Increased security means everything gets searched. Your carry-on luggage will be opened and inspected for contraband. To speed things up, pack everything within your luggage in clear plastic bags or in see-through containers. Make sure radios or computers have fresh batteries installed in case screeners want to test them. And watch out when carrying baby powder or other powdered materials like vitamins or baby formula; some airlines are turning these away.

Always arrive early. As air travel returned to normal in days following terrorist attacks, delays of up to two hours were not uncommon. Things are running a bit smoother now, but always leave a little extra time, just in case. All it takes is one small problem to hold up entire line. So allow at least an hour for all flights, an hour and a half or even two hours is better.

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The next leg of trip began after returning Vanessa to school. We drove back to Las Vegas and, again, weather was in 60's. Our evenings were spent on Strip but we decided to spend a full day hiking and rock climbing in Valley of Fire state park. The park was located about 45 minutes from Las Vegas. This was so beautiful I think of it almost daily. I now understand why that area of United States is called “God’s Country”. We admired huge caverns and layered rock formations; boulders with colors of pink, gray, blue, and yellow. It looked like one big rainbow that stretched toward horizon. We went off beaten path of trails, made our way straight down mountain, and spent almost five hours rock climbing and crawling within caverns. Up and over boulders we went, squeezing between narrow passes in rock. The boulders and jagged rocks went on for miles – and so did we!

It was so amazing! We took video, pictures, and tried to store whatever we could in our memories. We had our gear on our backs so that our hands were free for climbing. Our supplies included water, food bars, jackets, cameras, and maps. (Well, maps were no good because we were off trail!). We hiked, climbed, and crawled for hours - over huge boulders, slippery, loose rocks, and through colorful layered crevasses. It seemed that more we climbed, closer we could get to horizon - so we kept going. Using stones we chalked arrows on rocks, so that we could find our way back up mountain. The stones were loose so we had to be extremely sure footed. Also, there was no one else around for miles – so getting injured was not an option.

I had never seen such beauty – nature in its rarest, most rugged form. I was enjoying every bit of adventure. It began to get late so we decided to turn around and make our way back up mountain to main trail. We followed chalked arrows but climbing back up was tough duty. The three of us felt victorious as we emerged over top of mountain. We were happily exhausted once we got back to our car - and only a little sore next day! A New Awareness

The flight back to Michigan was uneventful and we arrived to face 3 feet of snow. However, we had a new appreciation of its beauty. Actually, there was a deeper awareness of everything. What a euphoric feeling – to be able to slow down, look around, and soak in splendor of environment! For me, this adventure validated that nature puts me in touch with myself and with my surroundings. That’s a feeling I intend to cherish forever.

(c) 2002 Monique Rider