Category: Foodie Find
Page, AZ: Take Two

Page, AZ: Take Two

By |

Hey Guys! After two months of sitting still in Camp Verde, AZ…we’re on the move again! I have to admit, it feels very uncertain this time. We’re in the thick of the whole Corona Virus thing and at this point it’s making us second guess and doubt everything we’re doing/not doing.

We’d already called ahead to our next RV Park to make sure it was open and that we would be allowed in. We keep hearing about other fulltime RV families who are struggling to find a place that they can stay. State parks, federal campgrounds, BLM land, and county parks are all closing down and kicking people out. Private parks are starting to either close down or refuse any new arrivals. It’s a stressful time for everyone, but being a nomad has a bit of extra stress to it now. We don’t have a sticks-n-bricks home we can go to and hunker down in until this all blows over. So, for now, we’re moving forward and trying to make due…and not stress too much.

On our way to Page, we passed through the snowy town of Flagstaff and made our way back to the high desert region. It was neat to watch all of the geographical changes that came with that.

This wasn’t our first visit to Page. In fact, we’d been there just a few months before. There are so many things to see and do in Page…some great views and some awesome hikes. I had an entire list of things to see and do while we were back in Page, but due to the virus…pretty much everything was closed.

We usually move spots on Saturdays and then go adventuring on Sundays. Jerl went to the grocery store early Sunday morning to see what we were going to be dealing with on the food/necessities problem that the country had been dealing with. The little grocery store in Camp Verde had been struggling to keep up with it all. We wanted to assess the situation in our new spot to see if we needed to go back to Camp Verde and stay longer. Jerl was surprised to see that pretty much all of the isles were decently full…except the paper isles. He also had the chance to talk to a couple of policemen who were there to protect the delivery truck (I never thought I would be typing that kind of sentence…I mean…police protection for a regular ol’ delivery truck?) Anyway, Jerl asked the police officers if hiking was allowed in Page at that time and they both encouraged us to go have a great hike and get some fresh air…while staying away form anyone that looks sick.

With the police officer’s approval, we headed out to do a little social distancing on a hiking trail. I had a few things on my list that we could hit all in one day and luck would have it…they were all still open. The first spot we hit was the Navajo Bridge. Did you know that there are only seven land bridges across the Colorado River for around 800 miles? Before the Navajo Bridge was built, travelers had to go several hundred miles out of the way to get across the Arizona/Utah border. Can you imagine having to do that with a horse and buggy? That would add weeks to a trip.

Guys, look at the color of that water! We stood on that bridge way longer than we’d planned.

The original bridge opened in 1929 and was called the Grand Canyon Bridge, but in 1990…there was a need for a newer and wider bridge. So now, the old bridge (on the right) is open to pedestrian use only while the new bridge (on the left) is open for everything else. These two bridges are tied in ninth spot for highest bridges in the US.

I knew from my research that California Condors call the area around Page home, but we didn’t expect to actually see any. We found four of them hanging around the Navajo Bridge! Did you know that you can look up the California Condor numbers and find out where they were born and what their family lines are?!

Lonely Dell Ranch and Lees Ferry are both part of the Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area. We had planned on visiting the area the last time we were in Page, but simply ran out of time. I’m so glad we got to visit during our second visit to the area!

For a long time, the Colorado River was a major obstacle while traveling between Utah and Arizona. At one spot, where the Paria River runs into the Colorado River, there’s an area where the cliffs aren’t quite as impassible and the Colorado River isn’t rushing with rapids. It’s here, at this spot where the Utah Territorial Governor, Brigham Young, sent John Lee to set up and operate a ferry.

So, in 1872 John Lee loaded up two of his families and headed out to make a life as a ferryman. Some people say he was sent there to hide from the authorities due to his part in the Mountain Meadow massacre and the slaughter of over one hundred pioneers from Arkansas who were passing through the Utah territory in 1857.

Lee spent the first few years building homes for his family and a ferry to cross the river. Since the area was so remote, the family had to be completely self-reliant. They needed to grow their own food and set up irrigation for not only household use, but to water their crops. There’s still an orchard there that you can walk though and pick some ripe fruit as you’re exploring the ranch. In 1874, the law caught up with Lee and executed him. His wife, Emma, ran the ferry until 1879 when the LDS church bought it from her and sent a new family to run it.

If you go on past the ranch, you can see remnants of the people who once made Lonely Dell Ranch their home. Over the years, LDS members continued to run the ferry and the ranch was expanded to include different families and community members.

The trail goes for quite a ways…but, this wasn’t the trail we’d come for so we headed back after a mile and a half or so. I wish we’d had a few more days to explore here. We would have loved to continue on this trail. The area was gorgeous!

In the early 1900s the gold rush hit southern Utah/northern Arizona and miners ascended on Lees Ferry. One of them was Charles Spencer who led the American Pacer Company. Spencer was more of a salesman than a miner. He hauled tons of equipment up to Lees Ferry. Spencer left the area broke in 1912. He abandoned everything there when left. All that remains of his time there are a couple of stone buildings, part of a steamship and an old boiler.

Today, you can hike up the 4.4 mile Spencer Trail. The trail eventually leads to an old coal mine. This trail climbs over 1,500 feet in less than a mile. It’s steep!

The higher we went on the trail…the better the views got. This was a rough trial…three of us only made it half way up then called it quits. The other two almost made it to the top but the trail got too dicey for them so they turned back. In the group of pictures above, you can see a shot that was taken near the top. If you look closely, you can see the Lonely Dell Ranch.

The last ferry crossing was in 1928 and it ended up sinking…killing three people. Seven months later, the Navajo Bridge opened. Now, the Lees Ferry area is mile zero for launching boat trips down the Colorado into the Grand Canyon. In the summer the beach there is lined with rafting boats and adventurous boaters prepping for trips down the mighty Colorado.

Other than our excursion to Lees Ferry and the Lonely Dell Ranch…we hung out at home. Alex got the National Park version of Monopoly for his birthday and we’ve enjoyed adding it to our collection. When we had to get out to get groceries, we found signs to tell us where to stand for social distancing while standing in line. This time in our world is truly bizarre.

We still made our weekly lunch with one of the boys happen. We got take out then found a scenic view to enjoy some one-on-one time with Nicholas. He, of course, chose pizza. Actually, we found this pizza place the last time we were in Page. It’s a great little place called Stromboli’s…if you’re ever in the area, do yourself a favor and go grab some cheese sticks and pizza! They have the best cheese sticks at this place!!

We saw signs of Spring everywhere during our one week stay in Page. We will definitely spend more time in this area! We’ve spent three weeks there now and haven’t even scratched the surface on available activities!

That’s it for now, Guys!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Waiting For Spring

Waiting For Spring

By |

Hey Guys!! Our original plan was to hop our way up Arizona, hitting a few of our favorite state parks. Unfortunately, I waited a week or two too long to try to reserve them and we couldn’t get in without site hopping each day…and that’s such a pain. So, we headed up to one of our all time favorite areas of Arizona…Sedona…to park our home-on-wheels for two whole months as we waited for Spring.

We’ve been to Montezuma Castle National Monument before, but it’s been a few years so we decided to visit it again since we were right down the road from it. And as one of our Nation’s first National Parks…it’s worth revisiting.

President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act in Dec of 1906 and declared four sites of historical and cultural significance our first four National Monuments. Montezuma Castle was one of those first four.

The dwellings that Montezuma Castle National Monument protects and preserves aren’t really a castle. They’re more like…a prehistoric apartment building, built by the Sinagua people sometime between 1100 and 1425 AD.

Montezuma Castle sits in a recess in a limestone wall about 90 feet above the ground. When the Monument first opened, you could actually climb up a series of ladders into the Castle. Due to the damage visitors were causing, access to the Castle was discontinued. Now, you’ll have to check out the diorama they have set up to see what the inside of the Castle looks like.

Sometimes when you’re looking at ancient dwellings, it’s hard to see what it once was. I love that they put this sign (pic on the above right) up to make it easier to see what used to be there. The Sinagua people lived and farmed here over 600 years ago.

The Sinagua people built their homes near Beaver Creek which floods every year during monsoon season. They built their homes higher to not only protect themselves from other tribes, but also to protect their homes form the yearly flooding. The Castle housed around 40 or so people and consisted of 20 rooms. There’s another section of the wall that the Castle is built on that has evidence of an even larger dwelling.

We had so much fun revisiting this National Monument and seeing all of the improvements the park has made!

I stumbled on the Palatki Red Cliffs Heritage Site as I was looking for a specific trailhead in Sedona. When I did some research on it, I found that it’s run by the US Forest Service. Sedona is known for it’s gorgeous red rocks, and the area Palatki is in, is no different. We took just as many pictures of the surrounding area as we did of the ancient dwellings and rock art!

There are two ancient Sinagua dwellings at Palatki. The West Alcove has deteriorated to the point that it’s no longer safe to let people explore it. You do get up close to East Alcove, but you don’t get to go into it. East Alcove is a nine room dwelling that is tucked up under an alcove and faces south. If you think about where they built their homes…it’s really pretty smart. The overhang of the alcove provided protection from the rain (even during very hard rain) and having them face South would provide more sun exposure during the coldest part of the year.

One of the coolest things about visiting Palatki is that we got to hold some of the pottery that was found there. Another cool thing…and the first time we’d seen anything like it…are the two family shields or clan signs. They’re not sure if the two round shield like pictographs indicate a family or if they’re a clan sign. They do know that it tells who the dwellings belonged to. Scientist believe that two extended families called the two alcove dwellings home.

Snakes really aren’t my thing. Every time I see one of these warning signs, I get super paranoid about nope-ropes. I’m already hyper-aware of all of the places you usually find a danger-noodle… I spent most of the time at Palatki worrying about snakes. When we were there, it was almost Spring which is when most of the baby danger-noodles are born. Did you know that mother snakes are more aggressive and will chase you without being provoked? Totally not a fan of nope-ropes.

The other thing you’ll find at Palatki is The Grotto. Depending on when you go, you might see some water in the pool here, but what’s really neat about The Grotto is all of the rock art. There are pictographs from the Paleo Period (11,000 – 9,000 BC) and the Archaic Period (9,000 BC to AD 600). The walls are covered with pictographs! One of the Rangers took some of the materials that they believe was originally used to make the colors for the pictographs and made some new ones so we can see how bright the rock art was when it was new. You can see the new rock art in the top right picture of the above gallery.

The first homesteader in the area was Charles D. Willard. He took materials from the various ancient dwellings to build his own home. Charles arrived in 1923 and you can still see the one room structure he stayed in over by The Grotto, where he stayed until his house was completed in 1925. On the same field that the Sinagua people who used to live, Charles planted 500 fruit trees. He sold the property in 1938 and the Forest Service obtained the land in 1975 through a land exchange.

Palatki’s sister site is Honanki Cliffs Dwelling Heritage Site. We found out about it while we were at Palatki and headed over there right after we left Palatki. Honanki is one of the largest cliff dwellings and has the largest most diverse collection of pictographs in Verde Valley. The cliff dwellings found at Honanki were originally two stories tall and were made up of about 40 rooms on the ground floor. Sometime around 1300AD the residents of Honanki started to move on. The Sinagua left Verde Valley in the early 1400s. The Hopi and Zuni can both trace part of their heritage back to the Sinagua.

Sedona, Arizona is one of our favorite places to spend time. There are so many trails to hike in the Sedona area. I think you could do a different hike every week for a year and never have to do the same hike!

We had plans to do so many hikes in the two months we were going to be in the Sedona area. Due to the weather and other circumstances…we only got one of those hikes in. But, Guys…it was an awesome hike!

I found this place called the Birthing Cave on Instagram and really wanted to see it for myself. I did some research and found the trailhead in Sedona. I’d read that it was tricky to find. Quite a few people walk right by it because the trail isn’t marked that great. And…we did the same thing. We walked right by the side trail that takes you up to the Birthing Cave.

We found a different trail that turned off in the right direction at around the same distance as the trail was supposed to be… We ended up scrambling up the side of the mesa that the Birthing Cave is in. So…we were on top of it. The views were so good though, that we didn’t care. If we didn’t make it to the cave we were totally ok with it. We were having so much fun we felt like the day was a win no matter what.

We ended up meeting another hiker on top who told us how to get down to the Birthing Cave. Guys, it’s not really a cave. It’s more like an alcove that you can shimmy up the walls of. We got some neat pictures, but if I’m being honest…we had a better time and saw better views from being up on top of the mesa.

Alex celebrated his 17th birthday! Excuse the mess…we were in the middle of the Covid19 stock up thing. His birthday was a little different this year, but I think he had a good day!

Should we talk foodies? Now, keep in mind we were there for two months…so this was all spread out over the five or six weeks we were there before the Corona Virus thing really hit hard. After that, we continued to support the small local places by getting orders to go.

I also found some pretties! It was getting to be that time of the year again! There are so many colors in the desert. Those pops of color are just amazing!!

Around our sixth week in the Sedona area, the Corona Virus hit hard. Our life changed along with everyone else’s in the world. We stopped exploring so we could comply with the “social distancing” that was being requested by our government. The stores were running out of groceries and necessities. And every day we heard about more RV parks closing down. It was pretty stressful. We had to make a decision…do we keep with our reserved schedule or do we try to find a spot to hunker down and stay put until this all clears up?

We decided to keep with our schedule. As I’m writing this, we are planning our first move since the Covid 19 virus thing started. Our next spot is still in Arizona. We’ve been checking with the next place to make sure they’re still open and they have no plans to shut down…so, we’ll head that way. If you know me, you know I’m a planner. We do have a couple of backup plans. So, I guess we’ll see how it goes! If you follow us on Instagram you’ll get more timely updates…our blog posts are usually a month or more behind where we are for safety reasons.

Well Guys, that’s all for now! Even with the “social distancing” we had a great visit to the Sedona area!!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Old Missions and Ghost Towns

Old Missions and Ghost Towns

By |

Hey Guys!! This is the last post for our Benson, Arizona area adventures! We spent two weeks in the area and crammed a ton of explorations in and still didn’t get to everything on our list.

We’re always up for a ghost town! I found out about Fairbank from a brochure I found at one of the stores in Benson and it immediately went on our list. Fairbank is part of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area and is run by the BLM. It’s pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.

There’s a small visitor center/museum set up in the old schoolhouse. When a volunteer is available to man it, the schoolhouse is open. We lucked out and it was open the morning we went. It’s a neat little schoolhouse. There are all kinds of trinkets and memorabilia that’s been found in Fairbank on display.

It’s hard to believe Fairbank was once one of the largest cities in the West. Three different railroad lines passed through Fairbank plus it was the closest railroad stop to the still famous town of Tombstone. First settled in 1881, Fairbank grew to a booming population of 15,000 residents by 1882. When the Tombstone mines closed due to flooding in 1886, Fairbank started its decline.

Fairbank had full-time residents until the early 1970s. They kept a small general store going but eventually, everyone moved away and the BLM acquired the land in 1986. There has been some restoration of a few of the buildings. They’re hoping to eventually restore the general store and the saloon. We had a fun time walking around looking at the buildings…imagining what life would have been like there when it was booming.

Tumacácori National Historical Park consists of about 360 acres and is split into three separate units. Each unit protects the ruins of a Spanish mission community. Two of the units are in such disrepair that they’re closed to the public and only available for private tours through the winter. We only made it to the main park to see Mission San Jose Tumacácori.

The very first Mission San Jose Tumacácori was built in January 1691 by the Spanish Jesuit padre Eusebio Francisco Kino and was the very first Jesuit mission in Arizona. Due to a rebellion in 1751, the mission was moved and rebuilt.

Part of the granary, where they kept the food, still stands. They’ve put some big pots in it to give you an idea of what it would have looked like while it was being used. I thought it was smart that there was an indention in the shelf to keep each pot in place.

You can also find the ruins of a small cemetery and a mortuary chapel on the grounds. I found the mortuary chapel interesting…we’ve been to several missions before, but had never seen a mortuary chapel before.

Before the Spanish arrived, this land was home to the O’odham. The Spanish called the ones that lived near the river Pima and the ones that lived in the desert Papago. The O’odham were farmers and excellent basket weavers. You can see a reproduction of a traditional O’odham home (called a ki) on the park grounds as well. The O’odham were a peaceful people unless they had to defend their homes…they would spend the next one hundred years in an uneasy and often times violent relationship with those that called the mission home.

In 1768 the Jesuits were replaced by Franciscan Catholics due to a political change. The Franciscans started to redecorate the mission and build a much larger church in 1880. They worked on the new church for twenty years, but never completely finished. The new, bigger…more grand church was only used until 1828. At that time, the Mexican government forced all Spanish born settlers out of their territory…this included the mission’s last resident priest.

In 1848, following the Mexican-American war, the mission was completely closed and the last residents were forced to leave. The entire area became the property of America in 1853 during the Gadsden Purchase when land south of the Gila River was transferred to Arizona. The mission sat empty until 1908 when President Theodore Roosevelt declared it Tumacácori National Monument and the NPS started restorations and repairs.

The day we went there were some volunteer demonstrators on the grounds. The boys loved watching and helping the blacksmith. They helped make a coat hook…which we got to keep. It’ll hang in our home someday when we get a sticks-n-bricks. They also had someone making fresh flour tortillas and beans. You could get a sample of beans and salsa rolled in a fresh tortilla. It wasn’t the worst thing. I would have gladly paid for an entire plate of them. We always spend money in the visitor centers when we visit the parks. They need the funds and a portion of every dollar you spend at a park goes to that park.

We found a place called Wisdom’s Café just down the road to grab some grub. The food was excellent, but the service was incredibly slow. Unfortunately, it was just our waitress. We saw all of the other workers hustling. If you ever go to Wisdom’s Café make sure you get one of their famous fruit burros! You can get them with or without ice cream, but who are we kidding…I know y’all will get the ice cream!

On the way home, we noticed all of the street signs were in kilometers instead of miles. We were pretty close to the border…but we’ve been pretty close to the border quite a few times and had never noticed that before.

We saw some ah-mazing sunsets while we were in the Benson area! Just truly gorgeous! The southwest doesn’t play around when it comes to sunsets and sunrises.

That’s it Guys!! It took three posts to get through our Benson area adventures! I hope y’all are enjoying seeing some places you might not have known about and maybe you’ve learned a little something too. 🙂

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Back In Arizona

Back In Arizona

By |

Hey Guys!! We made it back to Arizona! We stayed two weeks at a state park called Kartchner Caverns that looked interesting when I found it online…plus, there aren’t very many RV parks in this area of AZ.

The Benson area of Arizona is really close to several National Parks so we used it as a base camp to knock a few parks and places off of our to-see list.

One of those places was the old mining town of Bisbee. We’ve had a lot of cool experiences on this grand adventure we call OurRVTrip, but we hadn’t toured a mine yet so we headed to Queen Mine for a tour down into an old mine. We hadn’t made reservations for the tour, but managed to snag spots on one of the earlier tours of the day. Everyone gets a light that hangs around your neck, a cool neon safety vest and a super stylin’ hardhat to wear for the duration of the tour.

We also stopped by the Bisbee Mining and Historical Museum. I’ll be mixing the pictures I got from both of these places…just FYI.

While we were on the mine tour, we learned about the mule trains they used to have down in the mine. The mules were only supposed to pull four carts at a time and if the miners got in a hurry and tried to tack on another cart…the mules refused to move. Ha! We also learned that the mules spent so much time down in the mines that the iris/pupil in their eyes would stop working after a certain time. The mining company would watch it closely and when it happened the mules had a special hood that would go on and they would be taken back up to the surface. Every day or so a slit in the hood near their eyes would be made bigger until their eyes were back to normal. Once their eyes were normal, the mules were retired to a nice field where they got to live out the rest of their days in comfort.

In 1877, while on a mission to find renegade Apaches up in the Mule Mountains of southern Arizona, tracker Jack Dunn found signs of mineralization. Not long after, the first mining claim was staked in what would eventually become the city of Bisbee. It wasn’t long before Bisbee became known as the “Queen of the copper camps.”

By the early 1900s Bisbee was the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco. People from all over came to the area to try and get a piece of the mining dream. In true mining town fashion, the mining company owned the town and all of the stores.

Over the years, Queen Mine produced almost three million ounces of gold, more than eight billion pounds of copper, and over three hundred different minerals…including silver, lead, and zinc. Bisbee’s minerals still rank as some of the world’s best.

In the mid 1970s the mine closed down even though the minerals weren’t depleted. There are still tons of minerals in the mine. But the company moved to other parts of the country and world where they’re still mining today. It’s said…that eventually, the company will go back to Bisbee and continue mining the Queen Mine. When the company left, they gave all of the buildings and businesses to the residents of Bisbee.

We really enjoyed our day in Bisbee. Walking around the town, checking out some of the old businesses that are still open. If you’re ever over in that part of Arizona, Bisbee is definitely worth a day or two of exploration!

It always feels more like camping when we stay at a state park. You’d think that most RV parks would have fire rings, but they don’t. At least…not the ones we stay at. So, when we get a spot with a fire ring…we thoroughly enjoy some actual camping.

Kartchner Caverns State Park is really known for its…well…caverns (caves). We were looking forward to doing a tour, but decided that the $25 a piece plus not being able to take any pictures or videos…made it less interesting for us. So, we went hiking instead. We couldn’t complain about the views.

The day we pulled into the park, we spotted a trail that meandered its way up the hill. We went into the park visitor center to ask about it, but the Rangers there told us that the trail we were looking at wasn’t a trail and that it wasn’t even in the park…that there was no way to get to it from the park.

We actually found our way up to that old mining road. There was a trail right from the back of the park up to it. I’m not sure what that Ranger thought we were talking about. We saw several old mines on our hike…all with signage for people to stay out. We didn’t get anywhere near them, but they were neat to spot.

We also found a cow. Just one cow out chilling by herself…she didn’t seem to appreciate us popping up over the trail on our way back to the campground. We figured if the area was safe enough for a single cow…we should be safe from any big predators (mountain lions).

In Benson, we found quite a few really neat murals. I somehow only got pictures of these two…but the others were all just as good.

We were pleasantly surprised by the foodies we found in Benson! We spent several meals at the Horseshoe Café. If you go there make sure to get the Almond Joy Cake…it’s probably the best cake I’ve ever had out. We also found a spice store and Prickly Pear gummies!!

In the next post I’ll tell you all about the National Monuments we visited while we were in the area!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
A Little Time in Las Cruces

A Little Time in Las Cruces

By |

Hey Guys!! Our last stop in New Mexico this time was Las Cruces. We spent two weeks in the area, but didn’t really do a whole lot of adventuring.

The first thing we did when we got to Las Cruces was head to Hatch, NM for some spicy melt-your-face-off food. Our go to spot in Hatch is a joint called Sparkeys. Even the ice cream at Sparkeys is spicy!!

Prehistoric Trackway National Monument is a BLM run National Park that was established to protect a large collection of Paleozoic era fossilized footprints along what’s called a megatrackway.

The monument consists of over 5,000 acres and has been called by some scientists as possibly the most “scientifically significant Permian track sites in the world…and Guys…we couldn’t find a single track. We tried so hard. We looked around the trail for a couple of hours but didn’t see single track. We found a couple of shell fossils, but no tracks.

There are a few different hiking paths. There’s supposed to be a way to link a couple of them and make a loop. We tried to do that and we somehow got lost and ended up in a section that was supposed to be closed. It was great to get outside on a beautiful day with some great views though! We’ll call it a win even though we didn’t find what we were looking for.

We hit up some of our go to foodie spots while we were there and found a few new spots that were fantastic! If you’re in Las Cruces, go check out Chala’s Woodfire Grill and High Desert Brewing Co!! This was our last chance to get some authentic New Mexican food so we ate as much of it as we could.

So, as you can see, we didn’t really do a lot during the two weeks we were in Las Cruces. We ate a lot more than we probably should have, soaked up the beautiful sunsets, and made some plans for our 2020 adventures.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour

Santa Fe For Christmas

Santa Fe For Christmas

By |

Hey Guys!! We always seem to end up in Santa Fe around Christmas. This year (2019) makes our third Christmas in Santa Fe since we started this grand adventure of ours. There’s something so magical about seeing Santa Fe in the snow. I think, for me, it’s the luminaries lit up and the adobe style buildings with their chili pepper garlands all covered in snow. I fell in love with it during our first visit to Santa Fe back in 2015 and it kind of feels like revisiting an old friend now.

We’ve had snow in Santa Fe every single time we’ve been there and this time didn’t let us down! In fact, I scheduled Santa Fe for Christmas because I wanted to have a white Christmas.

So, in between all of our adventuring, we did our Christmas traditions. We have tamales for our Christmas dinner and Guys, it’s almost impossible to find decent tamales outside of New Mexico.

We spent an entire day exploring the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. This National Monument is split into three separate mission sites. It’s quite a drive to get in between them, so if you’re going…go early and plan on an entire day. You do drive through small communities so you could grab lunch somewhere if you didn’t want to pack a picnic.

We started our explorations of the Salinas Pueblo Missions at the Gran Quivira Mission which is the largest of the three missions. Gran Quivira was an important trading community because of it’s location between the Pueblo Tribes and the Plains Tribes who were more nomadic.

When the Spanish explorers arrived in this area in 1583, they reported that there were eleven pueblos with close to 40,000 people. Gran Quivira started as a group of pit houses around 1,200 years ago but grew into a thriving community with over twenty masonry buildings. They had water catchment systems in place for the dry times because there wasn’t a water source close by.

The Friars and the Franciscan missionaries showed up in 1627 and started preaching with translators. They allowed some religious freedoms at first, but by the 1660s changes started to appear in church policies that forced the Natives to hide their sacred ceremonies and beliefs. In 1630 the first priest moved into the pueblo and had the Natives start building a church and by 1659 had plans for a bigger church. Everyone helped…even the women and children.

At some point in the 1660s there was a drought in the area and the already dry pueblo suffered. In 1670 the people of Gran Quivira left and went to Abó and those that were left behind died from either smallpox or a different disease brought over with the Spanish soon after.

Mission San Gregorio de Abó was home to the Pueblo Indians for over five hundred years. In 1622 the Franciscan priests came to this area to “civilize” the Tribes who called this region home. For close to one thousand years, people have been drawn to this area.

Abó had two priests who lived there. That was unusual for that time and made Abó one of the largest missionaries in all of New Mexico. While the priests and the friars worked to Christianize the Native population, they had them building not one church but two.

When the Spanish found Abó, they estimated the population close to 800 Indians. By 1670, drought, Apache uprisings, and disease caused the abandonment of Abó. In the span of just fifty years, this flourishing community was left empty.

The Villages of Quarai are largely unexcavated. The church is really the only thing left standing. They took several ground surveys and based on what they found…they believe this community was around 400 to 600 people.

I didn’t see a ton of info about life here at Quarai. There’s still quite a bit they don’t really know. So, I don’t have a ton of info to pass on to you about this site. We do know that in 1598 when the first priest showed up, Quarai was a thriving community.

I can also tell you that by the late 1670s, the residents of Quarai were all suffering from the same drought, famine, and disease we’ve read about at so many other ancient dwellings and missions of this time. Quarai also had trouble with nearby warring tribes.

It always makes us sad when we learn how thriving and full of life these communities were when they were living and worshiping their way and then to ‘see’ how fast they declined once interference was inserted into their lives. I don’t feel like their lives were made better and I often wonder, while walking amongst the ancient dwellings, what their lives would have been like if they’d been left alone.

Bandelier National Monument is one of the parks we’ve been to numerous times now…and every time we visit we find out some new information or see something with a new perspective. Since we were in the Santa Fe area, we spent some time in one of our favorite parks.

Bandelier National Monument protects close to thirty thousand acres and eleven thousand years of human history. Found on the slopes of the Jemez volcanic field in what’s known as Frijoles Canyon, the Ancestral Pueboloans built their homes out of the volcanic tuff that was left over after the Valles Caldera volcano blew her top over a million years ago. Today, you can see what’s left of several ancient communities.

You can see where the walls of this ancient dwelling used to be. the holes in the rock are where support beams used to be. There is even a small space where you can see how the interior of these homes used to be decorated. We like to walk amongst these sites and imagine what life would have been like for the former occupants.

Our favorite trail takes you up to Alcove House. This is a fun trail where you get to climb up four wooden ladders and some stone stairs to get to an ancient dwelling 140 feet above the canyon floor. They believe about twenty or so people used to live there. There’s a reconstructed kiva at Alcove House, but we’ve never seen it open to the public. The views of the canyon from the top are pretty amazing!

Bandelier not only has some amazing views, fun trails, and ancient dwellings (that you get to explore from the inside) it also has some of our favorite trees…ponderosa trees smell so good! What can I say…we’re a tree hugging/smelling family of nomads.

Back in 2015 during our first visit to the Santa Fe area, we found the little town of Los Alamos and the Bradbury Science Museum. While we were soaking in all of the science goodness, we found out that the National Park Service was actually in the process of making a visitor center for the Manhattan Project National Historic Park in Los Alamos. Our little science hearts were so excited! We’ve tried a few times to make it to the visitor center and every time we were thwarted. But this time…we made it! And…it was open!!! I don’t know if you know this about us, but we’re nerds. Science is totally our jam. Back in 2015 I had the boys read a book called The Secret Project Notebook by Carolyn Reeder. It was a great way to start our Los Alamos explorations and get them interested in the history of the project Los Alamos is known for…the atomic bomb.

If you have the chance to visit Los Alamos, you really should. It’s a great little town with some top notch science nerdery.

Did someone say foodies? We might be slightly obsessed with New Mexican food. Maybe. We ate so much of it while we were there that we started to smell like a Mexican restaurant when we would sweat. Ha! It was fantastic!! We have our favorite spots…but we also found a few new favorites that we will definitely revisit next time!

That’s it for our Santa Fe adventures for this time!

See y’all down the road!!

#NationalParkTour
Ghost Towns and Smoking Mountains

Ghost Towns and Smoking Mountains

By |

Hey Guys!! We have so much to get through in this post…so lets just dive right in!

The first place we went when we got to Page is the Carl Hayden Visitor Center. This is the visitor center for Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area and where you can find all the most up-to-date information on the hiking trails and dirt roads in the area. While we were there, the boys did the Junior Ranger program and we walked across the bridge to check out the view of the Glenn Canyon Dam.

The Glen Canyon Bridge is 700 feet above the Colorado River which makes it the second highest steel arch bridge in the world! From the walkways along the bridge, you get a pretty stellar view of the river below. We walked to the center on one side then crossed the road to see the other side.

One of our favorite adventures at Glenn Canyon NRA was driving out to Alstrom Point to get a view of Lake Powell. To get there, we found ourselves on a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. The road started off pretty good…really we commented about how smooth it was. But I think that after a certain mileage, they decided to just let the “road” return to nature. There were a couple of times that we weren’t sure we were even on the path anymore. And then we reached the slick rock section where you have to try and follow the little cairn stacks. We got lost on this section and had to turn around and take a better look at where we thought they wanted us to go. Needless to say, it was quite the adventure! And we loved it! We made it to Alstrom Point right before sunset and had the entire place to ourselves!! The water was so still and had some amazing reflections of the redish/orange rocks. This…this is what we look for when we set out on an adventure. No crowds. Nothing but nature.

We also drove out to the Lake Powell Campground and Marina for some more views. We were there right around sunset and there weren’t too many other people there. I think the bitterly cold wind kept everyone else inside. We woke up the next day (the day we left) to find that it had snowed. There was a very light dusting of snow around Page. I wasn’t able to snag any pictures of the lake with snow…but it was pretty!

Horseshoe Bend. I’ve wanted to see Horseshoe Bend in person for years. We’d driven by the parking lot several times during our stay in Page and every single time the parking lot was jam-packed with cars and huge tour buses. And every time I thought…well, maybe next time it won’t be so crowded. But, it always was. I was running out of time to see it during our stay so we bit the bullet and went during the time of day that was supposed to offer the best lighting for it. And…it was pandemonium. Just soooo many people everywhere. Standing in line to wait for my turn at the railing I kept looking around at everyone getting those Instagram shots. What’s funny is when you see those shots on social media, it looks like that person is all alone out in the wilderness with some meditative look…but in reality…they’re surrounded by chaos. People climbing every rock trying to get that just right angle…taking seventy or more selfies…the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.

I took a few pictures of the bend itself, snapped some of the insane amount of people and then we left. It is pretty. And from the picture above you can’t tell that the family right next to me was doing an entire photo secession and kept sticking their arms in my shot. Or that the couple on the other side of me kept pushing at me trying to get into the perfect spot. But, I got to see it and the picture doesn’t look half bad…all things considering.

We found ourselves back in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument again! We can’t seem to stay out of this park. This time we entered from it’s southern border and headed for the ghost town of Paria. There’s not really anything left of the Paria town sight or the movie set. We really loved the colors in the rocks though!

Between a fire or two and the seasonal flooding, the only structure we saw was this vault toilet put in place by the park. And Guys, one of us (Charles) got stuck in it. I’m not even kidding. Charles got stuck in the bathroom while we were out in the middle of nowhere. The door closed and didn’t want to open back up. It took a combined effort to get him out. I can’t imagine having that happen when you’re all alone out there…with no cell service. But look at those stripes and colors on the rocks!!

We did find a little pioneer cemetery. None of the markers had names on them. Instead, there was a little plaque toward the front that had the names of everyone buried there.

We made it all the way to the river where the original town sight is rumored to have been. Again, we never saw any traces of what was once there, but we enjoyed the drive and the scenery. We used our imaginations a bit and tried to decide what buildings would have been where and talked about good and bad places to build a town.

The whole adventure to Paria took us a couple of hours and we only saw a few other people. But boy-howdy…Guys, just look at that view. It really was like that the entire drive. One amazing thing to see after another. So, even though we didn’t get to explore a ghost town, we spent some time outside soaking up some vitamin D in a gorgeous setting. I call that a win.

The last thing we did in the Page area was head back into one of our favorite National Parks, Grand Staircase-Escalante, for one more adventure. Smoky Mountain Scenic Backway will take you all the way up to the All American Scenic Byway 12, but we didn’t go the entire 78 miles.

We kind of felt like we were driving around on another planet as we drove through stark canyons and some desert slick rock. The colors of the rocks kept changing…different sections had different colors. There was very little plant life. The first picture above…with the grey rocks…that area is called The Moon and parts of the movie Planet of the Apes was filmed there. It really felt otherworldly and remote.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky (or just plan better than we did), you’ll see smoke wafting up from one of the vents of the 100 year old coal seam fire still burning deep in Smoky Mountain. Which, is where the mountain got it’s name. In the upper right picture, you can see some of the coal seams that run through the mountain and in the left picture you can see what one of the vents looks like. To see the smoke, you have to be near a vent when it’s below freezing. So…we didn’t see any smoke.

We made it to the Kelly Grade Overlook and that’s as far as we went. We’ve driven a lot of dirt roads…but the road to get up to this overlook at 6,500 feet was so narrow with blind turns…I really don’t know what we would have done if we’d met someone going the other way on this road. We sat and ogled the view while we ate lunch. Not a bad view…you know, if you like that sort of epic landscape.

I know that people call these landscapes “badlands” because they’re not really good for anything…but I find them so beautiful and interesting. I’m so thankful that our government saw the need to set aside places like this for us to explore.

We found this pizza place…Strombolli’s Italian Restaurant… Guys, it was so good! We got the sampler appetizer platter and it was so big that we didn’t have that much room for pizza. Oh! And the mozzarella sticks were so huge and obviously house made. They were amazing! The pizza was delicious. The crust had that chew that we look for with a savory sauce (not sweet). When we’re back in Page this Spring…we’re totally going back here.

Ok, Guys!! That’s it for Page!! We didn’t do some of the activities that we’d initially planned on, but we knew we’d be back in the area soon.

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Ancient Dwellings

Ancient Dwellings

By |

Hey Guys!! We’re in Arizona!! Utah was so much better than I thought it would be. I mean, I knew it was going to be amazing…I’d seen all of the pictures of the various National Park Units throughout the state, but Guys, the whole two months we spent exploring Utah were way better than we’d expected.

Utah was harder than we expected too. The remoteness of it…the lack of good groceries stores…not even a Walmart in most areas that we stayed. It was really great to pull into Page and see some major chain stores! Ha!! It’s all about the little things…like being able to find the right brand of cat litter or the right dish soap.

The RV park we stayed at had these really cool covered wagons that you can book and stay in! So neat! I kept seeing people walk up to the wagons and try to get into them. I guess out of curiosity, but sheesh…can you imagine staying in one and having a constant stream of people trying your door handle? We’ll actually be back in this park on our way North after the winter passes and I think I’m going to ask someone in the office if I can see the inside of one! I’m super curious.

We stayed in the Page area so we could explore a few different National Park Units. Canyon de Chelly National Monument was quite the drive from Page, but we were the closest we would be and we all really wanted to see this park. We found out about this park back in 2015 while we were exploring Wupatki National Monument. The Ranger there told us about Canyon de Chelly and we immediately stuck it on our need-to-see list.

Canyon de Chelly National Monument is actually still home to several Navajo families. They live down in the canyon during the summer months then move up to the rim community during the winter months. I worried it would be super awkward driving around their community to the various viewpoints, but it wasn’t. Not really. Everyone we met was welcoming and had stories of their life in the canyon to tell along with some beautiful handmade jewelry or pottery to sell. If you make it to Canyon de Chelly…and I highly recommend it…make sure to take cash because you’ll want to take home some of their wonderful wares. We ended up with several things. We bought some jewelry as well as the items pictured. Everything was fairly priced. Everything was expertly made. And everything came with the opportunity to get to know one of the residents.

One thing I didn’t know before we visited Canyon de Chelly is that the National Monument is actually split up into two different canyons. Canyon del Muerto (North Rim) and Canyon de Chelly (South Rim). You drive down one then turn around and drive the other. I honestly didn’t think this park would take long. We had no plans of taking a tour down in the canyon…so I figured a couple of hours and that would be it. I didn’t plan on two different canyons with a very low speed limit! But, its all a residential area, so the speed limit makes total sense.

North Rim Drive is 34 miles round trip and has several stops along Canyon del Muerto. The maze of canyons known as Canyon de Chelly has been occupied for close to 5,000 years and has encompassed many different cultures. The current residents, the Navajos, have made this canyon their home since the 1700s.

The canyon walls go from around thirty feet at the canyon entrance to a soaring 1,000 feet in some places. At each viewpoint along the rim drive you can see evidence of both past and present residents. Right by the ancient dwelling (the Navajo don’t like to call them ruins because they don’t see them as ruins), you’ll find a freshly plowed field waiting for the seasonal planting.

When you visit Canyon de Chelly National Monument, make sure you bring some binoculars…you’ll need them. We appreciated these view finders we found at almost every spot. When you’re trying to find something all the way across the canyon…it can be hard to pinpoint exactly where you’re supposed to be looking. The view finders they have up are super helpful. We would locate the ancient dwelling with the view finder then use our binoculars to get a better look at it.

Established in 1931, Canyon de Chelly National Monument preserves and protects nearly 5,000 years of human history within the 84,000 acres that make up the park. When you visit any National Park you should be respectful of what the park is trying to preserve, but I feel like at parks like Canyon de Chelly, you should be extra careful…extra respectful. You’re essentially visiting someone’s home and when you’re a guest in someone’s home you try to learn, respect and observe their customs and beliefs.

We also made a trip to Navajo National Monument. This NPS unit protects three ancient Ancestral Puebloan dwellings built into the cliff walls of the Tsegi Canyon System. Tsegi is pronounced SAY-ih and means a spiritual and physical home.

Navajo National Monument is a smaller park with only around 360 acres. There’s a great little museum and gift shop at the visitor center. We learned so much about the Navajo culture from this park and Canyon de Chelly. The structure in the picture above is an old style hogan. A hogan is the traditional home of the Navajo people. The word hogan comes from the Navajo word hooghan (ho-won). Everything about the construction and the elements of the hogan have meaning and purpose. Everything. Even the direction you walk when you enter a hogan. The hogan is round because the Navajo (they call themselves Diné) have always believed that the world is round and that everything in our world is connected within a circle.

Navajo National Monument protects three puebloan dwellings. You can only see one of them from the trails. The Sandal Trail is only about a mile long (round trip) and it takes you down to an overlook for the Betatakin dwelling. You can also take a guided tour to see this dwelling. We would have loved to do that, but we were there in the wrong season. The Betatakin dwelling was used for about fifty years before it was abandoned. They think there were close to 100 people living here while it was occupied. The cliff dwellings are so often built in an alcove because that is a source of water. The alcoves are made from water seeping through the sandstone and they would collect the water to use while they lived there.

The Keet Seel dwelling can be seen through a guided 17 mile round-trip tour. That’s a long hike, but it’s to see one of the best preserved dwellings in the Southwest. Keet Seel is the biggest of the three dwellings protected in Navajo National Monument and was occupied much longer than Betatakin. The Inscription House is currently closed to the public because it’s unstable and not safe for people to explore.

The boys got some pretty cool swag at Navajo National Monument for completing the Junior Ranger program! We really enjoyed chatting with the Rangers there! The Ranger in the photo wanted to get her picture taken with the boys because she hadn’t seen that many Junior Ranger Badges before. It’s always fun to watch the Rangers check out all the different badges Alex and Nicholas have earned.

Let’s talk foodies! We were pleasantly surprised with the foodies in Page! Not only did we find some really good Texas BBQ…I found my absolute favorite chili rellenos! We also found prickly pear tea. We’re huge fans of anything prickly pear so we were pretty stoked to find a tea made of it!

We had a busy two weeks in the Page area. I’m going to pause here on our Page area adventures. I’ve got more adventures, more National Park Units, and more foodies to tell you about next time!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
Longhorns in Utah?

Longhorns in Utah?

By |

Hey Guys!! We’ve made it to the last stop on our Utah Big Five section of our National Park Tour. We stayed in a city called Hurricane for two weeks and after four weeks of tiny towns with tiny grocery stores and very few foodie options…we were loving this area of Utah!

The main reason we were in Hurricane was to explore Zion National Park. I’ll tell you all about our Zion shenanigans in the next post. Zion is getting a post all to itself. Yup, it was that epic.

So, what else did we do while in the area? Honestly…not a whole lot. We’d pretty much been going non-stop for three months straight and we were so worn out. We’d had plans to explore Zion, Pipe Spring, and then a few state parks in the area, but that didn’t happen. We needed some down time. Living in a small space does have its good points…we’re a close family…but it also has its drawbacks. We’re always within a few feet of one another. Personal space isn’t really a thing when you live in an RV and usually, that’s cool. Like I said, we’re a close family, but when you have five people who have zero personal space and they’re all tired and worn out…our home-on-wheels can feel a little more cramped than usual. We decided to, of course, explore Zion and Pipe Spring National Monument (since we are on a National Park Tour), but we skipped everything else…this time. We spent a lot of time just hanging out…trying the foodie spots…and resting.

Sometime in the early 1920s, Steven Mather (the first director of the National Park Service) was on his way from Zion National Park to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon when he stopped at Pipe Spring to rest. He became fascinated with the place and saw an opportunity to make a little money by having a place to stop on the way from one big National Park(Zion) to the other (Grand Canyon). So, he bought it with his own money and by 1923, Pipe Spring National Monument was born.

Back before it was known as Pipe Spring, this land was home to the Paiutes. They lived off of and cared for the land in and around the spring. In the mid 1800s, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claimed 160 acres of the land to use as a ranch for cattle. The first thing they did was build a fort over a small section of the spring so they would always have access to fresh water. Relations between the Paiutes and the LDS members escalated horribly when the Paiutes started hunting the cattle since the LDS members were hunting the deer in the area. The Paiutes weren’t being malicious…they didn’t see a difference in hunting one thing over another. The cattle, after all, were on the land they’d called home for 1000s of years. One thing led to another, and the ranch was abandoned for a time.

Not wanting to give up the land and all of the profit it was bringing in for the church, the LDS members went back to Pipe Spring and built a stronghold. This strong hold became known as Winsor Castle. Winsor Castle and the ranch was out in the middle of nowhere and needed a fast way to communicate with people. By 1871, 995 miles of telegraph wire had been installed and Pipe Springs was connected to the Deseret Telegraph system. Eliza Stewart was the first telegraph operator at Pipe Spring.

The ranch prospered from 1871 to 1879 making bimonthly delivers of butter, cheese, and cattle to St. George, Utah while the LDS Temple was being built. When the Temple was built, the Church no longer needed the ranch and in 1895 the ranch was sold to Maggie Heaton. Maggie welcomed any and all to her home. She’d have fresh water, pies, cakes, and fresh bread. And the rest…is history.

I’ll be honest here…this is the first National Park Unit that I’m not really sure why it’s a National Park Unit. Every National Park Unit tells a story…it preserves an important building/town/canyon/section of our Country that needs protecting or needs to be remembered. The story we were told at Pipe Spring National Monument, while interesting…wasn’t really any different than 1000s of other stories/places of that time. In fact, the story told at Pipe Spring National Monument was mainly about LDS Members and early days of their church and if I’m being completely honest with y’all…it wasn’t a kind story about them or their early life practices. Perhaps this was a learning story…if we forget our country’s history/mistakes, then we’re more likely to repeat them. I’ve watered down the history of Pipe Spring National Monument here…my intention is to keep it real, but not offend anyone. I feel like this park would be better suited as perhaps a State Park or a privately owned museum.

Oh, and one more thing…Pipe Spring National Monument is actually in Arizona…not Utah…so the Texas Longhorn in the photo was in Arizona. 😉 We did see some in Utah on the way into Zion though. A whole herd of them! They were very cool!

Let’s talk foodies! Now, keep in mind…we’d been out in the middle of little towns that didn’t have many options for foodies…and keep in mind we were recuperating. Yeah, recuperating… we’ll go with that. **wink, wink**

We kind of went crazy with the options for foodies. And, Guys…we’re not even sorry about it. Not. Even. A little bit.

One of my all time favorite things to do is peruse the ice cream sections in the different areas/regions. I’m always on the look out for a different brand or flavor. We started seeing the Red Button Brand as soon as we crossed into Utah and well…we had to try a few flavors. Our favorite (and one that’s not pictured) was the Root Beer Float flavor. It was really good!

Every time we’d head into Zion, we would pass this place called Fort Zion. This place was a souvenir store/restaurant/petting zoo. It was a really neat place and the petting zoo price was super reasonable. My favorite thing here was the cute little old western town they’d made!

I didn’t get any pictures of pretty flowers so I’ll leave you with this sunset picture. In the next post I’ll tell y’all all about our Zion explorations…so stay tuned!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour
The Hoodoos

The Hoodoos

By |

Hey Guys!! Man, did Utah get cold!! We drove out of Moab and into what felt like Fall weather while we were in Torrey. We ended up having to use our propane furnace several nights. When we drove to our next stop in Panguitch…well…I’m pretty sure we drove right into Winter! Brrr it was cold the entire two weeks we were in Panguitch!

There are certain things you don’t think about when you live in a sticks-n-bricks home. Like…can we find someplace to fill the propane tank in our home…will we have ice crystals on the inside of our walls in the morning…and did we remember to turn off the water so the hose doesn’t freeze and crack overnight? These are real concerns when you live in a home-on-wheels and you’re experiencing below freezing weather. There are measures you have to take to insure you don’t have frozen poo in your tank or hose because…frozen poo is never a good thing. Ever. And it also has a tendency to cause some major issues when you’re trying to dump your tanks. Again…that’s not something you want to have to deal with. Ever.

Panguitch is a bit bigger than Torrey. There was an actual (albeit small) grocery store. But, hey…beggars can’t be choosers and we were just thrilled to have a grocery store close! Did you know, that Panguitch is a Paiute word that means “big fish”? Panguitch was originally settled in 1864 with the name of Fairview, but the name was changed in the late 1800s.

The main reason we were in the area was to continue our Utah Big Five National Park tour with Bryce Canyon National Park. I’d heard so many wonderful things about this park that I had pretty high expectations for our visit. The pictures I kept seeing on social media had me itching to get there and grab some shots of my own.

Our first trip into Bryce Canyon NP was later in the afternoon. We hit the visitor center so the boys could start the Junior Ranger books and then we headed out to do the eighteen mile scenic drive. I have to admit to y’all…our first impression of Bryce wasn’t good. In fact, after the first few viewpoints, we all kind of thought it was going to be another Grand Canyon for us. If you missed that post you can find it here. We weren’t really feeling it. The boys stopped getting out of the car to look at the view because “it all looks the same”. We were totally bummed. So far, Utah had not disappointed…was this park going to be a dud for us?

We didn’t get to go back to Bryce Canyon NP for several days…real life tends to happen even when you’re a Nomad. The next weekend we headed in to do the Navajo Loop/Queens Garden combined loop trail. We got there super early (about 8am) and headed straight to the trail. And Guys, oh…my…goodness…what a difference the right lighting makes. Look at those hoodoos! This was the fiery color I was wanting. I do know a bit about lighting…I do take my fair share of photos…but it really was interesting to see just how big of a difference the right lighting makes.

There are a few different ways you can do the Navajo Loop/Queens Garden trail. We opted to start at the Wall Street side of the Navajo Loop. It’s a pretty steep decent down into the canyon and we were kind of digging the feeling of heading down into the depths of it. When we started out that morning the temperature was close to 30° and there was a bitingly cold breeze. We bundled up and hoped that the cold would keep some hikers home.

We loved how once we got down into the canyon we found an entire forest. You can, of course, see the trees from the canyon rim, but you don’t realize how big they are or how many of them are hiding down there.

Did you know that Bryce Canyon isn’t really a canyon at all? It’s actually a series of amphitheaters that over many thousands of years of erosion have been carved out of the pink Claron limestone that makes up the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

The Paiutes believe that the rock pinnacles and hoodoos are actually people turned to stone by angry gods. They believe that their people were placed here to take care of the earth. Some of the rock formations do have people like shapes to them. In fact, the Queens Garden was given that name because someone thought that one of the formations looked like a statue of Queen Victoria. I don’t really see it… but, to each his own.

Our hike ended at Sunrise Point right as the park started getting busy. I have to admit…this hike totally changed our opinions of Bryce Canyon National Park. We’d resigned ourselves to not liking this National Park, but getting down into the canyon and walking amongst the hoodoos, spires, pinnacles, and monuments was amazing.

The canyon looks completely different when you’re down in it. It really is amazing how changing your perspective/view can change your whole outlook about a place. Bryce Canyon went from being near the bottom of our list to somewhere near the top.

We were close to Cedar Breaks National Monument so we took a day to go explore it. Unfortunately, when we got there…the facilities were closed. We were able to drive the six mile scenic road and stop at a few different viewpoints though. Also known as “Circle of Painted Cliffs”, Cedar Breaks has some beautiful views.

Cedar Breaks National Monument is like a mini Bryce Canyon. It is, in fact, an amphitheater just like Bryce Canyon. Cedar Breaks is around three miles wide and close to two-thousand feet deep and just like in Bryce, you’ll see a combination of fins, spires and columns jutting out of the canyon wall.

While we were exploring the Cedar Breaks National Monument area, we stumbled on Brian Head. At 11,312 feet, Brian Head Peak is the highest peak in southwest Utah and the 360° views from the top are breathtaking! On a clear day, you can see all the way to Arizona and Nevada. It was just a quick drive up a dirt road that didn’t need four-wheel drive and we had the entire place to ourselves.

We spent over four weeks exploring in and around Dixie National Forest. At nearly two million acres, Dixie NF has something to offer everyone from mountain forests and alpine lakes to canyon gorges. Dixie NF is Utah’s largest national forest. We’ve been to quite a few national forests during our travels, and Dixie is one of the most diverse we’ve seen.

We did find some time for foodies. Ha! Y’all know how we are about the foodies. So far, while in Utah…we hadn’t really been impressed with most of what we’d found. We did find a couple of hidden gems here and there. Panguitch had a couple more hidden gems for us. Local, little mom and pop places that were still open while quite a few places were closing for the season.

Well, Guys…I’m going to pause on our Panguitch explorations for now. I’ll share more with you in our next post!

See y’all down the road!

#NationalParkTour