1 out of 4 ain’t bad?

The extended family and I went camping in the San Rafael Swell, by Goblin Valley, over Memorial Day.  (Yeah, I know this post is a little belated.)

Of the 4 things we planned on doing down there, we were successful with only one of them.  But despite a 75% failure rate, the vacation was 100% a success.

1.    Visit “The Tree”; a huge tree down Waterpocket Fold where we spread my mother’s ashes back in 1988.

The Tree back in about 1990.

We stood up on the ridge and threw her ashes to the wind, spreading them over the trees in the gully below.

Unfortunately, this previously state land was sold to some private party and it is now fenced off and we were not able to get up to the tree.

This was the closest I could get to the tree, I took this over the fence that kept us out.

2.    Along the road to Capitol Reef National Park, there is a little waterfall and pond that we used to play in.

Unfortunately, in the name of safety this area was closed also.

Nobody playing in the water anymore.

3.     Then we wanted to go find this slot canyon that my older brother had been to before.

We found the Ding and Dang canyons, but not the slot canyon off one of them that we were trying to find.

4.     Goblin Valley.  Finally, one of the places we wanted to go to was findable and open.

We had a fun game of Capture the Flag around the hoodoos.

As usual, the trip was great, we found some nice dirt roads for my Jeep.

And saw some great geographic formations.  I took this picture early in the morning right before I headed for home.

Old Photo of the Day

The last time I went to Yellowstone Park was back around 1980, in the picture is (left to right) my sister, my older brother, my oldest niece and my brother's wife.  We stayed in a campground despite bear sightings in the neighborhood, and instead of preparing a legal brief, we planned out exactly who was going to grab the child and which door of which car we all were going to get into in the event a bear showed up.  I remember we left the cars unlocked with the keys in them for a quick getaway.  My, how times have changed since then.

The Hacienda

My little brother turned a truck bed into a trailer, and with a carpet kit and this tent, had the greatest camper. Lightweight, could carry a ton of stuff in it and relatively easy to set up and tear down. And the best part, it looks like an old pioneer covered wagon. I wanted one. I found this picture while going through some old CDs I'd had hidden away in the garage, along with a bazillion other pictures. I have no idea exactly when it was taken, but according to the details listed on the picture file, it was last modified on 1/10 of 1999. I think that's when I scanned the original picture. I think he still has the truck trailer, although the carpet kit and tent are long gone. Look for more of these trivial pictures from my past in the future, as I continue going through the 145 CDs sitting in the box under my desk. Oh, and there's a bunch of Super 8 movies sitting in the box with them, from back when I was 12 or 13. I want to get them transferred to DVD, and maybe inflict you with them here too... (Bwyahahahahahahaha).