Back on the Ranch

     All good things come to an end.  We are back in Hainesport, mowing the grass that grew and raking the leaves that fell (Mike), and nursing a wicked cold (me).  The dog has finally stopped jumping on us, and the laundry is done.  The travel turducken (a fanny pack inside a backpack inside a suitcase) is in the attic.
     Hainesport doesn't have hoodoos or fantastic gorges.  At just 49 feet above sea level, there aren't any good views.  There's also no danger of altitude sickness.  There are no casinos, no dormant volcanoes, and no tumbleweeds.  Hainesport has something better than those things. Hainesport holds my history and my heart.  It's the the place where the best man in the world and the best dog in the world live with the best blogger in the world (sorry, I had to throw that in). There's no place like home.

Route 66, Grand Canyon Caverns, and More

     We traveled a good stretch of Route 66 from Ash Fork, AZ to Kingman, AZ.  Trading in nostalgia seems to be the main business in the small towns along this road.

Ash Fork, AZ.

Seligman, Az.

They serve buffalo burgers in Seligman.

Seligman.  One of these mannequins was dressed as Elvis.

Mike waiting for the elevator to descend 210 feet into the earth.  The first visitors to the cave were lowered on ropes.  They were called dopes on a rope.   History of the caverns:  http://www.gccaverns.com/about/history/

The caverns are so dry (humidity 6%) that this poor guy died and mummified after falling in.  There is no life in the caverns due to the dryness - no bugs, no bacteria, nothing.

My best impersonation of a mummified bobcat.

During the Cold War years, the cave was set up as a fall out shelter capable of sheltering 2,000 people.  The food, water, and toilet paper remains.

An old fossil on a petrified log, outside the caverns.

          After the caverns, it was time to head back to Vegas, But not before a few more side trips. First, we bounced down a dirt road for five miles to see the ghost town of Mineral Park, AZ.  Then we stopped to photograph a medical marijuana dispensary.  I never saw one of those before.  I would have gone inside for a look around, but I didn't have a prescription.  Finally, we stopped to look around a junk yard.  Things don't rust away in the desert, so these old cars were in pretty good shape.  Check out the Youtube video of the junk yard.  

Mineral Park, AZ.

If you get permission from the current mining operation, you can roam the ruins.  Here's a website about the town: http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/mineralpark.html

All you need is a prescription from Dr. Feelgood!

I wonder how much they are asking?

Nice grill.

Slide Rock State Park and Sedona, Arizona

     Slide Rock State Park is located in Oak Creek Canyon and was originally Frank L. Pendley's homestead and apple orchard.  Pendley visited the area in 1907.  By 1910, he figured out how to establish an irrigation system, so he acquired the land under the Homestead Act.  By 1912, he established his first orchard.  The present day park is named after the slippery bottomed creek that runs through the property.  The Slide is an 80 foot shoot that is worn into the sandstone.  It sounds like the water slide at the shore, doesn't it?

The area with white water is The Slide.

The water must have been cold - not too many people got in.  I had to get close to the edge to get these shots.  Mike backed away from me "because they blame the husband first."

Frank Pendley's home.

What remains of one of the tourist cabins Frank Pendley built in 1933.  By that time, Oak Creek Canyon was accessible by roadway, and the area was popular with tourists.

Packing house and some old farm equipment.

Mike checking out some antiques in front of one of the old orchards.

Some fruit going to waste.  The public is invited to pick apples for reasonable prices.

The town of Sedona is so red.  The concrete used to make the sidewalks and curbs is dyed pinky-red.  These musical instruments were donated by Freenotes Harmony Park.   They sound really nice, even when the players are not very talented! 

Even the shirts in Sedona are red.

Flagstaff, Arizona

     We were impressed with the city of Flagstaff.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flagstaff,_Arizona  It's a college town, home to Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College.  We enjoyed watching the kids come and go to the NAU campus near our hotel.  We missed out on our Colorado River rafting adventure because of the national park closings, but we found plenty of things to do in Flagstaff.
     The Riordan's were one of the founding families of Flagstaff http://riordanactionnet.org/.  Matt, Timothy, and Michael Riordan came to Flagstaff from Chicago.  They were drawn by the lumber business.  It was only a matter of a few years until they went from employees to owners of the Ayer Lumber Mill.  They gave back to their community in many ways, but their most significant gift was Lake Mary, a reservoir that provides water to this day.

Timothy and Michael Riordan married sisters, Carolyn and Elizabeth Metz.  They decided to build their homes side-by-side with a one story family room connecting the sides.  Their compound has been called the biggest duplex in Flagstaff.  

What a pretty entry.

Stained glass in the dining room windows.

They called to room that connected the two sides "the cabin."

It seems that new visitors to Flagstaff can suffer a mild case of altitude sickness.  This can occur from 4,900 - 11,500 feet above sea level, especially if one becomes dehydrated.  Flagstaff's elevation is 7200 feet.  Symptoms are headache (like a hangover), feeling tired, and being short of breath upon exertion.  Symptoms usually go away in three days.  The museum warned visitors to drink plenty of water, and they offered these folding chairs for the tour.

After touring the Riordan Mansion, we went to Meteor Crater, the largest impact crater discovered so far in the United States.  The crater is not a national monument because it is privately owned.

Steven, our tour guide, showed us a chunk of the meteor that slammed this spot 50,000 years ago.  They don't worry about anyone walking off with this artifact because it weighs 1,406 pounds.

Besides the short trail on the rim, there are several observation decks.  Each telescope is pointed at a specific spot inside the crater.

Only scientists and film crews ("Starman") can go inside the crater.  The rest of us have to stand in front of this big poster. 

And here I am, pretending to be at ground zero.

          Our final stop this day was the Lowell Observatory.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Observatory  We were surprised to learn that the Lowell telescope mirror is only 24 inches in diameter.  This telescope is used today for public education. Mike and I peered through it to observe a far away star cluster.  Lowell Observatory has built the big boy of telescopes on a hill near Happy Jack, Arizona.  It's called the DCT or Discovery Channel Telescope because it was funded mostly by the Discovery TV network.  The mirror on the DCT is 14 feet in diameter.  If you have 42 minutes, watch this very interesting documentary about the construction of the DCT's mirror and the Happy Jack facility.

Alternatives to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

     By "alternatives," I might mean other things to do when the North Rim is closed.  Or I might mean alternative ways to get to the rim - ways that involved sneaking past rangers.
     We decided to travel as close to the Canyon as legally possible.  Our route took us through the Kaibab National Forest.

Kaibab National Forest.

The sign explains that Navajo vendors rent table space at rest stops and scenic pull offs.  The profits from table rentals go to charitable causes.

This lady allowed me to take a picture of her and her wares.

A new bridge going over the Coloado River.

The old bridge remains for foot traffic.  That's how I got a shot of the slow moving, muddy Colorado. 

A local told us how to take logging roads through the forest to the North rim.  We would have been game if we had ATV's.  Since we had a rented Kia Soul, we decided to pass on the dirt road and hiking trails that would get us to the canyon's edge.      

The "rez" was a little depressing from a middle class, white viewpoint.  From the highway, it seemed to be a place where people lived in small settlements.  Those settlements were made up of trailers, double wides, modular homes, round or octagonal structures, and some half finished (and now abandoned) homes.  There were lots of vehicles - old and new - and pieces of equipment everywhere.    

The traditional Navajo home was called a hogan.   It was built of logs and mud.  The door was open to catch fresh air and the sun.  The roof had a hole for venting away smoke, germs, and all the other bad stuff.  The practice of living in hogans declined in the 1900's when the Navajo took to living in mobile homes.  Now the hogan is built for religious or ceremonial purposes.  In the 1990's, a program began which adds indoor plumbing to hogans and allows the Navajo to return to living in them.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogan

We also saw tires on the roofs of mobile homes.  The tires serves several purposes.  First, storms bring high winds, so tires prevent the roof from lifting off.  Mobile home roofs are prone to more vibration from wind.  The tires cut down on the vibration and noise.  Lastly, tires are placed over vents.  The wind often blows out pilot lights on water heaters.  Having a tire deflect the wind prevents pilots from blowing out. 

     What seems like neglect starts to make sense when you read about Navajo belief and tradition.  The Navajo have an aversion to death and a respect for any place where a person has died.  If someone has died in a house or hogan, the structure is abandoned and left to decompose naturally.  No one else will move in, and no one will recycle the building materials.  Of course, with these beliefs, no on wants to die at home.  Those near death are removed from the home.  When death comes, only a few people closest to the the deceased, willing to expose themselves to spirits from the netherworld, prepare the body and bury it.  There's not a lot of outward expression of grief when someone passes.  The Navajo believe too much emotion can interrupt a spirit's journey to the next world.

Bryce Canyon, Utah

     We were able to see a little of Bryce Canyon from private land.  The owners of Ruby's Inn let everyone park on their property and hike on their piece of the rim.  The rock formations were not the best the canyon has to offer, but it was better than nothing.

These rock formations are called hoodoos.

   

This is how my shoes started the day.

This is how my shoes ended the day.  Here's a little tip: If you don't have shoe polish, use hand lotion or Vaseline to restore leather shoes.

   

Thank goodness for the laundry facilities at the Hampton Inn.

"It's Not the Destination, but the Journey"

     That's a good philosphy when all the destinations are closed.  We thought we were going to miss out on Bryce Canyon, but rumors were circulating at breakfast that part of the canyon rim was privately owned and open to tourists.  We were off, going through Zion to Mount Carmel, then heading north on Utah Route 89.
     Route 89 is also called the Heritage Highway.  http://www.utahheritage.com/  We traveled it from Mount Carmel at the Zion exit, north to the Route 12 turn off toward Bryce.  That's how we discovered Merlin Figgins and his Orderville, Utah woodworking shop.

Merlin says tour buses stop to photograph his sign.

     We were intrigued since the specialty of this shop seemed to be custom caskets.  It was 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon,  so we didn't expect to do anything except photograph the sign.  As it turned out, we met the owner, Merlin Figgins, and we were treated to a tour of the shop.
   

Merlin Figgins.  The woodworking business is a family affair.  Merlin's wife helps.  His wife's sister does custom wood burning to represent the deceased's favorite pastimes. 

Pine Casket.

Merlin's friend makes decorative arrowheads.

Cremation Urn.

     Here's an article I found online about Merlin:  http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=2588858&itype=NGPSID

     Here are some interesting pictures taken by photographer John Telford along Route 89: http://us89society.org/RoadTripGuides/ColoradoPlateau/SpanishForktoBrighamCity/JohnTelfordPortfolio/tabid/219/Default.aspx

     Here's the very interesting history of Orderville, Utah: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orderville,_Utah