Mid October, 2014
What can be better than waking up to a beautiful sunrise peeking over the mountain top? Nothing, as long as it follows a good night’s sleep.
After a tasty meal prepared by my personal breakfast chef and traveling companion, we left this idyllic scene and continued our journey toward Escalante, Utah and the Petrified Forest State Park.
Our route toward the Petrified Forest State Park, took us to the historic Elijah Cutler Behunan farmstead. The Behunans were some of the first to establish their homestead in the Capitol Reef area, a rugged and unforgiving area.
Mr. Behunan was a farmer and tried valiantly to make a living farming the ground in the area around his home as he searched, as many Mormons, for a location to exercise religious freedom.
The home had one window and door in the front of the cabin and one tiny window on the south side, opposite the stone fireplace.
The roof is composed of small bits of rock, pebbles and dust from the floor of the surrounding high desert.
There are times that I am shocked to see how our ancestors lived and to what they endured. This homestead family is no exception. This one room cabin with a fireplace was the home for thirteen people. In the first place, I cannot imagine parenting eleven children! Can you imagine having eleven children in this home? Talk about having everyone under foot while cooking!
Imagine trying to grow crops at the base of this mountain considering the lack of rain, the lava rocks, sand and boulders.
The volcano that spit out this bit of lava must have erupted a long time ago as the edges are smoothed. If only rocks could tell the tales of their lifetime.
We continue on our way and experience more lovely views that take my mind away from the struggles of the Behunans.
Who knows the minerals that are in the blue rock?
Often, we think “can life get any more beautiful than this, God’s creation!”
We follow the rim road and experience the colors of fall, once again.
We reach our destination. The Petrified Forest State Park has no sites large enough to accommodate our fifty six feet of motorhome and Miata carrying trailer.
Is it not a shame that we needed to pull into the overflow area beside the lake? Look at that view! If only we had kayaks!
The water level was down about ten feet and moss was around the edges making it impossible to walk around the lake, so we walked out on the dock and took in the view.
What a great way to end a beautiful day.
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God bless y’all.
Following a couple days of rest, we were, once again, on the road. We drove highway 191, found Potash Road along the Colorado river in search of petroglyphs. We found more than we imagined we would!
Someone named this one “Paper Dolls,” do you see them?
Some of the petroglyphs were very light and a bit difficult to find. We persevered.
Big Horn Sheep, Lizards and human form. Now, that was easy!
This is a puzzler. Do you have any ideas?
Warriors?
A lonely hand. Is it old as the other petroglyphs?
What do you think?
We returned to our site as the sun was dropping toward the western horizon. These clouds captured my attention because they were filled with dust from ATV and motorbike riders. The lighter portions of the clouds is the dust.
Little did we know what the night was to bring. The evening was accented with a refreshing, cool breeze. We left our windows open as we went to bed.
What followed during the peaceful evening was anything but peaceful. Lying in bed sound asleep, I much too slowly became aware that the wind was blowing and the motorhome was rocking and rolling.
Then, the gale force winds of approximately fifty miles per hour struck. We jumped up and pulled in the slides. First the bedroom. Then as the large slide was retracting one massive gust hit us and we felt that the slide toppers were being ripped off. The noise of the winds actually made me cover my face in fear.
With the slides retracted, we closed the windows…..way too late. The damage had been done, but we did not see the piles of “cinnamon” covering the interior until morning.
The next two days were spent with the vacuum and a shop vac we carry in the basement. We vacuumed and used the nozzles to suck that darned “cinnamon” from window tracks, counters, tables…..every flat surface. We used attachments to clean the valences, curtains and blinds.
Finally, we felt that we had sucked up every grain and that we could move to the Valley of the Goblins State Park.
Guess what we found upon our arrival. The movement of the motorhome released another dose of “cinnamon.” I told John that I didn’t think I could bear to use cinnamon again. That lasted until our next meal and cinnamon was part of the recipe.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we left the windows down on the night of the sand storm. John vacuumed as much as he could and now we are waiting until we can put the top down and let the wind blow the rest out of the car.
The campground at the Valley of the Goblins was both full and the sites were too small for our forty foot Allegro Bus and the sixteen foot trailer loaded with the Miata. Thank goodness we enjoy boondocking.
If you have a rig that is over twenty four feet in length, forget the campgrounds. The view is much better in the desert, anyway.
That evening, we heard the sound of a para-sailor. This is our view of him flying past us and toward the mountain range. Fascinated, we watched him maneuver closer and closer to the mountain. He began to gain altitude, but at the last moment, turned and retreated. We think he was trying to go over the mountain and knew he would never make it. He turned in retreat and headed back to the campground. I wonder what color his shorts was when he touched down.
Walking the desert floor, John was on the hunt for pretty rocks. I was on the hunt for a great hike. We both were happy. I took this photo with him looking at the ground, as usual. I was climbing up from a ravine. I think it makes an interesting photo.
This was my view on my walk. I tried to find a way down into the wash. It was late in the afternoon and I was concerned about getting back to the coach before all light was lost.
How do I describe the The Valley of the Goblins? What can I say to do them justice?
Photos do not do justice to the Majesty of this area. Make sure that you do not miss it as you travel Utah.
A Platypus? A turtle sticking out his tongue? It is fun trying to describe some of these rock formations that do not look like goblins.
As I walked through the valley, I began to see a mountain that looked blue! I wanted to see more.
What appears to look close is not as close as it appears. But I kept walking.
The more I walked, the more I was intrigued. Why that color in the midst of all the red and brown tints of the goblins and surrounding mountains.
Another twenty minutes or so, I am able to see more of the detail.
But there is one problem. I know that I have been gone way too long, leaving John sitting on a rock in the sun. I must turn back.
But…..which way do I go? I do not recognize much as I try to retreat, knowing that I am not following the path by which I came.
Uh, oh….I know I’m in the dog house! But there he is! He is walking back to the trailhead, I think. Oops, his water bottle is empty. Not good.
Thank goodness he still loves me, though he’s a bit irritated, hot and thirsty.
Keep in mind here that we both purchased Camelback hydrating backpacks, but did not bring them with us. Can anyone spell stuuupiddd?
The next day is rest day and late in the afternoon, we leave our campsite and are on the road, once more. This is the lovely campsite we had for our wonderful nights sleep. Nothing like a running stream to sing you to sleep.
Looking left…..
Looking right…..
And a beautiful sunset….
When we have beautiful days like today, I can’t begin to imagine what God has in store for us in Heaven! I pray that you will be there with us.
Thanks so much for joining us on this journey.
And thanks you so much for shopping Amazon through our blog.
God bless you all!
Not only busy, but unable to post due to our various locations with not enough internet signal to publish individual posts.
Our next destination was Hot Springs, SD where the Mammoth Museum is located. What a great learning experience we had.
This museum and a palentologoligal site is completely indoors. The site was discovered in 1972 as a subdivision developer was having the site cleared in order to build homes. The machinery unearthed a tusk and progress was stopped. Eventually, the developer donated the land which became the dig site.
The size of this site is yet to be determined. Cores were drilled to determine the footprint and depth. After drilling a core, they were able to go thirty feet and still find signs of needed exploration!
How did this site begin? About twenty-six thousand years ago a cavern collapsed and created a sinkhole where warm springs flowed into the depressed earth creating a site that mammoths, bears, members of the Camelid family and other creatures went for hydration.
Many would slip into the depression. The walls were too steep and slippery to climb out and the animals died. Sediment covered the remains, bones were preserved. More wildlife would migrate to the site and the process repeated itself until the land became moderately level with the surrounding area.
In the photo below, you get an idea of the depth of the dig, thus far.
http://mammothsite.com/geology
Another Mammoth being carefully uncovered.
More bones at a deeper level
We find the remains of a baby Wooly Mammoth. It is believed that at one month of age, she fell through the ice in a Siberian Lake and froze. This is believed to have happened 26,000 years ago.
Here is an artist’s rendition of an adult Wooly Mammoth. The baby is believed to have had grown to this size,if she had survived.
Then we also have another animal of the era: a Giant Short Faced Bear
Columbian Wooly Mammoth….without the wooly.
We leave the museum and are off to the Wildlife Look in the nearby 
Custer State Park. Look who greeted us at the beginning of the loop! His side itched and the only thing he had to help was the post of the stop sign.
Still scratching, he takes a peek at us.
Antelope on the range. They are not as social as the Bison. The boy here wanted to get up close and personal. Actually, wanted to see inside the Miata!
This wild burro was seeking handouts of carrots.
This gal is really put off that we have no treats for her and her friends.
The Antelope are not too eager to be very close. I have known that to spot a Big Horn Sheep is to look for the white butt. But, that works only when there are no Antelope or Pronghorn Sheep around. White butts abound in the wild!
Antelope
Pronghorn
After three years of searching, we finally spot Big Horns! We are pleased even if they are juveniles. Can you find the one with the GPS tracker on it’s neck?
More white Butts!
The next day, we find ourselves on the Needles Highway. Absolutely breathtaking!
The width of this passage is nine feet eight inches! Sure glad we are in the Miata!
Even though the day was cloudy and raining, at times, the views were great.
We find ourselves on the road the next day. We are traveling south through Wyoming, Colorado and finally Utah, our next destination. After driving through flat lands, we find rolling roads and the foothills of mountains to come!
Hills and mountains grow higher and higher showing distinct personalities.
Finally, our destination……MOAB, UT! A totally new experience!
We climbed the foothills, admired the distant mountains, admired the local plants
Moonrise over the desert.
Sunset is beautiful filling the sky with pinks, yellows, blues and lavenders.
The next morning Olivia, Oliver and I take an early morning walk. The “kids” lead the way. They do not like walking on the desert floor. Either one or the other had been stuck with mighty sticky needle-like spines.
The big rocks were growing closer.
Olivia does not like to stand and wait, so she lies in the dusty road.
Sometimes the kids get so far ahead that they come back to hurry me. “Hey, I just don’t run like you two!”
I do not like them to get too far ahead of me. They are, sometimes, very curious and do not sense danger.
OK, now which way do I go? Do I go left or right?
I choose right not knowing that I am going to have a real treat ahead.
Again, I enjoy the colors and structure of the desert flowers.
Then there is the sand art created by water run-off or the wind.
Little did I know that at the horizon at the top of the curving road was going to provide a wonderful discovery.
Footprints in the rock. There were numerous petrified, about one hundred sixty five million years old, three toed tracks of human sized dinosaurs from the Jurassic Period.
These tracks can be found throughout the Arches National Park. To me, this was more intriguing than all the arches.
The reddish darker depressions progressing at an angle in the photo below are the footprints of the Dinosaurs.
I wish that I knew how to use the red arrows that some of you use to point out the points of interest.
I carefully placed my foot in two of the footprints.
The prints are just a bit larger than my foot with hiking show. People are not allowed to make plaster casts. The casts break down the footprint.
What a thrill it was to place my feet in the depressions made by dinosaurs thousands of years ago.
The next morning, it was time to change locations. The colors were just astounding.
As we drove toward Utah 119, I was intrigued by the mountain ahead. I have a lot of research ahead. Why the color in this mountain? What is it?
Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope that you have enjoyed our experiences. Any and all comments are so appreciated.
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May God Bless you in this month of Thanksgiving. I, for one, am thankful for each of you.
