caffeine and some loud music I managed to push through till a little after midnight, when I finally found a camping spot about 15 minutes outside of Zion.  I don't really like getting to my camping spot after dark, but it was well populated and the truck makes me feel safer.  And the upside to getting there after dark is that you get to experience that awesome surprise in the morning of seeing where you are.  This is where I was:

Lovely, isn't it?  

In the morning I took a quick trip over to the entrance to Zion, then went apple picking, then went down into town to Over the Edge Sports to get beta about trails.  My advice?  Don't go in there with your ride already picked out.  Go in there and tell them what kind of riding you like and let them tell you what to ride.  I did it the wrong way.  Thor and I rode Jem trail, which was a mediocre jaunt through a more or less flat, non-technical section of desert.  Granted, I tend to favor seriously technical rides and bomber downhills, so this was pretty much the exact opposite of my style.  Some people might love it.  Not this gal.  On a previous trip I had ridden Gooseberry Mesa, which I would definitely recommend.  But if you like techy rides, just skip Jem.

After Jem, Thor and I were hot and very dirty (having now done 2 rides in the desert with no shower).  Thor didn't care.  I kinda cared.  So we hopped in the lovely Virgin River and took a bath.  I know, looks like it would make you dirtier, right?  Whatever, at least it was refreshing.

After the so-called bath, it was time to drive again.  LA, here I come!