Arrow leaf in Winthrop Washington

Oh my goodness! Perhaps I'll rent a mountain bike and ride raged hills for a few hours tomorrow. I don't know how to mountain bike but I figured out how to fake it when I was in New Zealand in 2012.
I guess I didn't realize how amazing the Methow Valley is, in Spring.

Early camp at Early Winters

The North Cascades Highway is already open, easily a month earlier than normal. So that means complimentary camping as no rangers have yet been hired to open for the season. So I've set up my tent and marked my picnic table with a grocery bag I was given at Tesco's in Tongling, when I bought some dumplings. I wish dumplings here were as inexpensive as in China, but it's a matter of tradeoffs. Seattle is set for 3 days of sun and low 70 degree weather over a weekend, so I've driven to Winthrop to welcome the spring, and plan a bike ride up to Independence Pass for later this month.
With luck we're in for an extraordinary long and warm summer in Washington Stste for 2015.
I feel blessed.

A long way from Arizona

Seattle's spring has been gorgeous. These beautiful red bud trees remind me of the natives I saw blooming in the side canyons of the Colorado River in the mid-2000s. I'm not sure when I'll have the chance to return to those special places, but it's April and when I see these blossoms bursting directly from the dark leafless wood, they make me smile. I remember some wonderful hikes I did with a companion who is no longer part of my life. But these memories remain precious and are etched on my heart. Life is hard at times.