July 15, 2007

Sunday July 15th - St. George, Utah to Flagstaff, Arizona

The last morning for Elderhostel. I was in the lobby after breakfast and the big group from the Colorado River float arrived. The coordinator asked me to take their group photo, so I did, and also photos from about 12 other cameras. It was interesting using all the different cameras! After that the people thought I was part of the staff and thanked me for taking the photos, some came to me with questions and problems :-)

We had a big day of travel planned so we left about 9:30 a.m. -- we don't seem to get a move on any earlier, and traveled back through Hurricane and along 89Alt. I decided to drive through Colorado City, Arizona, to see more of the town. Many of the three-story homes looked very nice, but there was not a sole on the streets, except one teenage boy. But he smiled and waved to us. It being Sunday and already a sizzling temperature contributed to the lack of people outside, I imagine.

We had passed a place called Pipe Spring National Monument yesterday, so I thought it would be a good place to stop and visit today. And it was a very interesting place. It has quite a wild west fort history, protecting the settlers from the Navaho who would raid the Paiutes and settlers in the Arizona Strip. A fort built with thick stone walls and an interior safe area, and called the Windsor Castle, after the builder. It became a Mormon tithing cattle ranch outpost of the region in 1870, gathering cattle from the area Mormons, making tons of cheese at the Castle, and taking them all to St. George twice a month. We got our National Park passport book stamped here, and at every place we could think of. The old fort is nicely maintained and they have a big garden and guided tours through the "castle." A fresh water spring runs into the house and provides a cool place to make and store cheese. The spring then flows into two large ponds. A vital and much appreciated innovation at Windsor Castle was a telegraph system that was constantly monitored for word of any approaching Indian raiders. Although there were gunports in the castle, the inhabitants never had to fire from them as in 1872 peace was made with the Navaho.

Our goal was to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park, so we pushed on into the Kaibab National Forest to Jacob Lake and turned south on Hwy 67 towards the North Rim Lodge. It looked like hundreds of acres of pine were destroyed in the lightening set fire from last year. The tall ponderosa pine trees were burned black for miles as we drove along the plateau. There was a beautiful long strip of meadow land as we got into the park, and we saw a hungry looking coyote loping across the meadow into the aspen and pine trees. There were also limestone sinkholes turned into round ponds here and there. But at last we arrived at the Lodge on the North Rim and got our first look at the Grand Canyon. How awesome and immense it is.

We got our passport stamps then entered the lodge and it's observation sites. It was windy but not hot, as it is about 7000 feet in elevation. Not wanting to be without food we went to the deli and got some pizza slices to fill us up - oh yes, and soft serve ice cream. We walked down Bright Angel trail a ways, the trail that is connected with "Brighty" of the Grand Canyon, a smart little burro that was a true character of the canyon. The thunder and lightening was off in the distance and was creeping towards us with warning sprinkles. We took the hint and sadly moved on in the truck away from the Canyon. We stopped at a Ranger Station around Jacob Lake and got another passport stamp, then stopped by the place next door for more ice cream.

The route back on 89 Alt was stunning! I didn't know that the drive was going to be so magnificent! The highway is called the "Vermillion Cliffs Highway" as it descends down the plateau and skirts the Vermillion Cliffs over to the Colorado River on the south side of the Glenn Canyon. Much to my surprise there was a walking bridge over the River so after crossing on the vehicle bridge, we stopped and walked back, taking photos and peering way way down at the River.

We were in Navajo Tribal lands now and barren land it was. There was not much but desert scrub land and some cattle for many miles. At last we connected with the Highway that took us to Flagstaff and checked into the Super 8 Motel. Unfortunately - or fortunately - we were right next door to a "Cracker Barrel" restaurant, so Braden reminded me that he hadn't had dinner yet... it was 8pm. So we went to dinner.

July 14, 2007

It was time to leave Ruby's and fabulous Bryce Canyon. After breakfast at Ruby's we headed back to St George. We retraced our path until we got to Mt. Carmel Jct. then took US 89 south to Kanab, along the Kanab River. We didn't actually go into the "Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument" which was a disappointment, but we did stop at it's visitor's center in Kanab to browse the museum and listed to two interns talk about paleontology and it's relation to the Grand Staircase. The staircase refers to the layers of the various stone formations throughout millions of years that can be views in stunning colors of the various layers. The best part of the Kanab stop was going to the Fossil Laboratory to see the recent finds in S.W. Utah. One man was quite happy to have found a half of the largest crocodile type animal's skull. He is just preparing it for research. Of course the temperature was too hot to think about, but the bus trip back to St George was very comfortable. We went on Hwy 89-Alt through the Kaibab Tribal Lands in the "Arizona Strip" north of the Colorado River. We went from Fredonia, Arizona looping down near Moccasin and going back NW to pass infamous Colorado City, Arizona.

Colorado City, founded in 1913, is home to over four thousand people that practices polygamy against the law. It's said that over 400 young men were expelled to create a gender imbalance to benefit polygamy and leader Warren Jeffs was arrested last year after being on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. According to Wikipedia, at least half of the Colorado City and adjoining Hilsdale's 8,000 inhabitants are descendants of one or both founders of the towns. Many carry a extremely rare genetic defect leading to mental retardation due to cousins marrying cousins. Many of the homes in this dry high desert town are three story, to accommodate all the wife and children. In the past I hear that no one would talk to outsiders. It's just over the border from Utah.

Back at College Inn at St. George, Utah, we unloaded our stuff then went to another great dinner at "Chuck-A-Rama" There is something for everyone there. Then back to the Inn for a late swim and packing for departure tomorrow.

July 13, 2007

Friday the 13th Bryce Canyon National Park
After breakfast at Ruby's Inn we drove into Bryce Canyon National Park and to the observation sites where we could see all over the fantastic red, orange, purple, and white fantastic sandstone formations called Hoodoos standing apart in balanced towers. Chipmunks were lying in wait along the trail. Although now handouts to the chipmunks are forbidden, I remember feeding them when I was here at age 7 yr. Braden was a real trooper and hiked down the trail with a group and was happy to get back up on the plateau as it was really hot. He participated in the Ranger's talk about the formation of the hoodoos due to wind and water erosion.

We had lunch back at Ruby's Inn, then for the activity I've been waiting for --- horseback riding!! We went out to Red Canyon and a trusty trail horse was given to each of us. My horse was named "Snickers" and a fine horse he was. Braden's horse was called "Slim" and Emily's horse was "Julie" a thoroughbred. The trail ride was up the Red Canyon dry river bed, at the base of gorgeous red sandstone formations on either side. Braden enjoyed his ride and was just ahead of one of his friends on the trail ride. The ride was 1.5 hours and surprisingly none of us were bowlegged or crippled when we got back.

Well good times, never end. After the trail ride we returned to Ruby's Inn then departed to the Bryce Canyon Resort that the Taylors own. There Jeff and Leslie, with kids Krystal, Bryce, Jace, Landon and baby Max met up with us for part of the evening. It's been tough getting through to them because they are camping on a nearby mountain with 300 participants in the Hatch family reunion. Leslie is a Hatch - from Hatch, Utah. I was happy to see them all again and talk about what was going on lately. We had a fun covered wagon ride from the resort around the acreage to the chuck wagon/dutch oven dinner site. "Wild Indians" rode and surrounded the wagon pulled by two draft horses. The "Indians" whooped and hollered and they galloped in circles around the wagon. Finally they let us be, and rode away into the sunset. We arrived safely at the dinner site and sat down to a big and delicious western meal. Krystal and Bryce stayed with us till the end of the Western Entertainment, but the others had to get back to the reunion by 7pm (they were late!) as they were "serving" for the evening meal up there. Emily and Krystal were selected to get up and dance and I was in charge of our table's portion of the song "She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain." The whole evening was fun and the highlight was to see Jeff and family. Of course when we returned to Ruby's Inn, the kids had to go for an evening swim in the pool.

July 12, 2007

Thursday July 12th St. George - Zion - Bryce

Luckily we were able to leave whatever we wanted in our rooms at the College Inn because we would be coming back to them in two days. So we had breakfast and boarded the nice bus for Zion National Park. Traveling on Rt 9 along the Virgin River we passed through quaint places like Hurricane, La Verkin, Virgin and Rockville. One of these places was very small but wanted to be incorporated as a town, so they had to have a street light system. The result was single electrical cords strung across the highway with one light bulb every quarter mile or so. At Christmas they change the bulbs to green and red. The town of Virgin has 394 inhabitants and is at 3500 ft elevation. In May 2000 a law was passed in the town of Virgin which required every homeowner (146 households) to keep and maintain a gun. This mandatory gun ownership law was highlighted in the 2002 film "Bowling for Columbine." Go figure.

There is controversy over how the name "La Verkin" came to be, but after leader Marcia's intense investigation the jury is still out.

Sixty-seven miles from St. George, the drive into Zion Canyon at Zion National Park is spectacular. We were so impressed with the towering white and grey towers of mountains on either side of us. 240 million years ago this rocks were at the bottom of a shallow sea. The thickest layer of deposits is called the Navajo Sandstone from the Jurassic period. There was sand 2,000 feet deep left by dunes about 150 million years ago. This is part of the "Colorado Plateau" an area in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona that was uplifted starting 10 million years ago to heights of over 10,000 ft.

We stopped at the Zion Lodge and went on a wonderful, although hot, hike to the lower and middle Emerald Pools. We could see Cottonwood, Cactus, Sagebrush, Datura (poisonous Jimpson Weed), Juniper, Pine Boxelder, and Willows. The walk was amazing as we went up the rock face to pools a spring had made into gentle waterfalls. It took about an hour or so, and was a chance for me to finally get a good walk taken. Our naturalist, Darrel, pointed out all the fascinating flora and fauna that we encountered. At one point a squirrel jumped onto the trail in front of Emily and I thought a landslide was starting.

We drove back out of the Park for a delicious lunch of various prepared sandwiches at the "Sol Food" restaurant. Everythingwas well arranged for our arrival. Then we went back into Zion Park to board the shuttle bus for a drive to the far end of the canyon at "Temple of Sinawav" where we got off for a short walk along Riverside Walk. We spotted mule deer, ravens and wild turkey on our way, we also saw or heard plenty of birds in the Park. This afternoon was really super fun for the kids, and myself as well. We walked to the shallow Virgin River where there was a big flat rock in the center with a small water fall. The kids went into the cold water and had an absolute blast playing and exploring the shallow stream and banks. Emily got totally immersed and swam against the current of the waterfalls. She found a little waterfall on the far bank and named it "Emily's Waterfall." Braden braved the cold water as well and explored it playing with the other boys his age. I think he won the challenge for rock skipping distance.

It was difficult to pry ourselves away from the beautiful stream playland, but we boarded the shuttle to the Zion Lodge and returned to our nice bus for the trip to the east side of Zion park and through the historic Zion-Mt. Carmel 1.1 mile long tunnel, cut in 2000 ft thick Navajo sandstone, with 800 ft dropoffs. An engineering marvel when completed in 1930.. Today traffic is stopped while tall RVs and buses over 11ft 4 in go through the tunnel in the middle of the road where it is tallest in one direction at a time.

We continue on traveling 60 miles on US 89 to Bryce Canyon National Park. This takes us through Mt. Carmel, Orderville, Glendale, Long Valley and Hatch, Utah. All with interesting histories. Hatch is just south of Panguitch, where the family of deceased niece, Shawn Taylor, reside. I've been trying to connect with Jeff & Leslie Taylor by cell phone, but in these canyons there is little or no cell phone service. We checked in to historic "Ruby's Inn" just outside Bryce Canyon and had a buffet dinner. This got us ready for a fun evening across the road at the Bryce Canyon Rodeo. I walked over there and the kids decided to go on the bus, although it was only a stone's throw away. The Rodeo was fun and included barrel racing, bull riding, and team roping. Also some of the young cowpokes got into the action riding sheep and calves. On the walk back to Ruby's we walked through Ruby's Frontier Town shops and looked at zillions of rocks. Rocks are a very big attraction in this territory. No evening would be complete without the required dip in a swimming pool, so that's what the kids did.

July 11, 2007

Wednesday July 11, 2007 - St George, Utah

This morning we boarded the bus for another trip to find dinosaur tracks in the sandstone. There were a lot of the same kind of dinosaur tracks, and the surrounding stream bed was interesting for Braden to explore. There were sage brush, ephedra (Mormon Tea), invasive cheat grass, and snake brush, among the many desert plants in the area. Both sites we visited , yesterday and today, were not conducive to some of the grandparents walking down the sandy hill trail to the sites. They walked part way, or stayed with the bus. The walk was not far. Then it was back to the Inn for the pool fun until lunch back at Dixie College. The food is really good, and all you can eat. We dined at the student "Red Rock Cafe" cafeteria, and had a large variety to choose from - just like a shopping mall food court.

Back at the College Inn we had some interesting "hands-on" activities with the paleontologist - one was making a time line throughout the length of the College Inn hallway to show the relation of the different types of dinosaurs as they came and went through millions and millions of years. It was enlightening. Then another activity was to make "footprints" from dinosaur lizard foot moulds with Crayola white moulding material. Braden got creative and was the only one to think of fashioning an entire dinosaur - everyone was quite impressed. The kids also traced outlines of various dinosaurs.

The next event was another meal!!! Seems like we eat every time I turn around. The meal was at an "all you can eat" restaurant called "Chuck-a-Rama" - everyone thought this was the favorite place of all to eat. Even though we were so full we could hardly wobble, we went on an early evening bus tour through beautiful Snow Canyon State Park, northwest of St. George. It has been the site of several Hollywood movies. We stopped at one place where we could see the Mobey Marbles - round and magnetic marble sized balls of stone that kind of popped out of the sandstone. After our return we had to pack up for the departure to Zion Canyon tomorrow, but that didn't stop the kids from swimming again until the pool closed.

July 10, 2007

Tuesday July 10th was our first full day of the Elderhostel program. Breakfast was provided at 7 am by a local family and it would be good and varied each morning. We started out at 8:15 in the morning. We went by bus to a place in the "desert" where there are dinosaur tracks in a sandstone layer. These are three-toed tracks of two types of "meat eaters" the grullator tracks made by 50 lb Megapnosaurus and the eubrontes tracks - made by larger 700-1000 lb Dilophosaurus dinosaurs. The sun was already beating down unmercifully upon us and we soon started roasting in the sand, while the instructor showed us how to figure the speed the animal who made the tracks, by measuring the stride, then doing complex algebra or calculus (or so it seemed) on a poster board. He also showed how to figure it's height. The tracks are not protected except for a cable across the dirt road so cars won't drive on them. They exist as they were found in a dry wash. Flash floods have washed the debris off the layer or strata of sandstone that the tracks are preserved in. The kids brushed dirt out of the dino tracks with dry paint brushes which they enjoyed doing. It became very hot and the talk by the paleontologist seemed very long. It was interesting to see the tracks, but the 114 degrees heat about leveled us.

We staggered back to the buses and the kids were greatly relieved to jump into the swimming pool before having a "pizza party" at the Inn. After a full tummy from a big breakfast and lunch, I was ready to take a cool nap, but then we left for the "Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm" near St. George. The story goes that a local Dr. Johnson was digging up his property and removing a hill to build a subdivision in the year 2000 when he noticed what looked to him like a dinosaur foot on one slab of sandstone. He mentioned it to his son-in-law who is a geologist, and --- the rest is history. This is now a site, covered with a building, that has the largest single block of dinosaur tracks in the world. I think these dinosaurs lived 2 million years ago. The "foot" that Dr Johnson (a dentist) saw was really a natural mold of a footprint the dinosaurs made in the mud long ago from the layer of silt and sediment that covered the print and later became rock. I must say, although, the site was very interesting, I almost was falling over in a sleeping stupor. Braden and Emily gave up the lecture and sat down at the gift shop to watch the Disney movie "Dinosaur."

We eventually returned to the Inn for a much appreciated swimming adventure at Sand Hollow Aquatic Park. Although we only stayed an hour it was the perfect thing to revive us and the funnest thing for all the kids. I swam around where the kids played and they went down the water slide, then I decided to try to work off some of the food I've been eating. I did about 20 laps in the huge pool - at a leisurely pace - and felt much more in the world of the awake. Of course, soon after that we were again on our way for another wonderful meal at Dixie College. Monday night we had turkey with all the trimmings and apple pie, and this night we had chicken cordon bleu and triple chocolate pie. The evening was concluded with a showing of the movie "Jurassic Park." The paleontologist told us that most the movie was "Hollywood's idea" but the kids liked it, and it did hold my scared attention. I recognized some parts where the movie was filmed in Hawaii. In the middle of the movie, Braden went to another room to watch wrestling on TV, but returned for the end.

July 9, 2007

July 9th, 2007 - Monday - St. George, Utah
Even though we didn't have a door-lock, I wasn't concerned with the pick-up truck being stolen in the nice lot behind the College Inn here in beautiful St. George. But bright and early on Monday morning I called the GMC dealer, and got a 10 am appointment for repair of the door lock. But first things first - we walked a couple blocks to the "Bear Paw" cafe and had a great breakfast. The historic downtown St George is quite nice and interesting. There was a lot of water flowing down the gutters, and later I learned that people watered their yards with irrigation water that is turned over to the individuals at a specific time and day... just like the farms. The GMC dealer was easily found by 10 am. $195 and two hours later we were happily back in the pick-up with a new door handle/lock and a secure vehicle. After that we drove over to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers Museum and historic house for a tour. I've never seen so many old "crayon" portraits of people assembled in one place. These are the portraits that were made before enlarging of photographs became practical. Evidently the negative image is put on heavy paper or a card stock and enlarged, but the details of the portrait had to be drawn in with a type of "crayon" to look sharp and clear. Anyway, there were a lot of old pioneer items to discover.

Next door is the historic Washington County Court House which is now the Chamber of Commerce offices. But upstairs the old court room is waiting for a jury, the same as in yesteryear. After we had a bite to eat at the Inn, we took a lady and her grandson with us, to the Rosensbruch World Wildlife Museum. It is a really large scale exhibit of 300 species of animals from all over the world that have been "stuffed." Not that seeing these animals alive isn't a better idea, but there is a connection with the World Wildlife Fund and efforts to preserve the various species. Interestingly there were huge mountain sheep or Algari (?) from Mongolia that were amazing. I didn't see any of those when I was in Mongolia - of course I was mostly in the Gobi area, where it's the camels that roam around. We returned to the Elderhostel group for dinner at the Gardner Center at Dixie State College followed by orientation to our week - Everyone introduced themselves - It looks like a great group. Then the paleontologist gave an introduction also, but Braden figured he already knew everything the paleontologist said. At this time the final count was taken to see who wasn't going to go horse riding at Bryce Canyon next Friday. For some reason Braden decided he hated horse riding, but after much persuasion he agreed to it, and then they rushed out to get in 20 minutes of swimming in before the pool closed at 10 pm.
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July 8th, 2007 Sunday - Las Vegas, Nevada to St. George, Utah
I let the kids sleep late after getting to bed just before 2am. After a continental breakfast at Super 8 Motel we loaded up the pick-up truck (which thankfully was still parked where I left it, and was in good condition, minus the missing door lock). The first thing on the agenda was to drive downtown to the Las Vegas City Hall to file a police report about the "tampering and injuring of a vehicle." It was already very hot, and poor Emily was elected to remain in the truck to guard our suitcases in the back, and lock the doors from the inside. We parked in the covered city parking structure, but it was still hot. Braden and I went inside and waited an hour to begin the police interview to file the report. I must say, they were thorough. The interviewer said that he had heard of the death of my brother last October. My brother, Dick Hague, was retired from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department and was a CSI type. He was a Crime Scene Analyst.

Finally we arrived at Chris' house and then took two cars to visit Dick's grave at Palm Cemetery. Little two-year old Michael knew his way to the grave site and ran ahead to find it. The headstone Chris had selected looked very nice. We returned to Chris' house and all the nephews were there: Jim, Joe, Rich, and Ryan.

At last we had to leave and make our way up to Utah. We left Las Vegas at about 4:30 pm and the temperature was 117 degrees!! We drove up a very uninhabited highway I-15 towards Salt Lake City. Out of boredom we stopped at Gardener, NV for some ice cream and learned that I-15 was closed due to brush fires. Luckily we didn't have to go as far as where the fires were. 682 miles after we left Sierra Vista, AZ, we arrived at St. George, Utah. Utah in summer is sizzling, or from the news, it's burning. Brush fires abound. We could see smoke rise to the south. St George is laid out like many Mormon Utah cities, in the grid pattern. So we found 123 South 100 East St. - the College Inn of Dixie State College - where our Elderhostel Intergenerational program is based. We found our college dormitory-type rooms with keys left in an envelope at the reception desk. Each room had a private bathroom. There are 33 in our group and about 44 in a group that is going to the Colorado River. The kids immediately jumped into the swimming pool and we met two other grandmothers/grandkids at the pool who were going on the trips. [see above for July 9th]
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Saturday night - July 7th, 2007 - Sierra Vista, AZ to Las Vegas, NV
The great road adventure from Sierra Vista to Las Vegas started at 9:30 am Saturday with my two grandchildren, Emily (13) and Braden (10). The departure was not a problem, and Scott, luckily, decided that we should have a blue tarp with bungee cords to cover our suitcases in the back of the GMC pick-up truck that I would be driving, so he rushed out and got that. With a fond farewell to Alisa and Scott we got gasoline at $2.97 / gallon and headed to the Interstate to Tucson. It seemed that every mile we traveled north it became hotter and hotter. We left in 83 degrees and it was 111 by the time we got to Tucson, then 116 in Phoenix. Just before Kingman, AZ we made a rest stop and fixed the tarp a little. Too bad we didn't get gas there - at $2.79 / gal as this would be the cheapest we would find gas on the whole trip.

It was quite a treat for the kids and I to see Hoover Dam. I'd seen it before, but it was a first time for the kids and they were properly impressed. We took photos at every observation place, then slowly crossed over the top of the dam and the Colorado River into Nevada. From then it was an easy drive to Las Vegas. Braden saw the "Stratosphere" tower and hotel and restaurant and figured it was the airport control tower. The view from the hills was beautiful.

We found Super 8 motel, checked in and found we had time to see the "Vegas Strip." We stopped by Dick's house and picked up nephew Richie and his wife, Lucy, for a very slow and dramatic drive up and down the famous strip so Emily and Braden could see all the whoop-la. Braden liked the Pirate show as we drove by "Treasure Island" - they both liked to see the roller coaster at "New York, New York." Then we picked up my sister-in-law, Chris, and little great-nephew, Michael, and went to Sam's Town for dinner. By this time the buffet was closed (10 pm) so we had a huge meal at the Mexican restaurant. After dinner we walked around the waterfall area inside Sam's Town, said our goodbyes and went to our respective cars.

Unfortunately the key didn't seem to work in the pick-up door lock, and the door lock cylinder thing eventually fell into the door! Someone had "punched in" the door lock with some tool in an effort to enter the truck. But they failed to enter. (This is the second time my vehicle lock was punched in within the last couple months - first time with my Saturn in Hawaii.) With only one door lock on the vehicle we were unable to get into the truck I called Chris to drive by on their way home, and then called AAA. We were dying of thirst waiting, and finally security told us of a water fountain next to us at the Sam's Town RV Park. That helped the wait. Two hours later the locksmith had arrived, jimmied open the passenger door and we were on our tired way - the one block to Super 8 Motel. I was worried about having to leave the truck unlocked all night, but we couldn't lock it or we'd have to get the locksmith again to open the door. So I parked the truck 20 feet in front of the entrance to the door of the casino that adjoins Super 8 Motel. Braden chose to sleep on the floor, and I was peeking out the window all night to be sure the truck hadn't been stolen. Of course these things happen on the week-end. Quite a start for the first day of our big vacation! [see above for July 8th and 9th]

July 7, 2007

I'm on the "mainland" now. The weather in Arizona is sizzling, and it was 114 degrees in Las Vegas yesterday. I'm heading for Las Vegas today with grandkids, Emily and Braden. We will arrive there after crossing the Arizona desert, in the evening. Then Sunday we'll stop by to see sister-in-law Chris Hague, and nephews. Also get a chance to see nephew Rich's wife, Lucy, and son, Michael, again. Michael is two now and almost talking. We plan to go see my brother's grave. Richard Hague died last November and I haven't seen his grave marker yet. Then we'll have to high-tail it on to St. George, Utah, where we'll begin our Elderhostel Intergenerational Program.

This Elderhostel program is about dinosaurs in S.W. Utah. It promises to be a terrific program for the grandkids and their grandparents. We'll stay 4 nights in St. George at the College Inn, part of Dixie State College. We're going to Grand Escalante National Monument and to the Dinosaur Discovery Site. We watched a Discovery Channel program on a new type of dinosaur found there (or somewhere close) that is a mass grave of a dinosaur than is transitioning between a meat eater to a grass eater. Should be interesting.

Then we go on to Bryce Canyon and stay at Ruby's Inn for two nights, including taking in the Bryce Rodeo. Hopefully we'll be able to meet up with more relations on the trip - Jeff and Leslie and their five children. Then back to St. George for another night and the end of the program. I plan to drive back to Sierra Vista via Flagstaff and show the kids where my mother stayed with Aunt Fern Blanding Ferrell in about 1920 on a potato farm on the northwest side of Flagstaff.

In my disorganization to plan/pack for two trip this summer (Arizona, etc. and China) I forgot to put my cell phone charger into my suitcase. Hmmmm. No other way around it, I had to go and buy a new charger. Well, now I've got an extra I can keep in my suitcase - ready for any trip. I helped Emily cleaned out some of her closet yesterday so she could pack for the Utah trip. What a chore! Luckily Braden is better organized even though he's only 10.

Genealogy news: I've found the 1870 Agriculture Census online at Ancestry.com. I don't know why they added this Ag Census for Goodhue County, MN - but I'm glad they did. It's very interesting to see that my David Akins had two horses, two milk cows, one swine, spring wheat, indian corn and oats. He, my great-great grandfather, had homesteaded near his cousin, Marshall Akins, his wife's father, James Warren Ells, and his son, Edwin Ells, and another cousin, John Orcutt. These early pioneer families stayed together when they got land in Minnesota from where they were in Wisconsin. Edwin Ells had some of his land surveyed and established the village of Skyberg, Goodhue Co., Minnesota. Today is is a ghosttown. Click to enlarge census.

I've sent photos back and forth with Terry Akin and Howard Blanding about relations in Chautauqua Co. NY. We still can't seem to find photographer George Morris Akin in the business directories, etc. for Fredonia, NY. We know he was a very good photographer from looking at some of his work - probably at the turn of the century. Also Terry and I are sending "Mystery Photos" to each other from our pile of old, old photographs, in the hopes of identifying the ones without names. I love a good mystery!

Is this Welton Akin? --------------A Ship in Newport RI -----An Akin of RI -maybe his ship?