An easy way to begin a journey toward mindful living, is to get outdoors!  We’ve been great about getting outdoors for years, but when I let life happen to me, I don’t always use the time outdoors for a much needed mental reboot! Instead, with spotty cell service, I find myself refreshing web pages I don’t really need to read, or checking in with what my friends are doing back in the city. This mini- impromptu trip was different.  I didn’t even bring headphones!  I used the drive to and from Flaming Gorge to just think and meditate, and enjoy the landscape, and WOW! The landscape was amazing during the entire drive.

So, this really was a last minute decision to get away.  Last Monday, I called the Red Canyon Lodge to see if they had vacancy for Saturday night. We only wanted to stay one night.   And, despite it being a holiday weekend (4th of July), they had an available room!  It was the Ponderosa cabin, with a kitchenette, bedroom and family room area.

We arrived early (11am) even though check-in wasn’t till 3. But, I wanted to get an early start to the drive, and figured we could explore Flaming Gorge until check in time.  BUT- the very nice people at Red Canyon Lodge let us check in at 11!  We were thrilled!  We got to drop off our stuff, so it wasn’t in the back of our truck all day. And then we pulled our paddle board and kayak out to float on their peaceful, most serene water!

The lodge had a fire pit for each cabin.

And, our own private dock!

The East Greens lake was the perfect size, and I actually preferred it to driving down to Flaming Gorge, since we don’t have a boat to drop on the water anyway, this little private lake was perfect for us.

Erica took her turn on the Kayak.

We drove to the end of the road and found an overlook to see the end of the Flaming Gorge! WOW!!  The cliffs were terrifying, but there was a visitors center there where you can look over in safety! haha

Then, we took a horseback ride! This gave us some great views of the gorge from the Red Canyon Rim Trail. 

The biggest reason we decided to go on the Horseback ride is to see if TJ could handle it. When he was very young, he had an allergic reaction to a horse that was pretty severe.  He did get older, but I also took him for 3 years worth of allergy shots.  And on this ride, he didn’t even get a rash or a runny nose! Nothing! hooray for allergy shots.

And with every trip we go on, I always love to wake up super early and see the sunrise all by myself.  I was up around 5:45am.  I grabbed my hiking shoes and walked on the Red Canyon Rim Trail to an overlook of the Flaming Gorge. At about 6:15am, I was able to snap this picture with my phone of the sunrise!  No filter!   Hiking in a new place always brings my thoughts to my purpose here and my goals for the future! I LOVE BEING OUTSIDE! 

This is the sunrise in front of our cabin.

So, if you get a chance to go to The Flaming Gorge, you won’t regret staying at the Red Canyon Lodge!