A giant scenic adult playground

On this trip we encountered a lot of road work on the state highways.  Most of it involves adding lanes, which is good.  As the word gets out as to how scenic this area is, tourism will continue to steadily increase.  The face of Moab has totally changed since Grandma and I last visited.  The only thing we recognized was Charlie Steen's house, which is now a restaurant. 

Anyway, we moved north out of Monticello past Peter's Point down into Dry Valley.  We call the following formation, Church Rock.  It is nothing but eroded Navajo Sandstone.  Notice the door opening at the base.  Lasal Mountain  is in the background. 

Church Rock

Just past Church Rock is what we call Turtle Rock, another Navajo Sandstone structure. 

You can see the turtle's neck and head protruding out of it's shell.

Turtle rock

The next structure on the road is Wilson Arch.  This is massive.  Look closely and you can see a couple of people standing on the bottom left under the rock covering.

Wilson Arch

A good friend of ours, Lee, had recently moved to Castle Valley.  I had some books and papers of his to deliver.  The valley is located 20 miles east of Moab, just south of the Colorado River.

As we entered the valley we were greeted by a priest and his nuns. 

Priest and Nuns


They were located right next to Castle Tower.

Castle Tower

This whole area is infested with lizards and bikers, ants and four wheelers, scorpions and motorcycles, rattle snakes and river runners etc.  

You get the picture, right?  It is a wild place - a giant scenic adult playground. The more adult toys you have the more fun you have.

Rock hounds have fun too, so in my next posting, I will explain some of the geology of Castle Valley.    

Our first home

It was 50 years ago when we moved into our first home.  It looks much the same today as it did in 1967.  It was red back then and is now beige.  Cement steps are now in place instead of the wood ones, and a dish adorns the east side of the house.  Otherwise the place looks the same.

The house next door now was exactly like ours, but now has a second level - a great improvement!

Front.

I taught music at both the high and elementary schools.  I was really impressed with the "small town" kids - so well behaved and so intelligent, eager to learn and delightful.  Sure there were moments of distress, but in all, teaching was a great experience. 

Back.

Back

Grandma taught at the elementary school - 5th grade.  She also enjoyed the kids and was impressed with their knowledge of life.  You see, they were all raised around farms.

Front

Sherry and Mike were born in the San Juan hospital.  Five days after Mike arrived, we moved.  Grandma did great through all this, as his was an easy delivery.  

Several years later we took our kids on a camping trip.  We camped in a tent on the backside of Blue Mountain.  The stars were brilliant as we gazed with wonderment at the night stars from a quilt spread on the ground.  We even spotted the "northern lights."  It appeared as a little, white curtain high in the sky.  No color but very beautiful.   

One highlight of that camping trip was our cleansing time at the town swimming pool.  (Please note that we used the showers before diving into the water)  I remember the local kids in the pool didn't quite know how to take us as we made our entrance. 
We were the object of quiet stares as we began to play in the water.  After what seemed like forever, they continued doing their thing.    

Now, back to the present!  Haha.

Monticello has really improved in appearance over the years.  Now the streets have curbs and gutters, and the town's only stop light, (It blinked yellow in all directions for the 2 years were lived there) has been updated to a modern, working system. 

And look!  Modern street lights now adorn new sidewalks!  Wow!

  I think the addition of the temple was maybe the inspiration for the new motels and general upgrading of the town, as people need a nice place to stay when they come from far away places to visit. 

We invited our friends to dinner.  PJ's was open, so that is where we ended up.  

We found that Blue Mountain Foods had moved to a new location - the old Jensen Food Market building.  We found a friendly clerk in the store who brought us up to date on all the town's people we previously knew and loved.

Now, how about that?

Attending the Monticello Temple was definitely a highlight of our anniversary trip. The ordinance room has 48 individual seats with another row along the back wall. The session was about half full, and my favorite movie was shown. We were treated with friendliness and respect by the ordinance workers which added to our enjoyment of the session.

 A friend told us of the miracle of the swallows. This is an untold story, I think. It reminds me of the miracle of the Seagulls/Crickets during the Mormon pioneer times.

 The day before the dedication of the Monticello Temple, the cement sidewalks were covered completely by larvae. When the brethren tried to remove them with push brooms, green slime was left on the walks. So they tried using hand-held gas blowers. This worked somewhat but the larvae were so plentiful that they covered all surroundings. The local brethren were very concerned that the dedication ceremony would not go as planned. After prayer, birds began to arrive, first a few then thousands. They were swallows, which ferociously devoured the larvae until they were totally gone. As swiftly as the Swallows came they departed, leaving the temple grounds spotless.

Now, how about that?

Can you see it?

Grandma and I capped our 50^th Anniversary by traveling to Monticello, Utah. We left on Thursday and returned on Saturday. We stayed at the Blue Mountain Horsehead Motel, which was older, but our room had recently been remodeled with new carpet etc. The beds were great.

The view of Blue Mountain with Horsehead on its side was spectacular. The local people are passionate about Horsehead, and like I told my McKea grand-children, “If you pass through Monticello and mention Horsehead, you will be immediately accepted by those good people for it is something they are very proud of.

Horsehead is directly in the center of the above picture. The image is formed by evergreens on the face of the mountain.               Can you see it?  

Some 50 years ago Stan Bronson, a local cowboy folk singer, recorded a song called “Blue Mountain."  It is on his LP album called "Down from the Mountain."

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Stan's original rendition on the net, but I did find the following, sung by Skip Gorman.  So put the dog outside and turn up the volume.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3NlLYdyvk


Okay, fortunately I did found an original by Stan called "WHAT WOULD GEORGE WASHINGTON DO?"  

There is no reason to howl now, so you can now bring the dog back inside. 

 Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGoguRBC0X0

Tme of Crisis

In March we experienced a wind that must have gusted 70 mph.  It almost uprooted a 60 foot blue spruce tree in the back yard.  The roots had been lifting for several months and I knew that I had to act for safety's sake.  The question was when?

That question was answered when I came home after a Sunday mid-afternoon choir practice.  The roots were lifting about a foot above ground level with each gust.  There was nothing I could do but follow the internet minute-by-minute progression of the storm, and pray the tree would not fall.

The prayers worked and the next day I begin the process of getting bids.  The winds did break several fence posts on both the north and east sides of my property.  

The McKea kids helped move precious plants from the north side to the garden, where they were planted to keep them alive.  After the tree was removed, Mike and I replaced the broken posts on the east fence.  The Noorda boys helped mix and pour the post cement on the north.  Thanks to all my wonderful family for helping in this time of crisis.

The center tree is the one that came down.

No, this is not Mike in the tree, although I believe he really wanted to do the job.

THE TREE CAME DOWN.    

Afterwards the contractor went after the stump with a grinder.  

All smiles!

Okay!  Way back in March I was secretly invited, along with many other families, to a honors assembly at Eastmont.  Several students were to receive special student of the month awards.

But my eyes were were upon only one.

Rachel!   

The secret was so well kept that not even the students were cognizant of the occasion.  My goodness, they must have been wondering what was going on when they entered the auditorium and saw their families sitting on the front rows. 

Each of them received a trophy and a certificate from the Principal.  The Student Council helped each student to and from the podium.  They also organized the event.

Afterwards a reception was held for the honorees and their families in the school's faculty room.  Refreshments were served, and I got to talk a bit with the Principal, a most delightful, knowledgeable person.

Obviously I was really proud of her achievement.  I am always well-pleased when grandchildren accomplish good things.

Mommy & Daughter - all smiles!

And She Is!

Sorry for the late posting, but better late than ever.  

So, it was in the early part of the year in February when we made our way to Farmington to attend the blessing of Elaina.

It was good to see Brent, Carla, Vanessa & Garret there. 

Everyone was in a festive spirit for this occasion.  Needless to say the star of the day was Elaina - so charming and cute.

Kayla's two men, Forrest and Steven.  The blessing was special, and someday Forrest will have the opportunity to administer. 

Venessa has a winning smile.

Garrett loves this baby.

Both John & Bev think this baby is special.

            And She Is!