Price, Utah

May 18-20

Utahrapter and The Great Hunt

It was time to make our sojourn west crossing into Utah once again we stopped at a welcome center. With brochures in hand and winds at our back and the advice of a route, we were one our way to Price Utah. Poppie and Gram wanted to see more rock art so the next became destination was Price Utah. It had a great museum of dinos and Native American culture. This museum had the most recent discovery (2002), of the Utahraptor, the largest of the raptors discovered to date, now that was really cool!


I knew Poppie and Gram still were on the hunt for the rock art in the area so I introduced them to the right person at the museum and she told them about The Nine Mile Canyon. This became the highlight of their trip besides me.

Early in the morning hoping to escape the warm temps we headed up The Nine Mile Canyon with lots of water, lunch and a full tank of gas as directed. The trip was actually an 8 hour drive due to narrow, dirt, and windy roads, with no services available and allowing for stops and a lunch break. This trip was to find rock art and dwellings of the Fremont people, 1000 AD. Once again Gram watched for the rock art and cliff dwelling and Poppie watched the road. Successions of people have lived in this canyon for 8000 yrs. The Fremont people inhabited this canyon for 1000 years and then disappeared. Artifacts and artwork are all that remain in this outdoor museum. The canyon is filled with the mysteries of their life. The prize of the day was finding The Great Hunt.

It was a day of adventures and finds and so much more waiting to be discovered. We left with a strong desire to return. Our hearts have truly been touched by what we have seen of the past and we look forward to a return trip in the future.

The last day in Price we explored the town. It is a small mining town, much like a step into the past. One shop had been open since the early thirty’s. The daughter had taken it over and she is probably in her early eighties and her daughter is now stepping in. Many empty shops lined the main street, but they said they hadn’t noticed a decline in business. Other than that the brides were registering on line for gifts and they were struggling to regain their business. Good old Walmart seems to be holding its own on the outskirts of town. I must say that through our travels when there were no Costcos and no Trader Joes, Walmart became the place to shop actually their grocery prices were great. The gas prices were great in Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Colorado. We have experienced sticker shock since.


We have had travel days heading toward home with a two day stop in the wine country (Tri-cities). We look forward to our return because we know this has been a long trip for Olivia and she is anxious, as we are, to be with Jackson and attend his last preschool program of the year. Up to now Olivia hasn't found a Dairy Queen, but Poppie knows exactly where one is on South Hill.


Olivia, thank you for the memories, you have made this trip one we will always remember.

PS-I am really exhausted.

Love,

Olivia

Grand Junction, Colorado

May 15-17
Poppie and Gram weren’t quite ready to turn west yet. Olivia pointed the way east to Grand Junction, Colorado. There is a Dinosaur museum along with an on going dig on site. But we soon found out that the digs started the first of June, we were one month early. We enjoyed looking at the dino displays. Poppie and I stood really close to a raptor while Gram did a little digging for fossils on her own. Jackson, I stayed away from the T-Rex as you had suggested, he didn’t look very friendly.

Poppie was happy to find out that Grand Junction was the “grape” growing region of the state and spring barrel tasting was going on while we were there. I’m not sure why Poppie enjoys tasting the barrels; I think grapes would taste much better.

Gram found another Museum in Grand Junction that she said was well done. It displayed items of the Native Americans and uranium mining that highlighted the cities history.

We started the day shopping in the Grand Junction area. Gram took a picture that was the prize of the day, unfortunately the bakery was closed.

I helped Gram find a couple of consignment shops in town as she was on the hunt for cowboy boots under $200. The hunt continued until the boots were found. My feet were tired and I didn’t find any to fit my little feet but she did.

Poppie did a little shopping of his own. Trying to find just the right western look.

Gram showed me where the antique shops were. That is really, really old stuff. Next thing I know she is walking down the street with a big smile on her face carrying something called a metal typewriter table. Got me, I think Gram must be really old but she was able to carry the table down the street. Poppie was shaking his head trying to figure out how to fit it into the truck.

Sunday morning was another beautiful day as were all the others. Gram packed a lunch and off we were to a small town called Rifle (glad Gram had her boots). Gram and I wondered around the small western town while Poppie sat and chatted with the locals. From there we drove up to Rifle Falls State Park, a place that Uncle Scott told me about. It was a very busy place and parking was at a premium so with direction we found a spot to park. We enjoyed the beautiful falls and walked around the falls with limestone caves that had calcium deposits making the whole experience a little spooky.

Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

May 13-15
A new day and on to new sights; Canyonlands and Arches National Parks were next on Olivia’s agenda. But first we stopped in the town of Blanding. Poppie and Gram wanted to stop at a museum that was full of old (700-1200AD) things that were really old and many of the things were broken. They were part of a Puebloan village (a small town). Gram just kept taking pictures and I just kept looking for a Dairy Queen. I don’t think that village had one.


In hopes of finding a Dairy Queen we continued on through Canyonlands with beautiful red spires on both sides of the road. We arrived at our camp location north of Moab and Arches. I didn’t see any Dairy Queen but I did make a new friend, Otis. He loved to go on motor cycle rides with his family. Otis did like to play a little rough so Gram took me home. While Otis was out for a ride Poppie took us to a place called Dead Horse Point in Canyonlands. It looks like the Grand Canyon! I enjoyed making my own friends-a wild turkey, ravens and a mountain sheep made by an artist from Friday Harbor. It was so beautiful and we didn’t see any dead horses or any Dairy Queens!



Arches National Park is near Moab. It is a great place for hiking biking and four-wheeling. The RV Park we stayed in was full of bikes and ATV’s. Poppie said his truck had four wheels so we went for a drive. I didn’t want to tell Poppie but our wheels didn’t look like the ones I saw, but I didn’t want to spoil Poppies fun so I just pretended that we looked like them.

We did go on some hikes during our stay. One of the hikes was to a place called Delicate Arches. It took several hours but it was so worth it. The arch was beautiful and the view was breath taking. While we were there we met and group o students from the Colorado School of Mines on a field study for two weeks. They had a lot of information to share with us. We also met two ladies from Lynnwood, small world isn’t it? While they were busy visiting I was making some friends of my own. (The sculpture artist was from Friday Harbor).

The welcome centers continued to be such great resource and Arches was no exception. We were given additional information for hiking, sightseeing and rock art in the area. One rock art site was described as turning right at McDonalds. I found that very entertaining but Poppie continued with these directions until we were on a narrow dirt road with the ATV’s. Gram gets so excited during the search while Poppie worries about finding a why to turn around. We found a one-hundred foot wall of rock art. In fact there was a couple studying the area. He was a physics instructor at Colorado School of Mines. His wife was in Archeology at U of C. so they were a great match. He had invented an instrument that measured the magnesiamoxide built-up over time dating the time on the inscriptions. She pointed one out rock art that dated back to 500AD. (Poppie and Gram were all ears). Needless to say I got a board with this conversation, but Poppie and Gram said it was a highlight of the trip. To me old is old and I think Jackson's pictures on the frig in the trailer are much better. The people told Poppie where he could turn the truck around after we saw one more piece of rock art on down the road, so I say, what’s one more picture. We drove even further down the road. I think he was looking for a Dairy Queen too. He’s my man!

Good-bye for now-Olivia

Monument Valley

May 10-12

Leaving Mesa Verde was another day of adventure to Monument Valley. Stopping off to visit the “Four Corners”, but Olivia told us that with satellite Tec the marker is 2 miles off. So we paid $3 each, excluding pigs to stand on the wrong spot! We did enjoy the fry bread and visited with an artist in action-nationally known for his pottery work. He talked about his heritage and culture giving us a new appreciation for the native peoples.


The closer we got to Monument Valley regal looking red rock formations and road-side jewelry stands emerged. The valley is very wide requiring side trips without the trailer. We arrived at Gouldings RV Park (A Gouldings community) a red rock canyon with blue sky.

The Gouldings bought a large piece of property and encouraged film makers to produce movies in this area. They came and brought John Wayne and continue to make movies on location. Now under new ownership there is a museum honoring the Gouldings life story along with a room featuring photographer Josef Muench from Germany who fell in love with the area. Our son-n-law Chris is not sure if they are related but, Olivia is thrilled to be going home to live with Jackson “Muench”.


Olivia told us about a side trip we needed to take because it was like going on a ride at the fair. The road had a 10% grade with many switch backs, 5 mph single lane with “occasional” pull-outs. It took our breath away (mine anyway). After many switch backs we reached the mesa in great relief. Olivia you really took us for a ride. The mesa was wonderful it was flat and the rock formations and canyons



that were very different from what we had seen with cactus blooming and cattle wondering on the road and a much gentler road returning home.













Good-bye for now, Olivia

Mesa Verde

May 6-9

After we set up the trailer just outside of Mesa Verde National Park, we headed for the city of Cortez, Colorado. I told Gram there some neat things I wanted to show her. The first was a very large Navajo rug made over 100 years ago and the other was a very smart dog that could do clever tricks.

By the time we returned to camp it was getting dark. I showed Poppie the mesa we would drive up and around to get to Mesa Verde. Then I said good night to my new friend.

The next day I woke Gram and Poppie up bright and early. I knew we had to get to Mesa Verde early before it got too warm. I knew we would be walking through some very old pueblos built between 1200 and 1300 AD. When we arrived at the first pueblo I showed Gram and Poppie where we were headed. The Cliff House was built on the side of a cliff and inside a cave. Ranger Steve was our tour guide. He said over 500 people lived here. I had a hard time deciding which room was mine, but then I discovered the highest structure and I knew that's where I belonged. Now where's the elevator? They grew their crops on the top of the Mesa which was several hundred feet above them. What a climb they must have had to get up and down those cliffs and with no elevator.

Poppie kept asking me if we were going to see any wild life. Well all I could come up with was a lizard. It was just too warm for the other animals to be out.

We saw several other pueblos, small and large. The one that was as interesting as Cliff Palace was Balcony House. There was actually a balcony extended out from the pueblo where the children could safely play while their mothers worked.

Our day ended with another moonlit night.

The next day I had them up early again. We were going to take a trip high up into the mountains on a narrow, curvy road. I told Poppie he had better be wide awake while he was driving today. We started at the town of Durango, CO and then headed north up into the mountains.

Then we came to the town of Silverton high in the mountains. We had time to look over the train that traveled from Durango. What do you think, Jackson? Pretty neat! Oh, yes, there were some shops for Gram.

Well now it was time to continue back to our trailer. So we started but we didn't go down we still went higher into the mountains. We went over two mountain passes that were each over 10,000 feet high. We were now in the snow. We went by a ski resort called Telluride. Poppie said it was too bad we couldn't stop and ski awhile. But we continued now going down faster and faster-until we were back home to our trailer. Oh! What a trip! And Poppie was wide awake all the time.

Good-bye from Mesa Verde, Olivia