Shoulder-season, COVID-safe road trip to Utah. A much-needed retreat to the red suns and sands of the winter desert. Read Edward Abbey's "Desert Solitaire" alone on a windy, sun-drenched rock overlooking improbable arches, in the midst of thousands of miles of driving and 5 National Parks. When I came back a little over a year later, I saw one of the most memorable sunsets of my life minutes before popping a tire and limping the next 50 miles to Moab.