April 7 – “An ‘Oops Discovery’”

We now have a new second place hotel.  A close second place.  Ruby’s is still on top based on sheer entertainment value.  But the hotel from the next night was brand new.  Even had a motion sensor in the bathroom that turned on the light.  Only thing was, it also turned off the light.  While I was in the shower.  Oh well, it was a fun challenge to finish showering in the dark.  And better yet.  I never mentioned that interesting quality to Chris.  I didn’t want her to miss that experience.  She didn’t.  Chuckle.  Chuckle.

 

We went back to Zion.  This time early in the morning.  There were no lines at all.  Plenty of places to park.  As far as hikes go, we did a fairly easy two miler and a really easy one miler.  The first one was a walk along the river in the bottom of a canyon.  River.  Water.  Beautiful water.  It has been too long.  It was a pretty fun hike, too.  Aside from the breathtaking views straight up the sides of mountains and along the banks of a kind of muddy, but angrily flowing river (They had to close one of the hikes because it required crossing the river at one point and that was currently almost impossible), I met a guy from Idaho who knows someone who used to live in Galveston.  That unknown Galvestonian played guitar for Kenny Rogers.  Pretty famous for an unknown guy.  We met a family on the bus who had just moved to Utah from Austin.  Still haven’t gotten used to the winters.  Ah, people.  High points – mine at least - usually involve people.  On the second hike we met a guy who told us his wife tells him all the time to stop and smell the roses.  I said that was good advice, but sometimes I couldn’t find the roses!  Oh, on both hikes we saw a group of mule deer.  The first time they were romping and playing and chasing each other.  The second time they were having a snack right next to the path.  Obviously not afraid of humans.  All in all. Zion is a pretty good place to be – physically AND spiritually.  We did hit a snag on our way out of the park, though.  Something happened that caused a 30 minute plus holdup at the tunnel.  We never got an explanation.  I think it might have been an alien infestation of large bugs from the planet Cromedia.  They don’t get many bugs in Utah, so that was a big deal.  In Texas we would just think they were mosquitoes and squish them, however big they were.

 

We finally made it through the tunnel and headed to Pipe Springs National Monument in Arizona.  Oh, and we also saw a herd of bison along the way.  Just gathered on the side of the road.  I’m pretty sure they were voting on who would be the next one to pretend to go berserk and stamp and charge at the tourists.  The National Monument was actually a reconstructed ranch.  Brigham Young ordered it built back in his day to serve as the tithe receiving station for Mormon livestock tithes.  They had a Texas longhorn and some chickens on site.

 

Next stop was Marble Canyon.  Yeah, I never heard of it, either.  But on the way I saw a lone coyote walking along the side of the road.  Poor lonely guy.  The big draw in Marble Canyon, other than the canyon, was a walk on the Navajo Bridge.  It’s a giant steel structure over some river on the Navajo Indian Reservation.  Pretty impressive feat of engineering.  There are actually two bridges.  One for cars and one for walking across to take pictures of the first one.  Guess they had some leftover steel.  At the visitor center we heard more about the big project in the area (it was a biggie in Zion as well).  They are attempting to save the California condor from extinction.  It is alleged to be the largest bird in the United States.  We finally got the message.  At the visitor center we decided to adopt one.  Calcey Condor now lives with us.

 

Our final stop was actually at the closest hotel we could get to the Grand Canyon.  It was in a little town called Page, Arizona, about two and a half hours away.  Yikes.  However, it turned out to be a fortuitous accident.  Come to find out, Page is the home site for the Horseshoe Bend overlook of none other than the Colorado River.  A little piece of home.  Now that was a beautiful, unexpected sight.  The river makes a literal bend around a huge, protruding piece of the mountain.  We could see people camping on the shore after arriving in canoes.  At least we think they were people.  It is certainly possible that the distance to the bottom could have been an optical illusion, and what we were seeing was more of those pesky alien creatures.  But it was still amazing.  And to top it off, we saw it right at sunset.  Gorgeous.  Worth the “Oops Discovery,” for sure.  Now we just have to hope that we can still get into the Grand Canyon today after a two and a half hour drive. 

 

Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

 

Father, thank you once again for the incredible beauty of your creation – natural and humans.  Amen.

April 6 – “Spring Break Week in Utah, ladies and gentlemen”

Well, good ol’ Ruby came through with a pretty great breakfast buffet.  All in all, hotels will have a hard act to follow after Ruby’s Inn.  Of course last night we stayed at a brand new Comfort Inn and Suites in Hurricane, Utah.  This place even smells new. 

 

On the way to Zion National Park we saw a sight we have never seen before.  Now we of course have seen road kill of all shapes and sizes.  But for the most part, road kill still has some meat on the bones.  This time we saw what appeared to be a deer … skeleton.  I mean picked clean by the buzzards and other creatures and parched white from the sun.  Fascinating nature specimen, right?

 

When we finally arrived at Zion, Chris was driving.  Important later.  We came to a small tunnel while she was driving.   Chris doesn’t like tunnels.  She doesn’t even like driving under a railroad track, especially if a train is going over at the time.  She did well this time.  Of course it wasn’t very long …

 

Soon after the tunnel we changed drivers so Chris could be in the camera taking seat.  And just a few miles down the road … lo and behold … another  tunnel.  And oh, what a difference.  First, we had to wait a while before we could go through.  It was a one lane at a time deal.  And when we were released to go in, we had to turn on the lights.  Not a good sign for Chris.  And as we drove it became apparent that this one would be looooong.  Let’s just say she was … uncomfortable.  She managed to last through the whole thing without a panic attack or anything. 

 

We saw some pretty incredible sights just on the drive to the visitor center.  Hugely high mountains and hugely low canyons.  It was gorgeous.  After about a 20 or 30 minute drive once we were inside the park, we finally came upon the visitor center.  And so did a few hundred thousand others.  It is Spring Break Week in Utah, ladies and gentlemen.  And every family in the state is at Zion National Park, in case you are looking for someone you know.  It was like a summer day at DisneyWorld.  The sign to the parking lot said that it was full and all efforts to park there would be … futile.  Well, it didn’t really say that exactly, but it should have.  What it actually said was, “Park in town.”  Right.  Well, not to be denied, we did what every other driver was doing … we entered the parking lot anyway to see for ourselves before finally deciding to take their advice. 

 

We left the park and looked for a parking lot near one of the shuttle bus stops provided by the park.  (Insert Chuckle here). 

The cost to park your car was $50.  We drove clear to the other end of town with no luck.  So … Chris had a great idea.  Drive back into the park (the lines by this time, by the way, rivaled the aforementioned theme park), and drop her off at the visitor center.  She could get her stamp and see if they had any animals for adoption.  My job would be to cruise the full parking lot and look at people.  The idea worked really well.  I even managed to snag a “15 minutes only” parking spot.  And we did well inside, too.  She got her stamp and a few others they had as a bonus.  We managed to rescue a kangaroo rat.  They bounce around places like this all the time.  I sent out feelers for names on this one, since rats of all kinds rarely go by human names.  Read for this one?  From AnnaGrace: “Gus, and sometimes you can call him Gussy.”  Of course.  Gus.

 

What’s that?  What about the whole point of the trip to the park?  What about seeing the rest of the incredible sights?  Well … we decided it would be fruitless to pursue any attempt at parking.  We once again left the park and headed further west, where our hotel would be for the night.  But then Chris had a great idea.  about 20 minutes north there was another part of the park that is not actually connected to the main park.  It has its own entrance and everything.  It is much smaller, of course, but it had its own park stamp for Chris, so it was a double bonus.  We drove to the end of the only road in the park and found the entrance to the only “easy” trail marked on the map.  It was described as just one mile round trip, and on site is was described as “moderate.”  So which do you believe?  Easy or moderate.  Hey.  After what we accomplished on yesterday’s hike?  Let’s do it.  OK.  It was indeed exactly one mile total.  And there were some pretty good views of the canyon.  But they somehow managed to make it where you had to hike uphill … both ways.  And in some places you had to scamper over rocks. Loose and otherwise.  It was not by any means as hard as the one that nailed Chris, but it had its moments.  We made it all the way, though.  Hiking in Zion Park … check.  And since our hotel is just 20 minutes from the park, we decided to get in line by 7 a.m. or so to see if we can nab one of those visitor center parking spots.  That way we can get on the park shuttle and hopefully see everything and be done by around noon.  Then it’s on to the next place she has located, somewhere in northern Arizona, I think.

 

Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

 

Father, thank you for the surprise hike experience we had yesterday.  It is fun to meet all different kind of people from all over the world.  Amen.

April 5 – “Hoofing through huge hoodoos”

Boy, did we ever have a rude awakening Sunday night.  Either that or we experienced a brand new free adventure that was designed to be a surprise.  As we were settling into a good night’s sleep after another long day of travel and sightseeing, suddenly Chris sat up in bed and exclaimed, “Oh, gross!”  Apparently, whoever had the room before us had some “issues” with bed wetting.  The cleaning crew had simply changed the sheets and not even aired out the mattress.  As Chris’ weight hit the sheets, it caused the residue urine to seep through and onto her nightgown.  Needless to say, she got up right away and took a shower.  I was, for once, glad to be relegated to my usual small area of the side of the bed.  I was spared the “free soak.”  Fortunately, we had a second bed in the room, so we switched over to finish out the night.  Travelers … watch out for the Days Inn in Torrey, Utah.

 

Back to our more-anticipated adventures …

We headed from Torrey over to Bryce Canyon National Park.  We had to drive the scenic route that took us through the Grand Staircase National Monument.  That was a good thing, of course.  They had a stamp for Chris’ book.  And they had some pretty good overlooks.  We ended up climbing to a 9000 foot summit.  Well, the car did the climbing.  We’re not doing quite good enough to make that kind of trek on foot.  Chris was driving, and I confess to crashing after a while.  Mountain, I guess.  I just needed a nap.

 

Inside Bryce Canyon, we made our quick stop at the visitor center.  And there we found a cute little bear cub.  I thought at first this might be an anomaly, but there on a nearby sign was this admonition: “If you see a bear or mountain lion, please report it immediately to a park ranger as a wildlife sighting.”  Well, this little guy took to us right away.  Couldn’t turn him down.  And AnnaGrace had a great name for him.  Barrett the Baby Bear.  He and Daisy the mountain lion cub have become great friends.  We still haven’t found an available raven, though.  Maybe in Zion.

 

We chose our “first” hike of the day either wisely or totally nuts.  Both work.  It’s a perspective issue.  It by far displayed the prettiest, most stupendous sights in the whole park.  The hoodoos were huge and covered the canyon floor.  That’s right.  Hoodoos.  They’re like pillars of stone in weird shapes.  There is a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation for them, but who cares?  They were just amazing to look at.  Way to go, God!

 

But … (Yes, there was a “but”).  We had to walk almost straight down at least 300 feet.  Well, there was nothing “straight” about it.  Switchback after switchback for over half a mile, and we still weren’t to an actual “end.”  We checked out the hiking map and realized that the loop part of the trail was that place we passed a while back that said “Two Bridges.  Do not climb on bridges.”  And there was a chain across the path.  We were now on the track toward a totally different exit point way beyond where we started.  That explained why people were consistently passing us in the opposite direction.  So we joined the hordes trying to backtrack and get out of the canyon.  And that meant … that meant … we had to walk back up.  All the way up.  Guess what?  We found a hike that absolutely ate Chris’ lunch.  As awesome as she has done after cardiac rehab, she had more than met her match.  We had to stop numerous times so she could catch her breath and let her heart rate get back under control.  Don’t get me wrong.  I didn’t complain at any of the stops.  Neither did anyone else.  We chatted with several people, most of them much younger than us, who were taking frequent breaks as well.  One girl we met was from England, currently living in New Jersey.  She chatted with us until her parents caught up.  This was one seriously difficult hike.  Oh, and did I mention that it was the ONLY hike we took?  That one was enough.  My magic exercise watch gave me credit for going up 27 flights of stairs.  I think it missed a few dozen.  The rest of our Bryce Canyon was spent driving from one viewing point to the next.  Quite spectacular views.

 

We spent the night at a Best Western resort called Ruby’s Inn in Bryce Canyon City.  This Ruby must own most of the town.  Her name pops up everywhere.  And the post office is located in Ruby’s General Store, which is actually part of eth same building as hotel check-in and Ruby’s Cowboy-something-or-other Restaurant.  The staff checking us in wore nametags with their country of origin.  A guy from India helped us.  The lady next to him was from Georgia.  Yeah, kind of blew the whole country of origin thing.  They did have a great buffet for dinner, and the breakfast buffet was included in the price of the room.  Not exactly Make-your-own waffles.  That’s where we are heading now.  Then it’s on to Zion (The National Park, not the actual “Zion”).

 

Joshua 1:8 says, “Keep this book of the law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.”

 

Father, thank you for helping Chris get back up that canyon.  Me, too.  Amen.

April 4 – “Is it Spring Break?”

We went to Shelley and Arthur’s church yesterday.  That was a question we heard Shelley ask a young girl who appeared rather sad.  Here’s the rest of the exchange:

Shelley (Vibrantly and happily): “Is it Spring Break yet?”

Girl (Extremely sadly): “Yes.  It started yesterday.  But it only lasts a week.”

Shelley (Ever the optimist): “Well, that’s what everybody gets!”

 

It was fun to worship with a different group of believers, but we sure missed Seaside.  We had only one person actually speak to us.  That was a lady who mistook Chris for someone else.  There was also one guy who nodded at us, and I think he said hello.  I sure said it back, I hope convincingly.  I think they might need to learn how to take a risk to recognize visitors and actually speak to them.  Hey, that would be a good theme for the training: Risk to Recognize.  Sorry, I forgot I’m retired now.  The highlight of the worship experience was standing behind an older gentleman who was obviously into the worship.  He gently swayed and danced and lifted his arms in praise.  He was quite the inspiration.

 

Most of the day was spent in the car.  We got from Salt Lake City way in the North all the way down to Capital Reef National Park in south central Utah.  And since we were a little ahead of schedule (Perhaps thanks to Utah’s 80 mph speed limit on interstates), we drove right on into the park and did the scenic drive.  I suppose it would have been more spectacular had this been our first park of the trip, but after Arches and Canyonlands, these places are going to have to step up their game.  This one tried.  It also had a historical section with an old cabin that sold local stuff.  It was located in an orchard of some kind.  In fact they had a sign in the visitor’s center that said you could eat all the fruit you wanted … in the field.  Couldn’t load it up and take it home, though.  Of course, it was still way too early for fruit for us.  We enjoyed checking out the old cabin and an old one-room schoolhouse.  Chris sent a picture of that one to our favorite schoolteacher, KayLynn.  My favorite excursion of the day, though, was over to the pictographs.  There’s a different name for them that sounds like pterodactyl or something, but I can’t remember it.  But I did like the pictures that tell a story.  Imagine that.  The fun thing here involved the repeated warnings we saw not to vandalize the historic cliffs.  Seems people had been adding their own graffiti to that of the early Indians.  The challenge game among us tourists of course became trying to figure out which art was modern defacing and which was ancient scrawling.  Most of the time it was easy.  The ancient stuff was halfway up the face of the cliff.  And the modern doodles were obviously poor attempts to copy the existing markings.  We all got a kick out of one, though.  One picture was without a doubt, unmistakably, none other than Charlie Brown.  Pretty good likeness.

 

We splurged on dinner and went to a local steakhouse.  Actually we had little choice.  It was the only game in town in this tiny little burg just outside the park.  I had the northern version of a chicken fried steak.  They called it country fried.  Not sure what country.  It was not horrible, but definitely NOT chicken fried steak.  Paper thin steak, covered with a thin layer of some kind of batter and fried to a dark crisp.  Oh, and served with a peppercorn gravy.  Definitely NOT cream gravy.  So glad I told them to put it on the side.  So … definitely NOT chicken fried steak.  And Chris had a big salad that she said was the best she has had yet.  So supper served its purpose.  We were stuffed and ready to watch the women’s NCAA finals.  Sad that U Conn lost. By the way.  I like watching Paige Bueckers play. 

 

Psalms 27: 4 says, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

 

Father, help us be like Shelley and appreciate the gifts we receive in the moment.  Amen.

April 3 – “The Haystorm Effect”

John Stockton Blvd.  Yep.  That’s what the street sign read as we turned into downtown Salt Lake City.  Of course I thought of Josh, since that was his all-time favorite basketball player growing up.  Salt Lake City.  Home of the Utah Jazz, or whatever their name is now.  Also home to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and twenty-five or thirty … thousand other Mormons – all in the city center with us on this beautiful day in the neighborhood.  And what brought all these finely dressed and perfectly coiffured, teeming hordes of Mormons here at this exact moment?  Today was the first day of the first in-person general conference of Mormons since 2019. 

 

And the thousands of folks streaming into the convention center also brought out what I guess could only be described as “the other side.”  There were hate monger preachers carrying huge signs and literally screaming warnings to “Repent of your demon so-called religion!”  There were few other “comments” as well, not fit to be repeated.  Some were screamed into the air.  Others were directed directly at the faces of passers-by.  The conduct of the conventioneers was, for the most part admirable.  They simply ignored the “remarks” and continued on their way.  We couldn’t see that the screamers were doing any good at all.  There were, however, several other folks who were taking a radically different approach.  In fact one of them approached me.  All he did was smile kindly and offer me “something to read.”  It was a gospel tract.  I assured him that I was a kindred spirit, a Jesus believer.  His smile broadened even more, and we chatted for a while before moving on. 

 

Meanwhile Chris had struck up a conversation with a few nearby policemen.  They were everywhere, a presence to stave off any possibility of violence.  She asked them what there was that we could still do and see.  One of them assured her that we were free to walk around the square and see whatever we wanted.  “They won’t bother you,” he assured us.  He tried to point out a few sites of interest, but got kind of stuck at one point.  He asked his partner, “What was that guy’s name who started all this stuff?”  The partner didn’t know either, so I helped them out with a sort of questioning, “Brigham Young?”  “That’s the one!” he happily exclaimed.  We thanked him for his help and continued our stroll through the masses.

 

First off … the temple was under construction.  Not just minor renovations, either.  They were doing major structural changes to the foundation to prevent future damage from the earthquakes that occasionally hit the region.  I’m pretty sure every piece of scaffolding in Utah was in use around that building.  The building itself was pretty impressive, but this reconstructive effort was even more so.

 

We did get to see a few things, at least from the outside.  The Mormon Tabernacle where the choir sings, surprised me.  It is a modern structure that reminds me of the Texans’ practice facility – a white dome-looking thing.  There was also the Assembly house.  That was a church-like structure, but it had Star of David stained-glass windows.  That’s where we noticed something strange.  Everywhere we looked there were well-dressed people of all ages, some sitting on the lawn, others walking around.  But all of them were wearing some sort of ear buds.  And they were all intently listening to something.  We found out later they were all listening to the feed from the conference inside.  It felt like something from one of those futuristic society books – like 1984. 

 

Brigham Young’s house was open for business as usual.  We were given the grand tour of his house and his office.  We didn’t get to see the house next door that he built for some of his wives.  The docent was careful to try to explain that polygamy was practiced in the Bible, but it was only OK to do it if commanded directly by God.  Guess old Brigham got the memo.  Inside the house where he lived with one of his wives was his daughter’s bedroom.  And inside the bedroom, prominently displayed, was his daughter’s actual creepy, porcelain-headed doll.  I knew this was an eerie place.  We didn’t stay long.  From there we did stop by the Museum of Church History building.  We wanted to check out the gift shop.  It was like being in a ritzy hotel gift shop (not that I have been in one of those, but I have seen them in a movie).  We browsed a bit, but finally left.  The loudspeakers were all set to play that same feed from the conference going on.  We didn’t stay long.

 

After the Temple Square experience, we headed further north (almost to the actual Idaho) to Promontory, Utah.  That’s where they nailed the last spike – the Golden One – into the railroad connecting America’s East and West.  It’s a National Historic Site now.  Yes, Chris got a stamp for her book.  I found a jackrabbit on the tracks.  And I found out his name was not Jack.  He’s Wilbur.  Unexpected, huh?  I thought so. 

Chris drove us back into town while I slept.  She told me later that she drove through a hay storm.  New one on me, too.  I figured it was a Utah phenomenon.  Apparently, though, she got behind a truck pulling a trailer full of hay bales.  The hay was doing its best to escape his clutches and return to the wild, thus creating the Haystorm Effect.  Fascinating.  Hope that guy had some hay left when he got home.

 

We made a quick Walmart stop before heading on to our next destination, Antelope Island.  We were just replenishing our snack supply.  But Antelope Island was to be my shot at touching the water of the Great Salt Lake.  Well … we saw the Lake, all right.  And there were people touching it.  But it would have taken a hike of at least an hour just to get to it.  So, as those of us in the Covid generation are so fond of saying … NO TOUCH!  But I was not all that disappointed.  We saw some really pretty views of the mountains reflecting on the water.  Oh, and we saw a bison and some pronghorn antelope.  Those are the two live appeals of the Island.  They cooperated really well for us.  They even gave Chris time to switch to the zoom lens on her camera. 

 

On the way back we were finally able to connect with Arthur and Shelley, some friends we got to know through Josh’s church in Waco.  The took us out to an Italian place for dinner.  I couldn’t pronounce the name of it when I was looking at it, so I sure can’t replicate it now.  It was a fascinating place to eat, though.  Each room was set up with a kind of theme.  One in particular was their favorite, but we didn’t get to eat there.  We did walk past it, though.  It was called the Pope Room.  They had the head of a pope encased under glass in the center of the table.  That’s right.  And as you ate, he … watched you.  Glad we weren’t in the Pope Room.  It was really good Italian food – and lots of it.  But the company was even better.  Thanks again for a great memory, Shelley and Arthur.

 

Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we musty be saved.”

 

Father, thank you for friends we can reconnect with in the strangest of places.  Amen.

April 2 – “The Very Creepy Kid”

I started the day out with a modicum of success.  I pulled off an April Fool’s Day prank on Chris.  Not that I have EVER done anything like that before.  Just thought I’d try it on for size.  So, it was a simple thing.  I told her that Canyonlands National Park, our destination for the day, had just announced that they were requiring reservations just to get into the park.  Starting that day.  It had just enough potential truth in it to make it believable, since Arches Park is actually starting that practice tomorrow.  She bit hook, line and sinker.  Being the wonderful husband I am, though, I didn’t make her suffer long.  I confessed to the prank right away.  She only punched me once.

 

But speaking of Canyonlands …

When we headed that direction, I have to admit that I was kind of skeptical.  After all, the park was just a few miles away from the Arches Park on the other side of the freeway.  How different could it be?  Well, first of all, it was the freeway exit that was just a few miles away.  Once we took that exit, it was another … miles before we hit the actual camp entrance.  And the terrain was somehow completely different.  More vegetation.  Not all red.  Totally different landscaping.  This side was reminiscent of Colorado.  And here the views were down, rather than up.  It was, after all, CANYON Lands. 

 

We did several of the required mini-hikes to get to the viewing sites.  The hikes were easy.  The sites were stunning.  Photos just can’t do them justice.  Along the way we met an older couple from Georgia.  This is becoming a pattern, don’t you think?  Lots of “older couples” around here.  We met a young family from Chicago, too, so it’s not just an old folk’s home field trip by any means.  But the older couple was determined to get the best picture they could to send to their kids.  We understood that concept, so I became their “official’ photographer.  Every site they drove up behind us and I took a picture of them.  They returned the favor for us.  My favorite photo op was when we walked up on a couple that seemed to be posing precariously on the edge of a rather skimpy-looking cliff.  It was so perilous-looking that three ladies traveling together walked up and started yelling at them to come away!  It turned out to be a perspective issue, though.  When you got closer to them, you could see that there was a wide area beneath them, a mere four feet or so away.  Certainly a survivable fall.  We laughed together when we showed them the actual situation.  Pretty perfect April Fool’s joke, and they played it on themselves.  And of course after that they wanted a picture of themselves doing the same balancing act.  They were a bot goofier than the previous couple, though.  And yes, we jumped right up there for our turn as well.  Um … I jumped up.  Chris had to be dragged kicking and screaming.  But she made it.  Still wouldn’t get too close to the edge, though.  As were finishing up, who should arrive but … Georgia.  And of course, they wanted a picture, too.  How could we refuse?  It took a while, but they finally positioned themselves near the edge for the shot.  She even got a little feisty and threw her arms out to the side.  At the next pull out she told us that the last photo was for sure going to be their Christmas card this year.

 

We lost our Georgia friends when we elected to do a two-mile hike.  They passed.  Good thing.  As shaky as she was on her feet, there would have been no way she could have made this one.  We rated it as a moderately difficult hike.  We never had to scramble up cliffs or anything, but there were spots where Chris had to hang on to my arm or rest for a few minutes before continuing.  We made it all the way, though.  We even became masters at locating the trail markers – large stacks of rocks indicating which way to go next. 

 

We did have a few critter sightings.  The park bird, ravens, were everywhere.  Several chipmunks, of all things, crossed our path.  A few small lizards did, too.  And on the way out of the park, a cow crossed in front of us.  Speed limit at the time was 65 mph.  The cow was doing about point two.  The bonus baby we picked up to join us on the ride home?  Rudy Ruby.  He’s a red-throated hummingbird who always wanted to be a raven when he grew up, so every year he comes back to the park to hang out with them.  We assured him that he could have all he wanted to eat from the Geran’s bird feeder, and if he wanted to migrate north, Cailyn has a feeder in Santa Fe as well. 

 

Now … Chris found a new, uncharted site for us to visit.  It was called Sego Canyon.  You have probably never heard of this one.  It was supposed to have some ancient Indian graffiti on the cliff face.  Sounded interesting, so we decided to take a look.  Only the directions were strange.  The instruction Chris found online was something like, “Go through the town and past the railroad tracks …”  No address was given for Google Siri to look up.  And the final instruction he did give was, “Be prepared to park your car.  You will have to walk to your destination.”  Well, OK then.  We took the exit and started off.  Right away we could sense that this was something very strange.  We did find the town, but there was not a human being in site.  Well, except for the fake kid sitting on the side of the road.  And across the street from him was a sign that said simply, “Slow Down.”  We did.  As the road continued, it got progressively worse and worse.  Potholes everywhere.  Maybe 25 mph was as fast as you dared go.  And then there were the very deep dips in the road for water to pass through during the rainy season, I guess.  Chris drove about 2 mph through them.  Still heard the front bumper groan a bit.  We did see some Indian graffiti, though.  Very clear on the cliff face.  Now, according to Chris’ now-somewhat questionable online source, there was also a ghost town about five miles up that nearly impassable, now-dirt road.  Nope.  That ghost town with the creepy little kid directing traffic was enough for me.  Chris managed a back-up turn-around, and we were out of there.  I did wave to the kid as we left.  Even took his picture.  Hey.  Gotta keep the locals happy.  We rated this little side excursion right up there with Coon Dog Cemetery in Alabama.  First side trip ever to earn that distinction.

 

We finally made it back to the freeway and headed west.  Chris loved the 80 mph speed limit.  She did have to borrow my cap to fight the sun, though.  She was just a bit too short for the visor to do any good.  We made it into Lehi, Utah around seven and checked into our hotel.  We have two free nights there.  And after we checked in, we could see why.  The room was nice enough, I guess.  But  it felt like this one was a victim of time and maybe bad luck placement.  I guess it'll be OK for just two night, though, so we can check out Temple Square and a few other places around Salt Lake City (Like the Salt Lake).  We also have a few friends around here we hope to say hi to as well.

 

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

 

Father, thank you for driving with us through that eerie excursion.  And through yet another mountain pass.  Amen.

April 1 – “Arches Day”

Arches Day.  Kind of the goal of our whole experience, since it was the only place we were weren’t sure of getting into because of potential in-season restrictions as to how many they allow into the park.  After April 3^rd, you have to have an assigned entry ticket time.  Sounded difficult, so our only deadline this whole trip was to get there before April 3^rd.  Well, not so difficult for us after all.  we drove right up and presented our lifetime senior pass.  In and through.  Easy Peasy.  The visitor’s center wasn’t even open yet (We got there around 7:30), so we took the map the ranger at the front gate gave us and headed on in.

 

The terrain of the National Park – and of Utah in general - continued to be entirely different from anywhere else we have ever been.  All that red.  And the other thing I decided I was missing when comparing with Colorado … vegetation.  There just wasn’t much of it.  It is beautiful country, though.  And often awesome.  As Chris has said numerous times, “How can anyone see all this and not believe in God?” 

 

We started our hikes yesterday with one little one.  You know.  Easy Peasy.  Gave us some confidence and all.  Not sure what it was we looked at, but we made the hike all right, so it was on to the next one.  This hike took us to a place they call The Windows.  Guess because it looks like a couple of monstrous windows.  Imagine that.  But we were on a roll now.  That’s where we met some fun people who had ridden motorcycles through rain, sleet and snow – literally – from Spokane, Washington, to Albuquerque and even on into Texas.  They were on their way home, saw the sign, and decided to check the place out.  What a surprise for them!  We ended up seeing them off and on all day.  And they weren’t the only ones who didn’t mind stopping to chat.  I think that may be one of my favorite things about hanging out with retired people.  We even met a lady from Idaho.  And why is that so significant?  Because I have been calling the state we are currently investigating “Idaho” for the last three days.  So I guess I was just happy to be meeting a local …

 

One young couple approached us on the trail.  He was deep in explanation with her, and quite seriously intoned, “Those are definitely more mature.”  I waited until they passed us, then said to Chris, but just loud enough for them to hear, “Hey was talking about us, you know.”  They both turned around in horror at the thought that they had unintentionally offended a couple of old geezers.  But when they saw my huge grin, they knew I was kidding.  He did assure us that he was talking scientifically about the arches and NOT us.

 

The Sand Dunes Arch was another little hike.  This one was like walking on the beach to get to.  Seriously.  Well, with no water, of course.  Just sand.  Lots of sand.  Adults were plodding through the loose stuff.  Several children were digging in it.  Just like being on Jamaica Beach on a summer weekend.  But no water, of course.  I miss water.  Lots of pictures were being taken.  We took a photo of a couple we met, and they returned the favor.  I think they were the ones who recommended a place to eat barbeque.  More about that later.  The second half of this hike involved walking a mile or so to see what they called The Broken Arch.  I wasn’t sure why we would want to walk so far to see something that was broken anyway.  We made it, though.  And it was still intact.  We did see a crack down the middle, but I guess it was safe enough for thousands of people to crawl under it every year. 

 

Somewhere in there we took a hike to see The Delicate Arch from quite a distance away.  Why?  Because the parking area for the actual hike up to that site (three miles) was full.  Phew.  We did finally get into that lot later in the day.  We did not, however, attempt that three miler.  Instead, we walked over to the area where they have discovered a lot of picture that early artists (Like, very early artists) painted on the side of the mountain.  There’s a word for it, but it’s a mouthful.  Besides, I can’t remember it right now, and it is just … nonessential information.  Another perk of retirement.  The pictures were great.  Told a story of Indians apparently hunting mountain goats with, in the words of the explanation placard, “dog-like creatures.”  Gee.  I wonder if maybe the dog-like creatures were actually dogs. 

 

By the end of the day, I think we had hiked just about every possible route (except that one long one).  I even picked up one unexpected souvenir, given that it has been so cold.  I now have a syndrome affectionately called, “Rudolph Nose.”  Guess we need to find some suntan lotion.

 

We finally headed to the front gate and made our way into the now-open visitor’s center.  After some searching, Chris found a Christmas ornament.  I located one of the most unusual creatures I have yet to add to our menagerie.  We saw evidence of them in the park – hidey holes and the like – but still have never seen one in person.  It was a hooded lizard.  The kind that stands on its hind legs and runs.  Think Jurassic Park, those cute little adorable critters that spit acid, only a much smaller scale.  And without the acid.  This dude’s name is Sammy.  Nickname of Speedy.  He’s proud of that one.  He and CC are already inseparable pals.  Quite a pair.  Guess because they come from the same region and don’t generally try to eat each other.  I was excited to hear his name.  Kind of like an homage to our own Sammy at Seaside.

 

We ended the day with barbeque.  Not sure what kind, but it came highly recommended by that couple we met.  I suppose it was wonderful if you are from Idaho.  But, Toto … we’re not in Texas anymore.  After supper we made it back to the hotel in time to watch Texas A&M get defeated – barely – by Xavier.  Great back-and-forth game.  A&M just looked tired, though.  Kind of like I was last night.

 

Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

 

Father, thank you for the people we are meeting from all over the country.  I really like that part.  Amen.