Well, we're on our way home now and finally have brought this blog up to date.
We are currently at the Corral RV Park in Dalhart, Texas, north of Amarillo. We'll make it back to our little house on the prairie tomorrow.
Today was mainly driving, but we did stop twice in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, to visit the Billy the Kid Museum and Billy the Kid's gravesite. There seems to be some dispute about whether this is the actual site. (Not counting the continual speculation about whether that was REALLY Billy that Pat Garrett shot!)
The Museum contains information about Billy and some of the other influential folk of the area and involved in his legend, but much of the collection is a lot of donated "old stuff" that doesn't really have anything to do with the whole legend of Billy the Kid.
It is nice that future generations can see these kinds of items (everything from old cars and ice boxes to pottery and toys), but we felt it shouldn't be billed as the Billy the Kid Museum and then have all the other stuff. It would be much better if it was in a historical society museum or something.
The grave is several miles from town behind the Old Fort Sumner Museum.
We arrived here in Dalhart, got our site, and went to supper at Hodie's, a barbeque café. We like the food. When we were leaving, Kathy noticed a young girl whose T-shirt said "Schlesener" on the back. Since this was one of her best friends' name at Northern Heights High, Allen, Kansas, she decided to mention it. When we walked up to the family we noticed that the front of her T-shirt said "Herington" on it! I asked if they were from Kansas and sure enough they were! What a small world it is.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008 -- To Believe or Not To Believe...
Kathy greeting a neighbor at the RV park.
Our main goal for the day was to tour the UFO Museum. There is plenty to keep visitors busy for a long time because many of the displays consist of affidavits by individuals connected to the 1947 Roswell "incident" or official government reports or other communications. It takes a while to read these, if you are so inclined (Kathy usually is).
Quite frankly, both Chris and Kathy thought they made a good case for the view that something was really found at Roswell in 1947 that the government covered up. Actually newspaper reports from the daily paper vary from the first days when the Air Force actually announced that a "flying saucer" was found, etc. and then the story changed to a "weather balloon" was found.
We really enjoy this poster that was part of the exhibits!
Movies and other videos are shown all day in a small theater in the museum. We didn't take the time, but earlier in the morning they had shown the movie done by Showtime called Roswell: The U.F.O. Cover-Up. Some of the staff of the Museum told us it was the closest to the "real story". We'll have to get it and see it sometime.
After we had toured the museum, we went into the Research Library at the Museum. We had fun talking to the two staff members, Andrea and Karen. They are both fairly new to the Museum and to library/archive work and we did a little "consulting" from force of habit. They told us that working there begins to make you a believer.
Kathy checked out the Sightings database and copied some of the data for the sightings reported within the borders of the Central Kansas Library System. The towns included Beloit, Concordia, Delphos, Ellis, and Great Bend. Our original goal was to see what they had about the 1971 incident in Delphos, Kansas. They had citations to several books and articles that Chris photocopied. We are planning to share this with Sharon at Delphos Public Library, in case she doesn't have all this "local history" information. Some of the articles are about the soil analyses that were done in at the site near Delphos. The articles were in the Journal of UFO Studies.
We talked to one of the librarians about the TV series Roswell, which was our inspiration for going to Roswell this year. If you haven't seen it, we recommend it. Although it sounds totally science fiction, it's really about people and their relationships. When we discovered it was about a bunch of teenagers in Roswell (some of whom are alien/human hybrids) we didn't think it would be that appealing. But it hooked us and we watched the entire series. We also recently watched the mini-series, Taken, which also includes a lot during the whole Roswell incident era.
Karen told us that the nearby store called Starchild looked like the front of the Crashdown Cafe as portrayed in he TV series. Sure enough, it has the same flying saucer coming out of the building. However, she said the series was not shot in Roswell at all. The museum portrayed in the show, however, looks very much like the actual Museum's exterior.
We ran down the street to the Area 51 where you can take pictures with aliens, etc. (with your own camera!) It was fun and was just $2.00 each! here's a couple of our favorite photos.
We ate at Red Lobster for supper and then decided to take in a show at the local theater. They had eight films to choose from, but by the time we got there we were limited to one unless we wanted to wait a couple of hours. We watched Mummy 3. It was entertaining enough in the "over-the-top" sort of way and kind of a knock-off of the Indiana Jones movies. We prefer the Indiana Jones movies.
Tomorrow we head home to Kansas and plan to be in Great Bend on Sunday.
Wednesday and Thursday, August 27-28, 2008 Camping at Manzano to Roswell
At the Manzano campground, about 200 feet behind our camping van stands a flag pole with the US and New Mexico flags hanging limply from the top. Early in the morning Chris saw three hummingbirds checking out the red strips.
On my northwest trip several years ago, I was walking along a trail in the early morning. I was wearing a bright red jacket to protect against the chilly air. A hummingbird stopped and hovered about a foot from my chest. I stopped. He/she looked at me with one eye, then turned and looked at me with the other eye. Finally, probably after a mere 2.5 seconds, seeing no place to poke his/her beak to get nectar, he/she zipped away. Next time I come West I am going to wear only red shirts to attract the hummingbirds.
I took a short hike. I through my boomerang is a small clearing near the flagpole. Eventually, it landed twenty feet up in a pine tree. Fortunately, landscaping around the flagpole provided numerous throwing stones. Unfortunately, I don't throw rocks as accurately as I used to. One rock would go too high. So I would overcompensate and the next rock would go too low. One branch blocked several throws that might have liberated my boomerang. Eventually, after about 20 throws, I succeeded and my boomerang dropped free. That discouraged my boomerang throwing for the rest of the day.
During this trip I have been mulling over the idea of throwing boomerangs off cliffs. The idea of throwing sticks off cliffs and not losing them because they return might seem fun to some people. I have even thought of a contest called boomerang horseshoes. The returning boomerang landing closest to the cliff's edge earns points.
After the boomerang incident, we spent rest of the day relaxing. We read. We napped. We read. We napped. Kathy worked on her blog posting.
Just before the sun went down we took a short nature trail hike. A sign at the head of the trail claimed the trail was closed because of fire damage. However, the campground host said the trail was now open for adults. A fire in December 2007 left a lot of burnt timber standing which might fall. When we walked the trail we saw very little standing burnt timber. We saw some burnt living trees. We were amazed at how many living trees remained.
We went to bed.
The next morning as we prepared the vehicle to drive to Roswell, we discovered the mechanism that turns the spool for unwinding the awning would not wind up the awning. After 30 minutes of struggle, we cut off the canvas and pushed the aluminum frame closed. Since the canvas was now missing, the aluminum frame would not stay closed on its own. We had to duct tape it closed. For those of you that think everything is idyllic on our vacation, here we have evidence that "stuff" happens.
After completing this operation we drove to Roswell stopping to check our email using an open Wifi connection at an RV camp in Mountainaire.
We arrived in Roswell at about 2 pm. We entered from the North, driving down Main Street past big box chain store after big box chain store. It reminded us of Ninth Street in Salina. And, in fact, Roswell is just slightly larger than Salina. We also passed New Mexico Military Institute. Later, in our reading, we learned that NMMI is the Alma mater of Will Rogers, Sam Donaldson and some other fairly well-known people. Finally we passed through downtown where the International UFO Museum and Research Center is surrounded by UFO souvenir shops.
After registering at a campground, we had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the staff at the Visitors Center. Then we went to the UFO museum. It was about 3 pm and, since the museum closes at 5 pm, we postponed our museum visit until the next day, and went to the gift shop instead. We also visited many of the other souvenir shops around the museum until they too closed at 5 pm.
Chris thought the souvenir shops shabby and uninspired. We were the only persons in many of the shops. Several shops were not completely full of merchandise. The messages on the t-shirts lacked the amusing cleverness Chris had hoped to see. Only the UFO Museum 's shop had books and videos about UFOs and even its selection was tiny and uninspired compared to the hundreds of books and videos, fiction and non-fiction, made about UFOs, not to mention related science fiction books and videos.
The most interesting shop we found (for Chris) was the “Not of This World (Heavenly) Cafe.” This cafe appears fairly well-maintained. It sells fancy coffees, Italian sodas, sandwiches, provides Internet, but it also has a circulating Christian library and promotes an anti-alien message. Chris first assumed they are attacking the “new age” ideas often associated with belief in UFOs, but he was wrong.
Their Web site AlienResistance.org explains that the "hosts of heaven" mentioned in the Bible are aliens. They are not demons in the traditional sense. Traditional demons have no bodies. These aliens have bodies, but " they seek to 'mingle with the seed of men' (Daniel 2:43 KJV) and to turn humanity away from the worship of the true God - often claiming to be our creators and/or spirit-guides." In addition to this coffee shop, this group also promotes its views at conferences. The shop sold CDs and DVDs of the speeches at a conference in Titusville, Florida.
On my northwest trip several years ago, I was walking along a trail in the early morning. I was wearing a bright red jacket to protect against the chilly air. A hummingbird stopped and hovered about a foot from my chest. I stopped. He/she looked at me with one eye, then turned and looked at me with the other eye. Finally, probably after a mere 2.5 seconds, seeing no place to poke his/her beak to get nectar, he/she zipped away. Next time I come West I am going to wear only red shirts to attract the hummingbirds.
I took a short hike. I through my boomerang is a small clearing near the flagpole. Eventually, it landed twenty feet up in a pine tree. Fortunately, landscaping around the flagpole provided numerous throwing stones. Unfortunately, I don't throw rocks as accurately as I used to. One rock would go too high. So I would overcompensate and the next rock would go too low. One branch blocked several throws that might have liberated my boomerang. Eventually, after about 20 throws, I succeeded and my boomerang dropped free. That discouraged my boomerang throwing for the rest of the day.
During this trip I have been mulling over the idea of throwing boomerangs off cliffs. The idea of throwing sticks off cliffs and not losing them because they return might seem fun to some people. I have even thought of a contest called boomerang horseshoes. The returning boomerang landing closest to the cliff's edge earns points.
After the boomerang incident, we spent rest of the day relaxing. We read. We napped. We read. We napped. Kathy worked on her blog posting.
Just before the sun went down we took a short nature trail hike. A sign at the head of the trail claimed the trail was closed because of fire damage. However, the campground host said the trail was now open for adults. A fire in December 2007 left a lot of burnt timber standing which might fall. When we walked the trail we saw very little standing burnt timber. We saw some burnt living trees. We were amazed at how many living trees remained.
We went to bed.
The next morning as we prepared the vehicle to drive to Roswell, we discovered the mechanism that turns the spool for unwinding the awning would not wind up the awning. After 30 minutes of struggle, we cut off the canvas and pushed the aluminum frame closed. Since the canvas was now missing, the aluminum frame would not stay closed on its own. We had to duct tape it closed. For those of you that think everything is idyllic on our vacation, here we have evidence that "stuff" happens.
After completing this operation we drove to Roswell stopping to check our email using an open Wifi connection at an RV camp in Mountainaire.
We arrived in Roswell at about 2 pm. We entered from the North, driving down Main Street past big box chain store after big box chain store. It reminded us of Ninth Street in Salina. And, in fact, Roswell is just slightly larger than Salina. We also passed New Mexico Military Institute. Later, in our reading, we learned that NMMI is the Alma mater of Will Rogers, Sam Donaldson and some other fairly well-known people. Finally we passed through downtown where the International UFO Museum and Research Center is surrounded by UFO souvenir shops.
After registering at a campground, we had lunch at a restaurant recommended by the staff at the Visitors Center. Then we went to the UFO museum. It was about 3 pm and, since the museum closes at 5 pm, we postponed our museum visit until the next day, and went to the gift shop instead. We also visited many of the other souvenir shops around the museum until they too closed at 5 pm.
Chris thought the souvenir shops shabby and uninspired. We were the only persons in many of the shops. Several shops were not completely full of merchandise. The messages on the t-shirts lacked the amusing cleverness Chris had hoped to see. Only the UFO Museum 's shop had books and videos about UFOs and even its selection was tiny and uninspired compared to the hundreds of books and videos, fiction and non-fiction, made about UFOs, not to mention related science fiction books and videos.
The most interesting shop we found (for Chris) was the “Not of This World (Heavenly) Cafe.” This cafe appears fairly well-maintained. It sells fancy coffees, Italian sodas, sandwiches, provides Internet, but it also has a circulating Christian library and promotes an anti-alien message. Chris first assumed they are attacking the “new age” ideas often associated with belief in UFOs, but he was wrong.Their Web site AlienResistance.org explains that the "hosts of heaven" mentioned in the Bible are aliens. They are not demons in the traditional sense. Traditional demons have no bodies. These aliens have bodies, but " they seek to 'mingle with the seed of men' (Daniel 2:43 KJV) and to turn humanity away from the worship of the true God - often claiming to be our creators and/or spirit-guides." In addition to this coffee shop, this group also promotes its views at conferences. The shop sold CDs and DVDs of the speeches at a conference in Titusville, Florida.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008-On the Road Again
In Grants, New Mexico, we stopped at the New Mexico Museum of Mining because it offered “tourist information.” As we looked at brochures, we listened to a very-helpful lady tell a New Yorker over the telephone about the wonders in Albuquerque. Albuquerque sounded very interesting. After getting off the phone we asked her about New Mexico camping information. She encouraged us to visit the Northwest New Mexico Visitor Center several miles down Route 66. We drove to the center where we ended up buying a state campground guide for Arizona and New Mexico. The guide lead us to our shady campground 50 miles south of Albuquerque. Kathy and Chris have decided to take a day off traveling.
On the the way to the campground, we stopped to eat lunch in the camper at a pull-off for an historical marker. Across the highway we could see the village of Laguna, New Mexico. The church sparkles white in the sun and stands on a hill dominating the rest of the area. According to Wikipedia, Laguna is the recent of the New Mexico pueblos; it was founded in 1699!
We considered taking in some of the tourist attractions of Albuquerque, but instead decided to head for the campground. We had been on the move for the entire vacation and it would be nice to just do some "down time."
The campground is very nice in every way including the cloudy weather which keeps things cool. For the first time ever, we wound out the van's awning and created a "porch" with the fake grass the camper's previous owner kept folded up in a side storage compartment.
We will stay here all day tomorrow too. The campground is more like those that Kathy and her kids frequented on vacations. Although some of the sites have electricity, the drinking water is at one point for all (no, it's not a pump!). The restrooms are "modern", but there are no showers. Come to think of it, it's much fancier than some of the greatest sites the Mitchum clan stayed in from 1989-1999!
As we travel and see things, Kathy often is reminded of those family vacations and reflects that they were a source of much family fun and joy. Many times I think about how much various family members would like a particular spot or item we see.
We are even checking out possible places to take the grandkids in the future. Kathy's family has a tradition of grandparents taking grandchildren on "special" vacations. Her grandparents, Ed and Evelyn Reid began with their eldest grandchild, Terry Gurss, and began taking one grandchild at a time (by age) on a vacation to various places. They subsequently took Jean, John, and Jim Gurss on their trips.
After Grandpa Reid (Ed) died in 1961 the trips did not end. In the next few years, Grandma (Evelyn) invited another friend and widow, Evelyn Burkdoll, and they took Dave Gurss and finally, Tom Gurss and Kathy Reid (yours truly). Tom and I went with Grandma and Evelyn to Colorado.
Grandma then married John Kipp and they continued the tradition. Doug Gurss and Mike Reid each took separate vacatins with Grandma and John. John died in 1981 when the youngest of the "Reid" grandchildren was 16. Because of time constraints and illnesses, Shannon Reid had never had her vacation. When she was 19, Grandma Kipp invited Shannon to join her on a vacation--to Ireland! (Hmmmm, jealously raises it ugly head for a moment).
My folks, Don and Dee Reid, continued the tradition for the next generation (Uncle Doc and Aunt Phyllis (Reid) Gurss did for their grandkids too!) of Reids. Actually, since there were only the four Mitchum kids, each set of twins ended up taking two trips with Grandma and Grandpa Reid. Ben and Jason went together and Kyle and Megan enjoyed joint vacations.
In the next few years Kathy and Chris hope to continue the tradition into the third generation. We have wanted to wait until our grandchildren were old enough to do a variety of activities (like the horseback riding their mother enjoyed so much!) and to appreciate any museums we visit. Ethan will be eight next summer, so it is certainly getting close to that time! Although there are just two grandkids to take, so far, who knows how many more we may eventually enjoy taking in the future. Grandma Reid Kipp took over 20 years to finish taking her ten grandchildren!
Hope everyone reading this is well and happy.
On the the way to the campground, we stopped to eat lunch in the camper at a pull-off for an historical marker. Across the highway we could see the village of Laguna, New Mexico. The church sparkles white in the sun and stands on a hill dominating the rest of the area. According to Wikipedia, Laguna is the recent of the New Mexico pueblos; it was founded in 1699!We considered taking in some of the tourist attractions of Albuquerque, but instead decided to head for the campground. We had been on the move for the entire vacation and it would be nice to just do some "down time."
The campground is very nice in every way including the cloudy weather which keeps things cool. For the first time ever, we wound out the van's awning and created a "porch" with the fake grass the camper's previous owner kept folded up in a side storage compartment.
We will stay here all day tomorrow too. The campground is more like those that Kathy and her kids frequented on vacations. Although some of the sites have electricity, the drinking water is at one point for all (no, it's not a pump!). The restrooms are "modern", but there are no showers. Come to think of it, it's much fancier than some of the greatest sites the Mitchum clan stayed in from 1989-1999!
As we travel and see things, Kathy often is reminded of those family vacations and reflects that they were a source of much family fun and joy. Many times I think about how much various family members would like a particular spot or item we see.
We are even checking out possible places to take the grandkids in the future. Kathy's family has a tradition of grandparents taking grandchildren on "special" vacations. Her grandparents, Ed and Evelyn Reid began with their eldest grandchild, Terry Gurss, and began taking one grandchild at a time (by age) on a vacation to various places. They subsequently took Jean, John, and Jim Gurss on their trips.
After Grandpa Reid (Ed) died in 1961 the trips did not end. In the next few years, Grandma (Evelyn) invited another friend and widow, Evelyn Burkdoll, and they took Dave Gurss and finally, Tom Gurss and Kathy Reid (yours truly). Tom and I went with Grandma and Evelyn to Colorado.
Grandma then married John Kipp and they continued the tradition. Doug Gurss and Mike Reid each took separate vacatins with Grandma and John. John died in 1981 when the youngest of the "Reid" grandchildren was 16. Because of time constraints and illnesses, Shannon Reid had never had her vacation. When she was 19, Grandma Kipp invited Shannon to join her on a vacation--to Ireland! (Hmmmm, jealously raises it ugly head for a moment).
My folks, Don and Dee Reid, continued the tradition for the next generation (Uncle Doc and Aunt Phyllis (Reid) Gurss did for their grandkids too!) of Reids. Actually, since there were only the four Mitchum kids, each set of twins ended up taking two trips with Grandma and Grandpa Reid. Ben and Jason went together and Kyle and Megan enjoyed joint vacations.
In the next few years Kathy and Chris hope to continue the tradition into the third generation. We have wanted to wait until our grandchildren were old enough to do a variety of activities (like the horseback riding their mother enjoyed so much!) and to appreciate any museums we visit. Ethan will be eight next summer, so it is certainly getting close to that time! Although there are just two grandkids to take, so far, who knows how many more we may eventually enjoy taking in the future. Grandma Reid Kipp took over 20 years to finish taking her ten grandchildren!
Hope everyone reading this is well and happy.
Monday, August 25, 2008, Canyon De Chelly
At 8 this morning, we ate breakfast at the Thunderbird Cafeteria (review). (Reviews of Thunderbird Lodge) Kathy had French toast, undercooked hash browns and juice. Chris ate two sausage patties, corned beef hash, chipped beef gravy on two biscuits and a bottle of milk. On the walls was a nice selection of Navajo rugs for sale. Chris thought the patterns were not genuine Navajo patterns. On the walls of a back dining room near the restroom was an assortment of Indian quivers with arrows for sale. They looked less fake to Chris' keen, untrained eye.
We purchased a tour of Canyon De Chelly from a store next to the cafeteria. Right before 9 am, we climbed into the back of a six-wheeled army-type truck for a tour of Canyon De Chelly. Tourists are not allowed in the canyon without guides. Without guides tourists can only view the canyon from overlooks on the canyon rim.
Our Navajo guide and driver, Ray, I believe, described the tour's itinerary. Indians laugh and joke more than Anglos. A lot of their humor is teasing. In Ray's warning about losing stuff he claimed lots of Navajo are getting rich finding stuff fallen out of guide trucks. After this speech and every speech, Ray got into the truck cab and drove us to the next spot. We could not talk with him during the trip.
Canyon De Chelly is a box canyon. It is not created by a river running through it. Rather when it rains water from the higher ground pours into the canyon, carrying rock down the wash and out the mouth of the canyon toward the town of Chinle, which means “place where the water flows out."
Ray entered the canyon driving up a wide wash of deep sand. He had to use four-wheel drive through the whole tour. Ray did not drive “down” into the canyon. Instead, the canyon rose up around us. The walls are 1,000 feet high at the canyon's end.
In the old days the canyon floor was covered in sand right up to the canyon walls. There were no trees. Now the canyon floor is lined with cottonwoods, Russian olive and tamarisk trees, meadows, and farmland with the wash running down the middle. (The Russian olive is not native to the canyon. The Navajo are cutting out the Russian olive to raise the ground water level. Like what the Africans are doing in their dry areas.)
As we moved deeper in the canyon, the canyon became wider, the trees, meadows and farmland started filling the canyon floor and the wash became narrower, wiggling back and forth along the canyon floor. Ray started driving straighter short cuts through the woods instead of following the wiggling wash.The ride became increasingly jarring, much worse than riding rapids in an inflated raft. Several Indian vendors asked us, with knowing smiles, how the trip was. It was that friendly Navajo teasing again.
At each stop Ray would get out of the truck, stand on truck step facing us and tell us about the site. Every stop, except the two rest stops, were “ancient puebloans” petroglyphs or cliff houses. “Ancient puebloans" is the new name for the Anasazi.
The Hopi, who live in pueblos, claim the Anasazi or “ancestral puebloans” are their ancestors. So the Navajo guide, Ray, was telling us about the archaeological remains of ancestors of a competing group, the Hopi. On the second stop, the first cliff house, Ray told us that Navajos were taught from childhood not to go near the “ancestral puebloans” cliff houses. The spirits of the ancestral puebloans living in the ruins will make Navajo sick.
At the two rest stops, there were vendor booths selling mostly Navajo jewelry, one sold flutes and one or two sold pottery. The quality seemed quite high and the prices reasonable, ranging from as low as $5 to $350. Kathy purchased one many-strand necklace and took the business card from another vendor.
Twice Ray told us that his relatives were Navajo rug makers. According to him they often made little rugs, I think about the size of place mats. They sold for $50 to $75, compared to full sized rugs that went for hundreds of dollars.
We saw lots of horses in the canyon, behind fences and wandering free. Ray told us several horse stories. He told us about well trained Navajo horses that will forget about the rider on its back and run down deer in a fifteen mile chase. When the deer is down, exhausted, Navajo hunters dismount and blow corn dust up the deer's nose to suffocate the animal. The skins of these deer are used in a special ceremony because their skins are not pierced with arrows or spears. He then asked who wants to go hunting tomorrow.
In another story, an Anglo woman from Oregon, I believe, wanted to release one of her old horses in the canyon to roam free. Ray had advised her against this because someone would take the horse as their own.
At one stop, Ray pointed to white streaks on huge boulders near the canyon walls. The white streaks are “surfing” marks made by children sitting on flat rocks and sliding down the boulders.
Ray, then, drove the truck a short distance around a canyon corner to a perpendicular cliff about 500 feet high. A trail of hand and foot holds lead almost straight up the canyon wall. Many canyon residents have second dwellings up on the rim. Parents send their kids into the canyon to pick some vegetables or fruits from their canyon gardens and fields. They use these holds to go up and down the canyon walls. I think Ray said there were over a hundred of these trails.
At 1:30 our tour ended near a wonderful cactus bush.
Kathy asked the guide whether the land we saw in the canyon was “legally” or just “traditionally” owned by families. Ray said the fenced in land was “legally” owned by families. The non-fenced in land was traditionally owned by families. On the tour, Ray told us that some families own several plots of land. The families will inhabit different plots of land at different times of the year depending on the crop they are growing at that time. Ray also told us that many of the canyon dwellers work at regular jobs during the week and return on weekends to tend their canyon crops.
From Canyon De Chelly we drove east listening to the Tony Hillerman abridged audiobook, Hunting Badger. Navigator Kathy was pointing on our road map the places mentioned in Hillerman's book. Many of the places are nearby.
We stopped at a large Diné supermarket." Diné” means “the people” in the Navajo language. In other words, we stopped at a Navajo supermarket looking for Indian food. This supermarket was little different from large Dillons store. Though better stocked than our Great Bend “big” Dillons, the biggest difference is a greater selection of mutton and lamb. We were disappointed that we didn't find some new and interesting foods to try. We purchased junk food and drove away continuing the story of Hunting Badger.
We stopped for the night at Bluewater Lake State Park in the Zuni Mountains just east of the Continental Divide. It is a nice campground though the women's facilities need better maintenance.
I observed that starlings had stuck one mud nest on the ceiling of the bathroom porch. A starling would fly around as visitors approaching the bathroom, but at a distance that was little noticeable because the strong wind kept blowing the bird far down wind and then the bird had to fly back up. On porch I heard chirping sounds from the mud nest. I thought it may be babies, but, eventually, a beak appeared and an adult flew out to join its mate.
The next morning as I carried trash to the trash bin, I saw a ground wasp come out of a hole and stand around flickering its wings. I could see a worm laying in the hole. I supposed the wasp had stung the worm into immobility and had laid eggs in the worm. I was puzzled why the wasp left the hole open. I would have thought that the wasp would cover the hole to prevent other animals from finding and eating the worm and the wasp's eggs.
We purchased a tour of Canyon De Chelly from a store next to the cafeteria. Right before 9 am, we climbed into the back of a six-wheeled army-type truck for a tour of Canyon De Chelly. Tourists are not allowed in the canyon without guides. Without guides tourists can only view the canyon from overlooks on the canyon rim.
Our Navajo guide and driver, Ray, I believe, described the tour's itinerary. Indians laugh and joke more than Anglos. A lot of their humor is teasing. In Ray's warning about losing stuff he claimed lots of Navajo are getting rich finding stuff fallen out of guide trucks. After this speech and every speech, Ray got into the truck cab and drove us to the next spot. We could not talk with him during the trip.
Canyon De Chelly is a box canyon. It is not created by a river running through it. Rather when it rains water from the higher ground pours into the canyon, carrying rock down the wash and out the mouth of the canyon toward the town of Chinle, which means “place where the water flows out."
Ray entered the canyon driving up a wide wash of deep sand. He had to use four-wheel drive through the whole tour. Ray did not drive “down” into the canyon. Instead, the canyon rose up around us. The walls are 1,000 feet high at the canyon's end.
In the old days the canyon floor was covered in sand right up to the canyon walls. There were no trees. Now the canyon floor is lined with cottonwoods, Russian olive and tamarisk trees, meadows, and farmland with the wash running down the middle. (The Russian olive is not native to the canyon. The Navajo are cutting out the Russian olive to raise the ground water level. Like what the Africans are doing in their dry areas.)
As we moved deeper in the canyon, the canyon became wider, the trees, meadows and farmland started filling the canyon floor and the wash became narrower, wiggling back and forth along the canyon floor. Ray started driving straighter short cuts through the woods instead of following the wiggling wash.The ride became increasingly jarring, much worse than riding rapids in an inflated raft. Several Indian vendors asked us, with knowing smiles, how the trip was. It was that friendly Navajo teasing again.
At each stop Ray would get out of the truck, stand on truck step facing us and tell us about the site. Every stop, except the two rest stops, were “ancient puebloans” petroglyphs or cliff houses. “Ancient puebloans" is the new name for the Anasazi.The Hopi, who live in pueblos, claim the Anasazi or “ancestral puebloans” are their ancestors. So the Navajo guide, Ray, was telling us about the archaeological remains of ancestors of a competing group, the Hopi. On the second stop, the first cliff house, Ray told us that Navajos were taught from childhood not to go near the “ancestral puebloans” cliff houses. The spirits of the ancestral puebloans living in the ruins will make Navajo sick.
At the two rest stops, there were vendor booths selling mostly Navajo jewelry, one sold flutes and one or two sold pottery. The quality seemed quite high and the prices reasonable, ranging from as low as $5 to $350. Kathy purchased one many-strand necklace and took the business card from another vendor.Twice Ray told us that his relatives were Navajo rug makers. According to him they often made little rugs, I think about the size of place mats. They sold for $50 to $75, compared to full sized rugs that went for hundreds of dollars.
We saw lots of horses in the canyon, behind fences and wandering free. Ray told us several horse stories. He told us about well trained Navajo horses that will forget about the rider on its back and run down deer in a fifteen mile chase. When the deer is down, exhausted, Navajo hunters dismount and blow corn dust up the deer's nose to suffocate the animal. The skins of these deer are used in a special ceremony because their skins are not pierced with arrows or spears. He then asked who wants to go hunting tomorrow.
In another story, an Anglo woman from Oregon, I believe, wanted to release one of her old horses in the canyon to roam free. Ray had advised her against this because someone would take the horse as their own.
At one stop, Ray pointed to white streaks on huge boulders near the canyon walls. The white streaks are “surfing” marks made by children sitting on flat rocks and sliding down the boulders.
Ray, then, drove the truck a short distance around a canyon corner to a perpendicular cliff about 500 feet high. A trail of hand and foot holds lead almost straight up the canyon wall. Many canyon residents have second dwellings up on the rim. Parents send their kids into the canyon to pick some vegetables or fruits from their canyon gardens and fields. They use these holds to go up and down the canyon walls. I think Ray said there were over a hundred of these trails.
At 1:30 our tour ended near a wonderful cactus bush.Kathy asked the guide whether the land we saw in the canyon was “legally” or just “traditionally” owned by families. Ray said the fenced in land was “legally” owned by families. The non-fenced in land was traditionally owned by families. On the tour, Ray told us that some families own several plots of land. The families will inhabit different plots of land at different times of the year depending on the crop they are growing at that time. Ray also told us that many of the canyon dwellers work at regular jobs during the week and return on weekends to tend their canyon crops.
From Canyon De Chelly we drove east listening to the Tony Hillerman abridged audiobook, Hunting Badger. Navigator Kathy was pointing on our road map the places mentioned in Hillerman's book. Many of the places are nearby.
We stopped at a large Diné supermarket." Diné” means “the people” in the Navajo language. In other words, we stopped at a Navajo supermarket looking for Indian food. This supermarket was little different from large Dillons store. Though better stocked than our Great Bend “big” Dillons, the biggest difference is a greater selection of mutton and lamb. We were disappointed that we didn't find some new and interesting foods to try. We purchased junk food and drove away continuing the story of Hunting Badger.
We stopped for the night at Bluewater Lake State Park in the Zuni Mountains just east of the Continental Divide. It is a nice campground though the women's facilities need better maintenance.
I observed that starlings had stuck one mud nest on the ceiling of the bathroom porch. A starling would fly around as visitors approaching the bathroom, but at a distance that was little noticeable because the strong wind kept blowing the bird far down wind and then the bird had to fly back up. On porch I heard chirping sounds from the mud nest. I thought it may be babies, but, eventually, a beak appeared and an adult flew out to join its mate.
The next morning as I carried trash to the trash bin, I saw a ground wasp come out of a hole and stand around flickering its wings. I could see a worm laying in the hole. I supposed the wasp had stung the worm into immobility and had laid eggs in the worm. I was puzzled why the wasp left the hole open. I would have thought that the wasp would cover the hole to prevent other animals from finding and eating the worm and the wasp's eggs.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Sunday, August 24-Visiting Sovereign Nations
Sunday morning, our travelers first returned to the Movie Set Museum. The owner had suggested we return in the daylight when we first met him the night before.The “museum” part of the Trading Post is out back and is a rather eclectic combination of actual movie-related buildings and props and old-time items. It seems that some of those old-time props have also been later used in movies!
The principal items to be viewed were from the Clint Eastwood film, The Outlaw Josey Wales. There are several others, too, but some of the more recent structures were for a Kenny Loggins music video and then a recent film now called The Attic Door (we hadn't heard of it).
We left (and yes, to those keeping track, we do tend to jump back and forth between first and third person! Thanks heavens we aren't being graded for this; and no college students will be plagiarizing if they want a good grade!) Kanab and headed back into Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. We crossed the border at Page, Arizona. This town is at the southern end of Lake Powell/Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
The rest of the day was spent driving across Native American territory. Of course, the largest reservation in the Four Corners area is that of the Navajo Nation. We followed Highway 89 south and turned east toward Tuba City. From there we drove Hwy. 264 across the Hopi Indian Reservation, turned north on 191 and ended up at Chinle, Arizona for the night. More about that later.
We discovered that Tuba City is on the north side of the highway, and a community called Moenkopi is on the south side. Tuba City is Navajo and the south side is Hopi. There is a large truck stop at the corner where we turned. Because we were looking for information about upcoming possible campsites, we stopped in.
While checking out the variety of businesses (the whole establishment is larger than Shannon's Petro 2; it has the truck stop, a fast-food restaurant, and three small craft shops), we began talking to the owner of one of the small shops. His name is James Surveyer and he shared much history and lore with us about the Hopi and the Navajo. He is a member of the Hopi tribe.
Contrary to some tribes that allow members who have smaller amounts of the tribe's “blood”, the Hopi only allow tribal members if they are full-blood or half-blood. Despite the fact that James is a business owner, he said the Navajo are more entrepreneurial and the Hopi place more importance in their relationship with the land and maintaining that important link.
We enjoyed our conversation with James and wish him well with his shop. We also ended up purchasing several items from him!
There were not really any campgrounds on the rest of our route. Even the campground at Canyon de Chelly at Chinle didn't have electricity for our C-Paps. We decided to splurge and stay there at Canyon de Chelly (a National Monument) at the Thunderbird Lodge.
They sell Tony Hillerman audiobooks and also some used books and tapes in the lobby of the office there. We purchased a used tape of Hillerman's Hunting Badger to listen to the next few days while we were in “Hillerman Country”. Anyone who reads Hillerman's books has probably already recognized the Tuba City references. It has been fun listening to this while we drive; we've gone through other oft-mentioned communities like Chinle, Window Rock, and Gallup. It's fun to picture the action better after driving through Utah and Arizona for the last week.
When we approached Chinle, there were bright lights shining in the sky. We discovered that it was the Central Navajo Fair, including an annual rodeo, carnival, and traditional dances. After checking in to the Lodge, we returned to attend the Fair. Unfortunately, it was just ending. We walked around and watched the carnival folk begin tearing down their booths and that was interesting. One vendor was also having a sale on left-over corn dogs, so Chris bought one.
Tomorrow's plans are to tour the Canyon somehow. Then we will begin a leisurely drive toward Roswell, New Mexico, before returning to Kansas.
Saturday, August 23, 2008, To Zion
On the way to Zion National Park we passed through Virgin, Utah. There are two tourist traps in this wide spot in the road. We were trapped by the one with the whimsical western town out front called "The Virgin Trading Post".
Inside was a mixture of quality and junk goods. Chris was attracted to their extensive line of hot sauces with funny names like “Colon Cleaner”.
Kathy by the Indian crafts and t-shirts. When looking at Indian crafts Kathy is thinking of a present for Shawn, who thinks he may have Cherokee blood. Unfortunately, despite the Trail of Tears, Kathy's problem is that North Carolina is the best place for Cherokee crafts. In fact, the Indian “junk” labeled Cherokee (and this particular stuff is junk) is made in North Carolina. The good Indian stuff worthy to be called “craft” is Navajo or Hopi.
One t-shirt we have seen in several different forms has a photo of either a line of mounted Plains Indian warriors (probably from the movies) or real Apache warriors standing with rifles at the ready. Below the picture are the words, “Homeland security - Fighting terrorism since 1492.” Chris preferred the t-shirt with a picture of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel God with extended finger. Above him a word bubble says, “Pull my finger.” Below is the label, “The Big Bang Theory of the Universe.” Austin would think this t-shirt is hilarious if he knew what the Big Bang Theory of the Universe is.
As Kathy and I were walking to our van with 2 bags of rock candy and a bottle of “Hot Sauce for Sissies” we overheard one newly arrived tourist say to his party, “A Virgin Trading Post, maybe we can swap Charlie for something useful.”
Zion National Park is another canyon park. It is a very crowded park, possibly because it is the furthest west national park in Utah. The hoards of California tourists driving to the Colorado Plateau hit this park first, then Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately, Zion is small. Visitors are required to ride propane-powered shuttle buses into the canyon. The buses stop at numerous bus stops through out the canyon.
During his 2000 trip to the Colorado Plateau Chris had seen a photograph of the bottom of a slot canyon. The slot canyon was about 6 feet wide or less and the striped sandstone walls were very smooth. Chris thought the picture was taken in Zion. Chris wanted to see this canyon. Chris asked at the visitor center were this canyon might be. He was directed to get off the bus at Weeping Rock and hike the Observation Trail to Echo Canyon.
Kathy and Chris got off the bus at Weeping Rock. Together they walked a steep incline to Weeping Rock. The top of the canyon is sandstone which is very porous. Rain on the land above seeps down through the sandstone until it reaches a layer of non-porous shale a couple of hundred feet above the bottom of the canyon floor.. Since the water can not penetrate the shale it leaks out pouring down the canyon walls. Ferns and other plants requiring lots of water establish themselves in the cracks and crevices on the canyon walls, creating a hanging garden. (YouTube video)
Chris left Kathy at the Weeping Rock hanging garden for his trudge up to Echo Canyon 700 to 1,000 feet above. And a trudge it was. The path was very steep, switched back and forth at least a dozen times. Eventually, Chris rested every 30 to 40 steps.
Chris had lots of resting time to mull over his goal of walking to Echo Canyon. Since he wanted to go to the bottom of Echo Canyon, he assumed that when he reach the top of this ridge, he would have to walk just about as far down into the next canyon and, then to return, walk back up. He began to worry that he might run out of insulin in his body (as a diabetic his body no longer makes insulin) and so he would be stuck on the other side of the ridge unable to burn his body fat to get back. So he began thinking that he should turn around at the top of the ridge.
Fortunately, at the top of the ridge, the path was level. Instead of the path dropping to the floor of Echo Canyon, the floor rises up to the path. After walking 100 yards, Chris met a couple walking back. They told Chris that the canyon floor was about 5 minutes ahead. After another 100 yards, Chris could see the canyon floor 100 feet below was the sandstone pattern he wanted to see, but could he get down? Then he heard the voices of ,and saw, three French hikers down there on the canyon floor. In another 100 yards he found an easily traversed slope that lead to the bottom of the canyon. Chris had reached his goal and took pictures.
The hike back was much easier and faster.
Chris saw a cute little snake and a lightening-fast neon blue tailed lizard.
A deer browsing flowers on the hillside dislodged a rock that Chris had to dodge.
When I meet Kathy again, she related her adventures waiting for me. She had found a comfortable spot to read by the stream (well, actually on a rock IN the stream. Her feet in the stream kept things much cooler!) Unfortunately, she was constantly terrorized by some vicious flies. She also asked a young . couple whether they had seen her husband. They confessed that when they had spoken to him he was almost to his goal and was probably by now on his way back.
When Chris and Kathy got back to the car, we drove out the other side of Zion through a mile long tunnel. On the shuttle bus back to the visitor's center, the tourist in front of us told us that big horned sheep were on the other side of the tunnel. So we looked for these sheep. Sure enough we saw one standing on a ridge overlooking the highway. The location and pose was so perfect, that Kathy and Chris wondered aloud whether this was a real, live sheep or a stuffed sheep stuck up there for the tourists. Chris was very tempted to turn around an go back to see whether the sheep was still there in that same spot and pose.
But we drove onto Kanab, Utah (Kuh-nab') for the night. We discovered several things upon arriving at Kanab. A festival of “Western Legends” had just ended that day. The town was full of visitors. We got the last available spot in the Good Sam RV park because someone else had just cancelled.
Inside was a mixture of quality and junk goods. Chris was attracted to their extensive line of hot sauces with funny names like “Colon Cleaner”.Kathy by the Indian crafts and t-shirts. When looking at Indian crafts Kathy is thinking of a present for Shawn, who thinks he may have Cherokee blood. Unfortunately, despite the Trail of Tears, Kathy's problem is that North Carolina is the best place for Cherokee crafts. In fact, the Indian “junk” labeled Cherokee (and this particular stuff is junk) is made in North Carolina. The good Indian stuff worthy to be called “craft” is Navajo or Hopi.
One t-shirt we have seen in several different forms has a photo of either a line of mounted Plains Indian warriors (probably from the movies) or real Apache warriors standing with rifles at the ready. Below the picture are the words, “Homeland security - Fighting terrorism since 1492.” Chris preferred the t-shirt with a picture of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel God with extended finger. Above him a word bubble says, “Pull my finger.” Below is the label, “The Big Bang Theory of the Universe.” Austin would think this t-shirt is hilarious if he knew what the Big Bang Theory of the Universe is.
As Kathy and I were walking to our van with 2 bags of rock candy and a bottle of “Hot Sauce for Sissies” we overheard one newly arrived tourist say to his party, “A Virgin Trading Post, maybe we can swap Charlie for something useful.”
Zion National Park is another canyon park. It is a very crowded park, possibly because it is the furthest west national park in Utah. The hoards of California tourists driving to the Colorado Plateau hit this park first, then Bryce Canyon. Unfortunately, Zion is small. Visitors are required to ride propane-powered shuttle buses into the canyon. The buses stop at numerous bus stops through out the canyon.
During his 2000 trip to the Colorado Plateau Chris had seen a photograph of the bottom of a slot canyon. The slot canyon was about 6 feet wide or less and the striped sandstone walls were very smooth. Chris thought the picture was taken in Zion. Chris wanted to see this canyon. Chris asked at the visitor center were this canyon might be. He was directed to get off the bus at Weeping Rock and hike the Observation Trail to Echo Canyon.
Kathy and Chris got off the bus at Weeping Rock. Together they walked a steep incline to Weeping Rock. The top of the canyon is sandstone which is very porous. Rain on the land above seeps down through the sandstone until it reaches a layer of non-porous shale a couple of hundred feet above the bottom of the canyon floor.. Since the water can not penetrate the shale it leaks out pouring down the canyon walls. Ferns and other plants requiring lots of water establish themselves in the cracks and crevices on the canyon walls, creating a hanging garden. (YouTube video)
Chris left Kathy at the Weeping Rock hanging garden for his trudge up to Echo Canyon 700 to 1,000 feet above. And a trudge it was. The path was very steep, switched back and forth at least a dozen times. Eventually, Chris rested every 30 to 40 steps.
Chris had lots of resting time to mull over his goal of walking to Echo Canyon. Since he wanted to go to the bottom of Echo Canyon, he assumed that when he reach the top of this ridge, he would have to walk just about as far down into the next canyon and, then to return, walk back up. He began to worry that he might run out of insulin in his body (as a diabetic his body no longer makes insulin) and so he would be stuck on the other side of the ridge unable to burn his body fat to get back. So he began thinking that he should turn around at the top of the ridge.
Fortunately, at the top of the ridge, the path was level. Instead of the path dropping to the floor of Echo Canyon, the floor rises up to the path. After walking 100 yards, Chris met a couple walking back. They told Chris that the canyon floor was about 5 minutes ahead. After another 100 yards, Chris could see the canyon floor 100 feet below was the sandstone pattern he wanted to see, but could he get down? Then he heard the voices of ,and saw, three French hikers down there on the canyon floor. In another 100 yards he found an easily traversed slope that lead to the bottom of the canyon. Chris had reached his goal and took pictures.The hike back was much easier and faster.
Chris saw a cute little snake and a lightening-fast neon blue tailed lizard.
A deer browsing flowers on the hillside dislodged a rock that Chris had to dodge.
When I meet Kathy again, she related her adventures waiting for me. She had found a comfortable spot to read by the stream (well, actually on a rock IN the stream. Her feet in the stream kept things much cooler!) Unfortunately, she was constantly terrorized by some vicious flies. She also asked a young . couple whether they had seen her husband. They confessed that when they had spoken to him he was almost to his goal and was probably by now on his way back.
When Chris and Kathy got back to the car, we drove out the other side of Zion through a mile long tunnel. On the shuttle bus back to the visitor's center, the tourist in front of us told us that big horned sheep were on the other side of the tunnel. So we looked for these sheep. Sure enough we saw one standing on a ridge overlooking the highway. The location and pose was so perfect, that Kathy and Chris wondered aloud whether this was a real, live sheep or a stuffed sheep stuck up there for the tourists. Chris was very tempted to turn around an go back to see whether the sheep was still there in that same spot and pose.
But we drove onto Kanab, Utah (Kuh-nab') for the night. We discovered several things upon arriving at Kanab. A festival of “Western Legends” had just ended that day. The town was full of visitors. We got the last available spot in the Good Sam RV park because someone else had just cancelled.
As we walked about town we discovered through signs that Kanab was a center for shooting western movies and television shows. After eating in a great restaurant called the Rocking V (Reviews) we went over to the free movie set museum and trading post. Like the Virgin trading post, this store had a mixture of good crafts and tourist junk. Since it was dark, we put off viewing the movie set until the next morning.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008--Bryce and William
Today's first big adventure was going to Bryce Canyon National Park. Even though Kathy had commented earlier to Chris that one rock was beginning to look like every other rock, it is not strictly true. Bryce Canyon appeals to the whimsical side of us all and is definitely worth seeing.
The two main places we went in the Park were Inspiration Point and Natural Bridge. We could not go elsewhere because they were doing controlled burning in some of the park that day.
Inspiration Point is the truly whimsical site. After climbing to the observation area (huff and puff, huff and puff-kdr), visitors look down into what could be a fairyland of towers. Or they could be the remnants of ancient castles and monuments to kings and queens and remind viewers of something out of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Natural Bridge has been photographed many times and really isn't a natural bridge. It's actually an arch. The difference (Kathy's un-scientific explanation) is that one is formed by water erosion and the other by wind and other forms of erosion. Either way it is an impressive natural wonder.
We then left the national park circuit briefly and spent the rest of the day appealing to Kathy's sense of fun. Before leaving on the vacation, she ran off details of anyone in her genealogy database that had done anything in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona (just in case our route matched the data).
Sure enough, one gentleman that was supposedly the brother of Henry Jones (Ben, Jason, Kyle, and Megan's paternal great great great grandfather) and his several wives were supposed to be buried in either Paragonah (Pair-a-goo'-nah) or Parowan (Pair'-a-wahn), Utah, and those towns were easy to reach from Bryce National Park. So, it was on to the cemeteries to look for William E. Jones and any of his clan!
We first arrived at the small town of Paragonah's cemetery. Luckily, they have a directory and map of the burials there. We easily found the Jones listings and one appeared to be one of Williams' wives (Kathy's record said "Sarah Davies" and the cemetery listed "Sarah Davis Jones".) We found and photographed the stones for Joneses in about four different lots. They seemed that they might also be related. One neat thing is that many families in that cemetery use the back of the stones to list the children of a couple!
On to Parowan, which is a larger community. Even though it was Friday night, the library stays open until 9 PM! Those blog readers who work or have worked in libraries (probably most of our readers!) can appreciate how rare that is. We both started going through the books on the history of the area, especially those recommended by the librarian.
The history of the area basically becomes the Mormon history of the area in most of the works we saw. It was discovered that William E. Jones served as the LDS bishop for Paragonah for quite a few years in the 1800's. And some of the wives listed in Kathy's files (which came from LDS Ancestral Files submissions) were actually plural wives! It seems that he was even one of the leaders that was jailed during that turbulent time.
Well, to make the story end soon, it now appears that William E. is NOT an uncle. The biographical data we found listed about him gives another set of parents. So there is definitely some confusion to sort out here. Of course, he could be some kind of cousin, but those of us that have lived around Lebo, Kansas, realize that Joneses are a dime a dozen when we are talking about the Welsh!
We did go out to the cemetery and, even though there was no directory, we walked the older parts and Chris discovered William's stone. We did photograph it. Even if all these folks are not our kin, we will load the pictures onto Find a Grave if they are not already there.
Headed south on Interstate 15 and spent the night in a KOA in Cedar City. It was time to do laundry, so we were up late doing that. Plans for the next day include going to Zion National Park and then heading for Arizona. Our next possible destination after that is now Canyon de Chelly National Monument in the middle of the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation.
The two main places we went in the Park were Inspiration Point and Natural Bridge. We could not go elsewhere because they were doing controlled burning in some of the park that day.
Inspiration Point is the truly whimsical site. After climbing to the observation area (huff and puff, huff and puff-kdr), visitors look down into what could be a fairyland of towers. Or they could be the remnants of ancient castles and monuments to kings and queens and remind viewers of something out of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. 
Natural Bridge has been photographed many times and really isn't a natural bridge. It's actually an arch. The difference (Kathy's un-scientific explanation) is that one is formed by water erosion and the other by wind and other forms of erosion. Either way it is an impressive natural wonder.We then left the national park circuit briefly and spent the rest of the day appealing to Kathy's sense of fun. Before leaving on the vacation, she ran off details of anyone in her genealogy database that had done anything in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, or Arizona (just in case our route matched the data).
Sure enough, one gentleman that was supposedly the brother of Henry Jones (Ben, Jason, Kyle, and Megan's paternal great great great grandfather) and his several wives were supposed to be buried in either Paragonah (Pair-a-goo'-nah) or Parowan (Pair'-a-wahn), Utah, and those towns were easy to reach from Bryce National Park. So, it was on to the cemeteries to look for William E. Jones and any of his clan!
We first arrived at the small town of Paragonah's cemetery. Luckily, they have a directory and map of the burials there. We easily found the Jones listings and one appeared to be one of Williams' wives (Kathy's record said "Sarah Davies" and the cemetery listed "Sarah Davis Jones".) We found and photographed the stones for Joneses in about four different lots. They seemed that they might also be related. One neat thing is that many families in that cemetery use the back of the stones to list the children of a couple!
On to Parowan, which is a larger community. Even though it was Friday night, the library stays open until 9 PM! Those blog readers who work or have worked in libraries (probably most of our readers!) can appreciate how rare that is. We both started going through the books on the history of the area, especially those recommended by the librarian.
The history of the area basically becomes the Mormon history of the area in most of the works we saw. It was discovered that William E. Jones served as the LDS bishop for Paragonah for quite a few years in the 1800's. And some of the wives listed in Kathy's files (which came from LDS Ancestral Files submissions) were actually plural wives! It seems that he was even one of the leaders that was jailed during that turbulent time.
Well, to make the story end soon, it now appears that William E. is NOT an uncle. The biographical data we found listed about him gives another set of parents. So there is definitely some confusion to sort out here. Of course, he could be some kind of cousin, but those of us that have lived around Lebo, Kansas, realize that Joneses are a dime a dozen when we are talking about the Welsh!
We did go out to the cemetery and, even though there was no directory, we walked the older parts and Chris discovered William's stone. We did photograph it. Even if all these folks are not our kin, we will load the pictures onto Find a Grave if they are not already there. Headed south on Interstate 15 and spent the night in a KOA in Cedar City. It was time to do laundry, so we were up late doing that. Plans for the next day include going to Zion National Park and then heading for Arizona. Our next possible destination after that is now Canyon de Chelly National Monument in the middle of the Navajo Nation Indian Reservation.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Thursday, August 21; Double Parking
We spent last night at Dead Horse Point campground. The campground is near the rim of a box canyon. Chris followed the wash from the campsite down to the rim. Though the rim looked close, it took Chris 30 to 40 minutes to get there. It was an interesting, but not spectacular view. On the way back Chris discovered a trail back to the campsite that was marked with short little rock cairns.In the morning we left Dead Horse Point campground heading south toward Glen Canyon recreational area.
At Glen Canyon Recreation Area, i.e., a big lake (Lake Powell) created by a dam, we stopped at the overload of the now flooded town of Hite, Utah. At the height of the uranium mining, Hite grew to 200 people. After the uranium mining rush, Hite, according to the sign, declined to being a "small-town" again. Kathy was impressed that there was no railing on the cliffs.
We ate brisket sandwiches for lunch in a roadside box canyon.
In another canyon we came across a tale of an Indian fight. One soldier and one blacksmith were killed.
We reached Capitol Reef National Park at about 3 pm. Capitol Reef is a hundred mile long land reef that blocked passage west. Its rock "waterfolds" also capture water and hold water creating an oasis of flowing streams and trees in the desert. The indians were here for hundreds of years as proven by irrigation ditches and petraglyphs.
The Mormons settled this area specializing in fruit orchards.
After leaving Capitol Reef, we drove through part of the Dixie National Forest. ("Finally!" Kathy cries. "A real live mountain forest that has trees!") We saw six deer that day from Capitol Reef through Dixie, including one fawn. One stretch of highway was along a spit (?) and the cliffs went down on both sides of the roadway. Kathy cringed the entire section and urged Chris to watch the road ONLY, even though the view was amazing.
We spent the night in Escalante, Utah for next morning's approach to Bryce Canyon National Park.
Wednesday, August 20- Kathy Goes Swimming
Wednesday morning our intrepid explorers were up earlier than usual and were at the Moab Adventure Center by 8AM for our river rafting trip. We had signed up for it the day before. We had picked a full-day trip that goes fourteen miles down the Colorado River. This was Kathy's first rafting trip, it was Chris' third.
We had figured out how to have everything they had recommended for the trip, although some others definitely didn't. We had bottles of water in special bags we made from lingerie bags (thanks to Dollar General!) and carbiners. We also found a “glasses restrainer” to hold on my glasses (Chris had one for his sunglasses) and bought some nice shoe laces to hold on our straw hats (we already had them). Our guide praised us for our resourcefulness and it all came in handy!
Despite the fact that we had not read Shannon's advice for sitting in the front of the raft, that is where we ended up! I hate to admit it, but I (Kathy) was the oldest on the raft. We were the only raft that had full dayers; the other rafts had AM or PM trips only. In addition to our entertaining and fun guide, Becky (history education major at BYU!), there were six other members of the crew.
Sarah was our international member and hails from Birmingham, England. She's a 19-year-old who is traveling around the States by herself, although she has visited some relatives while here. She still has three weeks to go and then will return to begin college in Leeds studying “New Media”.
Sophie works for a subsidiary of TripAdvisor.com called “Virtual Tourist” and lives in the LA area, I believe. She is ½ Swiss and ½ Persian and didn't emigrate from Switzerland until she was eleven.
The other four were all the family of Michael and Jennifer, and sons Mark and Scott. Michael is head chef for all the restaurants in the Las Vegas MGM Grand! The boys were about 10 and 11. Mark, the eldest, really got into planning attacks on the other rafts!
The morning was fun and fairly relaxing. Chris and I discovered that sitting in the front means becoming wetter than anyone else usually! We lazed around occasionally and anyone that wanted to swim could for a while. Then there were “smile breaks” when someone “swam” and the water got a little warmer in their vicinity!
We stopped for a barbecue lunch at a resort ranch on the river; hot dogs and hamburgers with all the trimmings, three side dishes, chips, and cookies.
Shortly after lunch we started again. We encountered the biggest rapids of the day. And that's when Kathy went swimming! Not by choice....
Everything was going fine. We were paddling away when Becky told us to and stopping when she told us to. The raft was going up and down into large troughs between the waves. I (Kathy) had put both feet back in the raft (I'd been straddling the side with a foot in the water) because I thought it would be safer in the rapids because of rocks.
Well, we went down into one of the troughs and that's about the last thing I remember. I somehow lost my balance and fell overboard! Although I didn't realize it at the time, I guess my arm also hit Sophie behind me and she went overboard too!
Becky later said she thought we both did just what we should do. I was never really scared at all, even though the rapids were jostling us around quite a bit. I even opened my eyes under water like I usually do and looked for the raft. Becky had placed the raft sideways in front of us so it was merely a matter of swimming a few strokes to the raft.
Chris tried to pull me into the raft but I started telling him, “stop, it's choking me!” Actually, my hat was still hanging down my back from the chin tie and that was choking me, not the life jacket. They helped Sophie into the boat, Chris took my hat, and then he and Becky hauled me in. I hate to admit it was not my most graceful moment!
And the funniest thing about it all was that when it was over Becky said, “I can't believe you held on to the paddle the whole time!” I had. I told her that I had always tried to be frugal, so I wasn't going to let a piece of equipment go to waste! Actually it was all just a reflex to hold onto it.
Well, the excitement was over for me somewhat! The rest of the trip included several skirmishes with the other rafts and kayakers in which large amounts of water was either splashed or thrown at the opponents from large buckets. Once again Chris and I received most of that water in the front; from both the other teams and our own!
All in all, we had a good time and shared a day with congenial companions. Sophie and I agreed that it was nice to have a special story to tell about our day, too. Pictures of our rafting trip are included at Moab Action Shots . Our raft is shown in photos 1-5 and 36-39. Look for the boat with people at the front with straw hats (you may recognize us!) Unfortunately, they didn't get Kathy's fall on film...
We returned to Moab around 4 PM and did some errands and got some ice cream. (OK, Kathy got some ice cream!) We then headed out to the campground at Dead Horse Point State Park. We were both pretty bushed. Kathy read a while sitting in the lawn chair and then moved to the camper and read/dozed/read/etc. until she actually “went to bed”.
Chris hiked to the rim of the canyon near the campground and took pictures. He then came back and decided to “take a nap” which turned into a four-hour nap. Then he had trouble going “to bed!”
The campground was nice in a stark sort of way and had electricity. They don't have showers though; all water in that area has to be hauled in. We liked the fact that it wasn't a commercial campground and “real campers” seemed to be the ones using it.
The stars were phenomenal that night! Since we were far from civilization there seemed to be thousands more than usual. It was really neat.
Enough for now. Hope everyone in Kansas (and all our fans worldwide-LOL) is doing well. Now get back to work!
We had figured out how to have everything they had recommended for the trip, although some others definitely didn't. We had bottles of water in special bags we made from lingerie bags (thanks to Dollar General!) and carbiners. We also found a “glasses restrainer” to hold on my glasses (Chris had one for his sunglasses) and bought some nice shoe laces to hold on our straw hats (we already had them). Our guide praised us for our resourcefulness and it all came in handy!
Despite the fact that we had not read Shannon's advice for sitting in the front of the raft, that is where we ended up! I hate to admit it, but I (Kathy) was the oldest on the raft. We were the only raft that had full dayers; the other rafts had AM or PM trips only. In addition to our entertaining and fun guide, Becky (history education major at BYU!), there were six other members of the crew.
Sarah was our international member and hails from Birmingham, England. She's a 19-year-old who is traveling around the States by herself, although she has visited some relatives while here. She still has three weeks to go and then will return to begin college in Leeds studying “New Media”.
Sophie works for a subsidiary of TripAdvisor.com called “Virtual Tourist” and lives in the LA area, I believe. She is ½ Swiss and ½ Persian and didn't emigrate from Switzerland until she was eleven.
The other four were all the family of Michael and Jennifer, and sons Mark and Scott. Michael is head chef for all the restaurants in the Las Vegas MGM Grand! The boys were about 10 and 11. Mark, the eldest, really got into planning attacks on the other rafts!
The morning was fun and fairly relaxing. Chris and I discovered that sitting in the front means becoming wetter than anyone else usually! We lazed around occasionally and anyone that wanted to swim could for a while. Then there were “smile breaks” when someone “swam” and the water got a little warmer in their vicinity!
We stopped for a barbecue lunch at a resort ranch on the river; hot dogs and hamburgers with all the trimmings, three side dishes, chips, and cookies.
Shortly after lunch we started again. We encountered the biggest rapids of the day. And that's when Kathy went swimming! Not by choice....
Everything was going fine. We were paddling away when Becky told us to and stopping when she told us to. The raft was going up and down into large troughs between the waves. I (Kathy) had put both feet back in the raft (I'd been straddling the side with a foot in the water) because I thought it would be safer in the rapids because of rocks.
Well, we went down into one of the troughs and that's about the last thing I remember. I somehow lost my balance and fell overboard! Although I didn't realize it at the time, I guess my arm also hit Sophie behind me and she went overboard too!
Becky later said she thought we both did just what we should do. I was never really scared at all, even though the rapids were jostling us around quite a bit. I even opened my eyes under water like I usually do and looked for the raft. Becky had placed the raft sideways in front of us so it was merely a matter of swimming a few strokes to the raft.
Chris tried to pull me into the raft but I started telling him, “stop, it's choking me!” Actually, my hat was still hanging down my back from the chin tie and that was choking me, not the life jacket. They helped Sophie into the boat, Chris took my hat, and then he and Becky hauled me in. I hate to admit it was not my most graceful moment!
And the funniest thing about it all was that when it was over Becky said, “I can't believe you held on to the paddle the whole time!” I had. I told her that I had always tried to be frugal, so I wasn't going to let a piece of equipment go to waste! Actually it was all just a reflex to hold onto it.
Well, the excitement was over for me somewhat! The rest of the trip included several skirmishes with the other rafts and kayakers in which large amounts of water was either splashed or thrown at the opponents from large buckets. Once again Chris and I received most of that water in the front; from both the other teams and our own!
All in all, we had a good time and shared a day with congenial companions. Sophie and I agreed that it was nice to have a special story to tell about our day, too. Pictures of our rafting trip are included at Moab Action Shots . Our raft is shown in photos 1-5 and 36-39. Look for the boat with people at the front with straw hats (you may recognize us!) Unfortunately, they didn't get Kathy's fall on film...
We returned to Moab around 4 PM and did some errands and got some ice cream. (OK, Kathy got some ice cream!) We then headed out to the campground at Dead Horse Point State Park. We were both pretty bushed. Kathy read a while sitting in the lawn chair and then moved to the camper and read/dozed/read/etc. until she actually “went to bed”.
Chris hiked to the rim of the canyon near the campground and took pictures. He then came back and decided to “take a nap” which turned into a four-hour nap. Then he had trouble going “to bed!”
The campground was nice in a stark sort of way and had electricity. They don't have showers though; all water in that area has to be hauled in. We liked the fact that it wasn't a commercial campground and “real campers” seemed to be the ones using it.
The stars were phenomenal that night! Since we were far from civilization there seemed to be thousands more than usual. It was really neat.
Enough for now. Hope everyone in Kansas (and all our fans worldwide-LOL) is doing well. Now get back to work!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Dead Horses and Canyons
First thing this morning was a visit the National Park Service headquarters in downtown Moab. Chris told them he wanted a raft trip in which everyone got to paddle. My first rafting trip in the Royal Gorge in Colorado was one in which everyone paddled. On my second trip through Hell's Canyon on the Snake River in Idaho, only the guide paddled and we watched. Paddling is a lot more fun. If I can't paddle, I don't want to go.
A woman at the National Park Service claimed only one rafting company, Western Adventure Center, let people paddle. So we signed on with them for a full day, tomorrow. They told us we needed water bottles, level 50 sunblock, waterproof camera, hats, and if you take glasses, then put of attachments to keep them on. That evening we purchased what we needed at a Family Dollar store and a local pharmacy/general store. I wanted a net bag to keep everything in. Kathy recommended bags used when laundering lingerie. We purchased these at the Family Dollar Store. We used carbiners to attach the bags to our life jackets or the boat.
After registering for the rafting trip, Kathy and I spent the rest of the day visiting Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. All are within 20 miles of Moab. The scenery at all three parks are stunning. We also purchased reservations for a camping space at Dead Horse Point State Park.
Dead Horse Point is named after a legend. Back in cowboy days, there was a herd of wild horses the cowboys wanted to capture. The easiest way to do this was to pin them in a place where they could not escape. Dead Horse Point is a spit of land 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. The cowboys chased the herd out onto this point and blocked the narrow neck between the point and the rest of the plateau with a fence of juniper bushes. Legend says that after the cowboys captured the animals they wanted, they left the unwanted horses fenced in. The animals died of thirst standing on a point 2,000 feet above the river.
Standing on Dead Horse Point looking down at the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.
A woman at the National Park Service claimed only one rafting company, Western Adventure Center, let people paddle. So we signed on with them for a full day, tomorrow. They told us we needed water bottles, level 50 sunblock, waterproof camera, hats, and if you take glasses, then put of attachments to keep them on. That evening we purchased what we needed at a Family Dollar store and a local pharmacy/general store. I wanted a net bag to keep everything in. Kathy recommended bags used when laundering lingerie. We purchased these at the Family Dollar Store. We used carbiners to attach the bags to our life jackets or the boat.
After registering for the rafting trip, Kathy and I spent the rest of the day visiting Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. All are within 20 miles of Moab. The scenery at all three parks are stunning. We also purchased reservations for a camping space at Dead Horse Point State Park.
Dead Horse Point is named after a legend. Back in cowboy days, there was a herd of wild horses the cowboys wanted to capture. The easiest way to do this was to pin them in a place where they could not escape. Dead Horse Point is a spit of land 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. The cowboys chased the herd out onto this point and blocked the narrow neck between the point and the rest of the plateau with a fence of juniper bushes. Legend says that after the cowboys captured the animals they wanted, they left the unwanted horses fenced in. The animals died of thirst standing on a point 2,000 feet above the river.
Standing on Dead Horse Point looking down at the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Onto the plateau
We left Limon, Colorado this morning at about 10 am. We drove straight through Denver, stopping near Golden, Colorado to visit Buffalo Bill's hilltop grave on top of Lookout Mountain.When we arrived someone was parasailing at about two to three hundred feet out from where we were standing. Generally, he spiralled down, but at one point he rode the wind up to a hundred feet above us and then spiralled back down. It was very cool to watch. What a great sport!
Someone else's YouTube movie of the grave. In the picture of the right Buffalo Bill's grave is to the left of the star. His wife to the right. The star says that he was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
The plaque under the star says he earned the Medal of Honor serving with the Third Cavalry during the Indian Wars.
We ate lunch in a nearby park. We were joined by several friendly bees. As we were finishing, a park truck arrived to pump out the porta-potties, filling the air with the aroma of liquid excrement. It was definitely time to leave.
We drove on to Grand Junction, stopping briefly to make some purchases at a Target. Then onto Moab, Utah, near Canyonlands National Park.
We are staying at the KOA campground. We may be here one or two more days. Tomorrow I will check into river rafting. If we do go on a trip, the trip will be on Wednesday. After checking into river rafting, we will probably visit Canyonlands, Dead Horse Point and/or Arches parks.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Parking at the Park in Park
It may come as a surprise to those that know and love us, but we didn't get away from Great Bend quite as early as we had planned. So...we'll blame it on Kyle. She came by and we'll say that slowed us down. Actually she helped load some of the clothes and food into the camper.
Ben arrived home from Kansas City and then left for work, so we also got to tell him good-bye again.
Then it was "errand time". Kathy had three things to mail that needed to go out. We went to the library to weigh them, picked up some audiobooks for the trip, and then bought stamps at Dillons.
We left GB about 2:27 PM. The packages were mailed in Hoisington. Ahhhh, finally the trip has "officially" started!
Our first meal was lupper (or is that dupper?), which is our name for the meal between lunch (or dinner) and supper, similar to brunch. We decided to park at the park in Park!!! Park, Kansas, that is. You can see Kathy finishing dessert (a banana, what else?) at the park in Park. That is one large Catholic church for a tiny town! It's rather impressively situated at the end of the street (there is no definite "Main Street" in Park). There's a cemetery behind it too.
Although the sun tried to come out for little while, most of the day has been overcast. Then, between Burlington and Limon, ,Colorado, the rain started. It's obvious that they have been getting a lot of rain because the fields are waterlogged. We have stopped in Limon at the KOA for the night. It's lightly raining still and parts of the campground are actually flooded. The young man at the desk said all the "electric only" sites are under water, so he gave us an electric/water site for the electric price. It's actually handy because the showers are right across the road from our site.
It's now 8:15 PM Mountain Time. It was sure nice that KOA has free wifi here so that we could record our first exciting day of vacation. We'll probably eat something in a bit and maybe watch a DVD, then head to bed. It's going to be good to actually catch up on some sleep.
Our current plans are to follow I-70 to Utah. We may take small sidetrips, but since Utah is more our destination we'll probably keep pretty much on track. Where we stay Monday night is anyone's guess because it just depends on what kind of time we make. The Rocky Mountains are our first real tourist destination tomorrow.
Ben arrived home from Kansas City and then left for work, so we also got to tell him good-bye again.
Then it was "errand time". Kathy had three things to mail that needed to go out. We went to the library to weigh them, picked up some audiobooks for the trip, and then bought stamps at Dillons.
We left GB about 2:27 PM. The packages were mailed in Hoisington. Ahhhh, finally the trip has "officially" started!
Our first meal was lupper (or is that dupper?), which is our name for the meal between lunch (or dinner) and supper, similar to brunch. We decided to park at the park in Park!!! Park, Kansas, that is. You can see Kathy finishing dessert (a banana, what else?) at the park in Park. That is one large Catholic church for a tiny town! It's rather impressively situated at the end of the street (there is no definite "Main Street" in Park). There's a cemetery behind it too.
Although the sun tried to come out for little while, most of the day has been overcast. Then, between Burlington and Limon, ,Colorado, the rain started. It's obvious that they have been getting a lot of rain because the fields are waterlogged. We have stopped in Limon at the KOA for the night. It's lightly raining still and parts of the campground are actually flooded. The young man at the desk said all the "electric only" sites are under water, so he gave us an electric/water site for the electric price. It's actually handy because the showers are right across the road from our site.
It's now 8:15 PM Mountain Time. It was sure nice that KOA has free wifi here so that we could record our first exciting day of vacation. We'll probably eat something in a bit and maybe watch a DVD, then head to bed. It's going to be good to actually catch up on some sleep.
Our current plans are to follow I-70 to Utah. We may take small sidetrips, but since Utah is more our destination we'll probably keep pretty much on track. Where we stay Monday night is anyone's guess because it just depends on what kind of time we make. The Rocky Mountains are our first real tourist destination tomorrow.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The Night Before
Our camper has been cleaned. Clean sheets are on its bed. A brisket is baking in the oven. Squash and tomatoes are marinating on the kitchen counter. All in preparation for leaving Sunday morning on vacation. Tomorrow morning we will pack clothes and food into our camper and drive off toward the Colorado Plateau.
The Colorado Plateau is, geologically speaking, one of the coolest places on the planet. Very little of the plateau is in Colorado. About 5/6 of its area is in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The plateau is named for the Colorado River.
The Colorado River and its tributaries have cut deep gorges back through 600 million years of earth history to the Precambrian when large-sized life took over the planet. These gorges are so dramatic that each one is a national park, starting high in the north with Bryce Canyon and ending in the south with the deep Grand Canyon.
Between the Bryce and Grand Canyons is "The Grand Staircase," a series of cliffs named for the color of their rocks: Pink Cliffs, Gray Cliffs, White Cliffs, Vermillion Cliffs and Chocolate-Shinarump Cliffs.
Since there is little rainfall, there is little vegetation. Glorious rock formations dominate spectacular scenery.
Last year we recorded our trip with a digital camera. We are bringing that camera, but we are also bringing an easy-to-use Flip Ultra video camera. It is designed to record an hour of video and easily upload that video to YouTube. We plan to upload video to YouTube. Links in our blog will lead to our videos on YouTube.
Chris
The Colorado Plateau is, geologically speaking, one of the coolest places on the planet. Very little of the plateau is in Colorado. About 5/6 of its area is in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The plateau is named for the Colorado River.
The Colorado River and its tributaries have cut deep gorges back through 600 million years of earth history to the Precambrian when large-sized life took over the planet. These gorges are so dramatic that each one is a national park, starting high in the north with Bryce Canyon and ending in the south with the deep Grand Canyon.
Between the Bryce and Grand Canyons is "The Grand Staircase," a series of cliffs named for the color of their rocks: Pink Cliffs, Gray Cliffs, White Cliffs, Vermillion Cliffs and Chocolate-Shinarump Cliffs.
Since there is little rainfall, there is little vegetation. Glorious rock formations dominate spectacular scenery.
Last year we recorded our trip with a digital camera. We are bringing that camera, but we are also bringing an easy-to-use Flip Ultra video camera. It is designed to record an hour of video and easily upload that video to YouTube. We plan to upload video to YouTube. Links in our blog will lead to our videos on YouTube.
Chris
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