8/17/2014 0 Comments From August 13 - 15 #Gr8USrdTrp
After that, we replenished some supplies, then made our way over to Mesa Verde, where the Anasazi cliff dwellings were carved into the cliffs over 1,000 years ago. Oh my, what a dream come true to see those! I’ve always wanted to visit them. Yet in all my years of wanting to go there, I always imagined it different. I had just assumed that one could see them from the bottom of a canyon, or a road drove by that would let us look up and see them. No, not the case. One must be on TOP of the mesa in order to see these cliff dwellings. Practically as scary as the Grand Canyon. I drove up that mountain, which was the only way I could handle the heights, and made it nearly the whole way before I had to stop in order to calm my nerves. The park there has done a good job of making the entire experience very educational though. We didn’t just go look and see, then go home. They have a Mesa Top Loop that you drive through. There are ten or so different stops along that loop, each one is a spot where an excavation had found some Anasazi village remains. We learned about Pithouses, Kivas, and sun temples, all on little flat patches, covered with pinyon trees and small bushes. The ground is a spongy, springy type of reddish loam, very comfortable to walk on, actually. I wanted to see the cliff dwellings though – so while the villages on top of the mesa are truly fascinating, I was very excited to finally see one of the complexes carved into the cliff face. Thing is, in order to see them you are perched on a ledge (yes, with a good fence) and pointed across a canyon to them. They are quite easily seen, plus there are binoculars stationed at each ledge to get a real closeup view. They don’t picture all that well from that distance though, at least not most of them. A couple are actually very close, and you can see them very clearly without the binoculars.
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August 12 The Grand Canyon is a beautiful place! Try standing on the edge though. My children have far less fear than I do. My husband braved all the way out on Mather Point lookout, standing along the rail with the crowds of other people. I, on the other hand, barely made it down the first set of stairs…and that only after my three eldest cajoled me into it. I was the comedic break for several complete strangers, but quite a few others looked at me knowingly and sympathetically. I nearly shut down when Alicia stood on a spot that made it look like she was on the edge. I dutifully took pictures – at least one of which clearly shows Alicia’s expression of ‘I’m fine Mom, quit freaking out.’ The kids loved it all. Thankfully they were quite content with not acting like they were falling off, so they didn’t purposely give me a heart attack. We finally left ‘death’s edge’, and began the trek up to Utah, with just a little detour south. …………………………………………………………. We’re now at the point of our trip where I’ve never ever been before. In my travels I’ve followed Hwy 40 from Milwaukee a couple times, or Hwy 80 going the northern route. This area, upper Arizona and Utah, isn’t on that route. So for me this is wonderfully new. So, going through the northern part of Arizona towards Utah – there’s so much emptiness out here. Looks at times like Monument Valley, though we’re really not in that area right now. There are large buttes of red rock rising all along the highway, and scattered along the base of those buttes there are small, ramshackle houses and outbuildings, little settlements, usually just enough for one family, maybe two. I can only imagine what it must be like, living way out here, away from everyone else. At one point near Kanab, AZ, John had to go potty (of course), so we stopped. (After he screamed, ‘Nature’s calling! No, Nature’s Yelling!’) When we stopped, the quiet was so utterly complete that you could hear it. We were totally alone on the road – coming from Burbank where there’s always the roar of traffic, planes overhead, cars, people nearby, this was a profound quiet. (Even with John around. :D) Yes, I took photos of the entire place, even video to illustrate. Then we turned off Hwy 89, and crossed the Colorado River. Right on the other side was another little settlement, right on the rim of part of the river. It looked like the canyon dropped out from behind their property. It’s astounding, and inspiring, where people will live. After that, there were miles upon miles of just plain emptiness. No one’s here, then suddenly a house will pop up. Some are abandoned, but many are not. One tiny house had a lovely car in front of it. Another bigger house had at least twenty cars scattered around the property, under trees, next to barns, near pasture gates. Right now, our eldest daughter is driving, and I’m looking out the window over dunes and crags and hazy bluffs in the distance. There’s a gorgeous sunset, orange-bottomed clouds stretching across a purple and blue sky, deep purple-gray buttes in silhouette. But then it got too dark to see outside much, and the road turned into a twisty mountain road that took more concentration. This leg of the trip also took longer than we’d expected, so by the time we pulled up to our friend’s house it was nearly 10:30pm. We spent the night, had a great time of fellowship the next day, and went to church with them on Wednesday. My husband taught the adult class, and the people there were just so nice. The congregation was so nice, and we really enjoyed fellowshipping with them. Though they’ve been in that area for almost 30 years, they’re a small group, so pray for Grace Baptist Church in Washington, Utah. We’ll be spending Thursday here in Utah again, possibly going on to Colorado Thursday night or Friday morning. We will be in Cortez, Lebanon, and Pueblo in the next few days. We want to visit Mesa Verde, to see the cliff dwellings. My grandmother lived for several years in Lebanon, going to a one-room-schoolhouse that I want to see, and her old house is still standing last I heard. So it’ll be a neat time of finding some of my old roots. 8/10/2014 0 Comments BeginningsThe sun will be flooding the sky in the morning with radiant golden light, reaching ever further in it's attempt to burn off the early morning smog/fog that typically blankets Burbank this time of year. It's going to be hot, I can tell already (mostly because the weather lady said it, but here in CA we believe our weather forecasters). We however, will be well on our way to Prescott Valley, Arizona by the time our six children rub the sleep blearily from their poor little eyes. They'll be tucked securely in their assigned Tahoe seats, and probably wrapped up in blankets which are entirely too warm for the weather, but who says this trip is going to remain logical? Yes, we're setting out. Get ready, here we come! |
Chamblee FamilyYes, all eight of us, in a Chevy Tahoe, driving across the country in an epic search for history, adventure, and a little bit more leg space in the back seat. Archives
October 2014
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