Monthly Archives: April 2014

Canyonlands National Park

There is no phone signal or Internet in Canyonlands National Park… It really is a long way from anything in the depths of Utah. And that’s a good thing as the crowds can’t be bothered, so the people there are there because they have made the effort. The long drive is stunning and wildlife is easy to spot, a coyote ran right across the road in front of us.

Canyonlands makes the geology easy…. It’s right there in front of you. Pink and white layers of sedimentary rock having built up by the alternating periods of sea, lake and river deposits then being worn away again by rivers and winds. The fine sand clearly from the rocks around us blowing and washing away.

Impressive views in every direction at Canyonlands National Park

At first sight it’s easy to think this landscape is rather barren and bleak but on closer inspection you become aware of how abundant the life here is. Plants thrive in the unique biological soil and reptiles, mammals and birds are everywhere the moment you stop, look and listen. But even before you stop, their tracks and signs are everywhere and easy to spot in the fine sand. Tiny shrew tracks, pursued by thick and distinctive snake tracks. Lizard lines and feet criss-crossing every sandy gap between plants and rocks.

A brilliant display in the visitor centre prepared us for a better understanding of what we would see on our short, child friendly walk around Cave Spring trail. Particularly the flowers and plants which have a variety of uses from nutrition to medicine, dyes and useful materials. We also saw a fascinating cowboy camp which was still in use until 1974! Although short, the trail offered everything from fantastic animal tracks to follow, plants to identify, ancient petroglyphs to marvel at, ladders to climb leading to views that make you feel like you’re on Mars.

Historic cowboy camp

Petroglyphs are abundant in the area, which was heavily populated by Ancestral Puebloans until a few hundred years ago when they departed the area, probably due to drought

Newspaper Rock on the road into the Park. A mind blowing display of petroglyphs from people spanning millenia

For the afternoon we hung out at the camp, washing our clothes, painting and cooking on the campfire. My boys are impressive climbers and having got to the summit of the hefty rocks behind our camp the night before with Rob they convinced me I would love the climb too. So with Orla on Robs back up we went and the view was amazing… But I’m going to skip over the bit about the descent in the hope that my children (and I) can all forget the rather embarrassing panic attack I had half way down a steep bit when I caught a glimpse of our tiny camp way down below the sheer drop to my left… Anyway, we survived and I decided I’m definitely more into climbing with a harness and ropes.

Our humble abode

Orla painting in the desert

Snack time while the washing dries

Alfie climbing – this was a small one…

We also discovered that our sleeping bags are utterly unsuitable at high altitudes… Boy can the desert get cold at night, brrrrrr!

With another trip to an outdoor store on our list of things to do we packed up and headed for the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Just before we left though, we met a friendly man by the water tap who was down from Montana escaping the snow for a few days… he happens to be a ranger at Yellowstone and after a lively conversation about our respective trips we exchanged emails with instruction to get in touch before arriving at our most exciting destination in just over a month. He was actually there at the release of the first wolves in the Park and knows the place inside out and back to front. Exciting times ahead!

The peaks of the Rockies calling us onwards and upwards

A Bird Watchers Paradise – The Great Salt Lake

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Almost by accident we stumbled upon the Salt Lake. I had intended that we drive that way, partly out of necessity and partly curiosity having seen footage of the brine flies and subsequent bird life on a nature program. We were utterly unprepared for the delicious feast of wildlife our eyes were about to gorge upon.

Antelope Island is the largest Island within the Great Salt Lake, accessible via a causeway about 45 minutes drive north of Salt Lake City. It is 28,000 acres and stretches for 15 miles. The lake is apply named as it is as much as 27% salt in places (compared to the ocean’s average of 3.5% salinity). As a result there are no fish in this entire massive lake. There are however billions of brine shrimp and brine fly which support a vast amount of birds in turn.

In addition to Antelope Island being a birders idea of heaven it also offers plenty of mammals. I am literally reeling still from the spectacular views we got of coyotes trotting along the shore line. We had resigned ourselves to being satisfied with spotting dead coyote road kill and hearing their waling calls at night as the chances of spotting these elusive scavengers is slim. Well not, it seems, on Antelope Island. We also saw pronghorns and bison (or as the Americans call them, antelope and buffalo as they seem determined to call things names which already have been assigned to completely different things). Sadly we were eluded by the resident big horn sheep and the bob cats, which I am determined to spot at some point.

I made a decision there and then… I need a bigger lens. I know I’m only an amateur but it’s a natural progression from binoculars and scopes into wanting to photograph your finds. Without a suitably big lens the results are frustrating. So we stayed the night in Salt Lake City in order to get to a camera shop in the morning and then return to the Island to try it out.

We had thought about camping on the island but discovered on arrival that only hard-core nutcases do that at this time of year due to the ferocious bombardment of gnats. While Rob and I may well fall into that hard-core nutcase category, sadly our small children do not and we opted for a Days Inn as so far our experience of this particular chain has been very positive… Well, in hindsight I wish we’d taken our chances with the gnats.

As it turned out we found ourselves staying in the arsehole of Salt Lake City, with a fair proportion of the City’s arseholes arguing right outside our room, plus on either side and above also! For most of the night. We did consider bundling the sleeping children in the car and fleeing but in the end we got a few hours kip and survived.

Having got my new lens (at a fraction of the UK price and a great exchange rate to boot) we headed back to the island… and here are the results. As an amateur I would love comment, constructive criticism and advice from more experienced photographers. I know I could tweak all of these in photoshop but with three kids in tow I barely have time to take them so these are as shot, some with a bit of cropping.

American Avocet

American Avocets

Bison

Coyote licking her lips

Coyote

Thousands and thousands of eared grebe

Eared grebe

Gull in flight

The lake is surrounded by snow capped mountains

On our first day the water was still. It is highly reflective due to the shallowness of the lake and it’s salinity. The next day it was really choppy. In high winds waves on the lake can reach 10 feet.

Western Meadowlark on Antelope IsLakeland, Great Salt

A Western Meadowlark

A lone bison on the salty beach

Pronghorn Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake

A Pronghorn

Road on Antelope Island, Great Salt Lake

The road along the South of the Island

The Island was named after these, but clearly they are not antelope… they are pronghorn. One of many naming anomalies in America (It started with the “Indians” and has carried on from there)

Yosemite – moving swiftly on

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The first bad decision of our trip so far… Leaving the wonderful Sequoia National Park early to head to Yosemite National Park. We planned to spend five or so days there camping and exploring having heard wonderful things about this unique and popular park.

We had heard that it was a particularly busy park but had underestimated quite how busy it would be. It’s basically like a theme park. Massive queues and traffic jams line the roads, pavements and buildings in the valley. Huge car parks cover acres. Camp spots are entirely booked long in advance and people are everywhere.

It is a truly beautiful valley of massive granite rocks and gushing waterfalls flowing from the snow capped peaks that frame the sky. But the people on the rat tunnels around the valley were just too much to bear and we had to get the hell out of there.

There is also an awkwardness to the beauty in the valley. Or at least for us there was. You see for the last 8,000 year there was a civilised population of native people living in this area. Not that you would know as they stepped lightly and left little trace of their long inhabitance. They lived there in harmony with their surroundings until about 100 years ago when their numbers were destroyed by disease brought by white settlers and the few remaining were forced out. Since then the white people, in the name of “preservation” and for recreation paved the foot paths, made roads, visitor centres, restaurants, lodges, shops and everything else required for people to flock like gulls and shit all over the place.

The walk to the falls was marginally better than negotiating Oxford Street on a Saturday before Christmas!

After 8,000 years of native “ownership” there was virtually no trace, no damage, no evidence of human impact… yet after just 100 years of the new “ownership” there is so much interference it would take millennia for the evidence of us to fade away. There is no humility about this or shame about the destruction of the native population.

We left, feeling embarrassed by the spectacle and a little sad although we would be inclined to return out of season for wilderness exploration or rock climbing away from the crowds (the rock climbing is certainly unique and world class and the climbers we saw seemed inconspicuous and respectful).

Having been totally peopled out in California we have instead headed across the Great Basin towards Utah again to explore more of the canyons and parks in that region before time in Colorado.

With over 12 hours of driving yesterday through vast expanses of nothing, bar casinos and services with slot machines (with loads of people from the middle of nowhere playing them, providing the demand that explains their supply!) we covered 600 miles and got close to Salt Lake City.

The Big Trees – Sequoia National Park

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Rob loves trees – Big time. So seeing the biggest trees in the world was an ambition of his. A bucket list item. The Sequoia’s in the Sierra Nevada aren’t the tallest trees in the world, nor do the have the biggest circumference, but they do have the greatest mass and are the oldest living things on the planet. They really are giants.

Happy family Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park

The “Happy Family” copse of Sequoias

Visually, although their size is impressive, it is more their beauty that strikes. Their majestic presence is humbling and it is impossible not to be utterly wowed by them. The red bark is soft to the touch on the older trees and has a dull hollow sound when knocked upon… giving you an overwhelming desire to find a secret door somewhere around their vast girth. And often a dark door like opening is found in the form of a fire scar, allowing you to actually step inside drawing you further into their magic.

Inside a massive Sequoia’s burn scar

For me, more than their size and beauty, (as if they aren’t enough), the invincibility of the sequoia’s is perhaps their most awesome quality. They don’t die of old age! Imagine that! They literally live forever if they are not toppled in a storm or cut down by man. Far from fire being a foe it is their friend… they depend on it to reproduce. The tiny seeds wait patiently in their dangling cones for up to twenty years until a forest fire, in the past started naturally by lightening but now either deliberately by their protectors or ignorantly by visitors too lazy to put bottles and cigarettes in bins, burns the floor around them and dries up the cones for them to drop their seeds. Once dropped the seeds land softly in the perfectly fertilised, ashy forest floor with all local competition, bar it’s parent tree, wiped out by the life giving fire.

The Bark of the Sequoia’s is resistant to fire, fungus and insects, making the tree almost invincible. It’s soft to the touch and sounds deep and hollow.

Even once fallen these never-ending trees go on, taking centuries or even millennia to degrade. In the process providing habitats to innumerable species of fauna and flora, even humans.

The trunk of this fallen sequoia has provided a home for humans over a number of decades in the last two centuries. For a sense of perspective spot Orla inside.

Once fallen these mighty giants can take millennia to decompose. This has already been here for centuries.

Sequoia National Park offers more than big trees too. Near our camp at Potwisha is hospital rock where evidence of the five century long settlement of the Potwisha people intrigues the mind of us wanna be hunter gatherers. Over 500 people lived in the village, sustained by acorns ground in these grinding holes in the rocks like permanent and massive pestle and mortars, and other abundant resources in these luscious mountains. Their pictographs adorn the split rock over one hundred years on from their demise… their first encounter with white people. Although not malicious, they were befriended by the areas new settlers and within a decade so many had been killed by newly introduced diseases that the survivors dispersed and the village site abandoned.

Pictographs at hospital rock Potwisha, Sequoia National Park

Pictographs by the Potwisha people at Hospital Rock

grinding holes at hospital rock, potwisha, Sequoia National Park

Grinding holes made by centuries of acorn grinding by the Potwisha people at Hospital Rock.

The wildlife in sequoia is impossible to miss. Woodpeckers are as common as sparrows and almost every bit of dead wood has neat lines of stored acorns. Deer meander through the campsite and squirrels and chipmunks dart around the undergrowth of the pretty oaks. At night bats, far bigger than our British ones come out with audible calls and there is as much wild sound after dark as in the day.

woodpecker at Potwisha camp ground Sequoia National Park

A woodpecker welcomes us to Potwisha Camp Ground

Acorns stored by a woodpecker. Every bit of standing dead wood was covered in long lines of holes filled with acorns.

A lizard popped out to say hi too

Joshua Tree National Park – Our first foray into camping

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Heading out of Phoenix towards California with our new tent we were unsure of how the next leg would pan out. We’ve not really camped with the kids before and we weren’t sure how they would take to it. We appreciate our sleep, every precious moment of it and despite our farming background we are not particularly inclined to getting up before about 7am. Without the ability to block early morning light in a tent we were concerned our “lie ins” may be severely compromised.

Our tent in the desert

We were also nervous about bears and other wildlife but to our relief there are no bears in Joshua Tree National Park. Just lots of snakes, scorpions, killer spiders and coyotes. As well as stunning geological features and mind boggling flora. The Joshua Trees themselves are wonderfully knarly and strange looking, although in an already alien looking landscape they fit in perfectly.

Wonderfully weird Joshua Trees

It couldn’t have gone better really. The camp site was stunning, clean and convenient. The kids slept in well past 7am having spent hours climbing rocks and we got to witness a rare total luna eclipse from one of the remotest places we’ve ever been! We didn’t even know about it before hand but over heard a conversation in Mexican restaurant and googled it. Even more lucky it started just as we were going to bed and we stayed up to watch it instead of getting up with our alarms at the time suggested online… by which point the whole spectacular event was over!

Not quite full yet. The Luna eclipse turned the whole full moon to a deep red colour… such a strange effect to witness out in the wilderness.

We only stayed one night and moved North to Sequoia National Park the next day… we’re a bit deserted out now so needed a bit of green and some cooler temperatures.

Lets go to the desert and shoot some guns

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There is nothing particularly spectacular about how we know Ian and Amanda Krekelberg other than the fact that until we met them last week I had only ever spoken to Ian on the phone a few times, about 5 years ago. But to be honest in this Facebook age that’s not unique for me nor unusual generally. We have kids of similar ages (although they have way more than us, 4 with #5 on the way!) and Ian and I share a liking for post apocalyptic novels – plenty of reason to ask to meet up. Once met we all got along and we stayed, once last weekend and returning this weekend for a couple of nights.

First we zoomed around a massive lake on jet-skis. And it was fun!!! Saguaro lake was beautiful and huge. Man made by the Stewart Mountain dam on the Salt River it is a great spot for bird and wildlife watching. A friend of the Kreklebergs took us out on his boat to explore the lake shores, spot some birds with the boys and chill out while Amanda looked after Orla. Then we ate Italian food and the kids played, it was great.

Ian on a jet ski

The beautiful mountains of Arizona as seen from Lake Saguaro

After our week in Canyon Country we headed south again to Mesa for some more American adventures. We had a campfire on Friday, complete with s’mores. It seemed like a great idea until we got it lit and realised that cooking on a fire when it’s alreay 100 degrees Fahrenheit out isn’t such fun… it’s more like fiery torture, literally “hellish”! But we did it none the less and the food was great. The kids slept well and we stayed up late playing board games after a spot of scorpion hunting with a UV light, as you do of an evening in Arizona.

Amanda’s parents live nearby and happen to have a pool so we headed for an afternoon in the pool with the kids. They loved it.

Fun in the pool with giant inflatable killer whales

Early evening and we were waiting for their brother in law to arrive with a suitable off road truck to negotiate the desert sufficiently to the spot where people go “to shoot stuff up”, ya know, TV sets stuff like that.

Me aiming at a clay pigeon with a shot gun. Admittedly I’m not great with a moving target and didn’t get a single one… Rob held it well for the Deans though

Guns really are not my thing. I’ve shot a rabbit on my land before and my husband has his license so we have guns at home but it’s nothing like this. They’re tools for controlling rabbit populations and so on. We eat what we kill and it’s a heavily legislated sport in the UK. I wasn’t going to go… but I was persuaded and figured it would make a good post. Also, Amanda was looking after the kids so it was our first opportunity for a couple of hours “off” together in two and a half months – too good to turn down!

I climbed up on Robs lap as the truck was just a front cab and there were four of us squeezing in along with the various guns and ammo. Eventually we arrived at a spot littered with shot up stuff and empty cartridges and shells. We set up the clay discs as targets and had a go…

Me firing a .40 calibre hand gun

Okay it was quite fun, although I did feel quite overwhelmed most of the time. I said “Blimey” almost every shot as the power nearly took me off my feet. My shoulder bruised from the shot gun and ears ringing we headed back satisfied that I had actually not only had I hit a few clays, they had exploded in a dramatic, satisfying and quite scary display of the guns immense power.

Rob with a .22 hand gun. Cowboy style!

In a brilliant end to the day which felt like a “day off” Amanda’s parents babysat while we went to a Teppanyaki/sushi restaurant with a comedy chef who threw fake eggs at us, made continuous jokes and flicked food in our mouths.

Our hilarious Teppanyaki Chef at Got Sushi, Mesa. We’re going to take the kids to a teppenyaki place soon, they’ll love the performance!

Fabulous sushi. We are getting used to the way they box up your left overs so we enjoyed this for breakfast on Sunday.

We may not have really known Ian and Amanda before we arrived in Mesa but we left having made good friends, or as all the children found easier to comprehend and determined to use, cousins!

Canyon Country Photos

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Here are the photos from the last week travelling through Arizona and Utah’s canyon country and the Navajo Nation.

For accompanying story behind the pictures see my last post Deserts deserts everywhere.

The start of the week was in Flagstaff where we visited the Lowell Observatory

The home of the telescope that discovered Pluto and the site where dark matter was first stumbled upon by accident!

And got to witness with expert commentary the rising of Earth’s shadow in the East as the sun set in the West.

waiting for the shadow to reach the horizon. You see how there is a point in the middle where the trees have no shadows… that’s directly opposite the sun setting behind us.

Earth’s shadow nearly full before dispersing into the dark night sky.

We moved onto the Grand Canyon, one of the seven wonders of the world.

There was a slight hazy in the air thanks to pollution from the west coast cities but it was an impressive sight none the less.

Us all at the Grand Canyon

We spotted a cow elk while there, just chilling in the shade

And strangers enjoyed Patrick’s very own Grand Canyon

We moved on through the desert and driving late we got to enjoy some spectacular sunsets over the next few nights

Desert Sunset over a vast landscape

The drive to Monument Valley was fantastic… just as imagined from films (picture at top) and we passed various interesting points

Mexican Hat rock in the Navajo Nation country

Delicate desert flowers in this harsh habitat

Team Dean at Monument Valley

Wild country at Monument Valley. A 4×4 is required for the 17 mile track.

We moved onto Bryce Canyon on Thursday. Now this may be a little controversial but I, personally, think that Bryce Canyon is a little bit more spectacular and special than the Grand Canyon. Yes, the Grand Canyon is vast on an almost unimaginable scale even when stood there looking at it but Bryce… well Bryce is eye poppingly, brain frazzlingly, skin tinglingly beautiful. It’s colours are more vibrant and it’s geology more unique and interesting… Well I think anyway. On top of there there is more wildlife easy to spot with fewer people and the subsequent need for less car parking and so on and due to the extreme conditions at Bryce the plants have adapted in fascinating and incredible ways. We spotted prairie dogs and chipmunks as well as various birds and interesting flora.

Bryce Canyon

The day was perfect for viewing the Canyon and there weren’t many people around

The boys looking over the edge at Bryce Canyon. There is a fair element of stress visiting canyons with such little children… we had Orla on a lead but the boys were hard to control at times!

Check out the roots on this tree. It’s incredible how they can adapt to thrive in these challenging positions

A tree which has grown twisted on the edge of the Canyon

Grottos are an interesting feature of the canyon edges

Even the road to Bryce Canyon, through mountains and little villages, offers impressive views and magical landscapes

Deserts deserts everywhere

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I’m skipping over last weekend as we are returning to the same place this weekend in Mesa, Arizona to stay with friends so will fill in on the whole Mesa section next week… that also, rather handily, catches me up to the hear and now. Funnily enough, almost all of the places I’ll tell you about now are not firsts for me… I did a similar trip in the South West in 1992 with my parents and siblings, I was 11 years old. The places haven’t changed in the slightest but my eyes and I certainly have!

On Sunday we headed to Flagstaff, ate Mexican food (rapidly becoming our mainstay cuisine) and checked into a place with a pool as the kids have been desperate for a swim for days now. Flagstaff is a cool place! Friendly people, great atmosphere, funky shops and views of snow capped mountains amid the wild west heat. But most of all Flagstaff has the Lowell Observatory. And the staff at the Lowell Observatory who are not only knowledgeable but capable of infusing you with their knowledge on a palatable level. Delightfully quirky and odd enough to satisfy ones desire to mingle occasionally with proper, intelligent scientist… Always an interesting, humbling and highly amusing experience for average folk like us.

On Monday we went first in the morning for a talk on the history and to learn about the discovery of Pluto. We were able to view the sun through a telescope with a special filter on and we could see the flares and spots. After a chilled out afternoon we returned to the Observatory for the evening events. A talk on our solar system and galaxy, an incredible up close look at the moon and the chance to view Jupiter through their scopes. An experience we hadn’t anticipated or ever even realised was an experience to be experienced was the watching of the Earth’s shadow rise in the East as the sun sets in the West.

The astronomer who talked us through this visual spectacle also knew plenty about the geology of the area and was able to tell us about the volcanoes that had created the landscape we were witnessing and explained how the rocks the boys were playing with on the floor (Earth shadow not being quite as interesting to them) was actually the same sort of rock as on the dark patches on the moon we had just looked at in the big telescope – how cool is that?!

On Tuesday we drove to the Grand Canyon. You’ve all seen pictures of the Grand Canyon but unless you see it for real it is near on impossible to imagine or describe the sheer vastness and beauty of the ancient and unique wonder of the world. It’s quite touristy though and I was glad not to be there at the height of summer.

After that we drove… and we drove… through painted deserts and the most incredible rock formations. It took hours and with zero reception or 4G on our phones we had no idea how far was left. Hoping to reach the four corners and find lodgings we stopped about 30 minutes west of our goal and asked in a shop (A random one by the road still open yet the first sign of life we had passed for maybe an hour) if there were lodgings where we were headed. And lucky we did! No, there was nothing that way for maybe an hour or more. We should head north to Bluff (a name which didn’t instil confidence in us at that time of night, particularly as it didn’t even show up on my phone’s map… local enjoyment back home of Porthemmet sprung to mind.

Thankfully Bluff existed and although both our lodgings and organic breakfast were somewhat over priced it was a nice place with clear artistic hippy appeal. The people were friendly and there was an infectious buzz around the tiny place in the middle of the desert. After our expensive but healthy breakfast we set off for Monument Valley, having taken the very sensible decision to give up on the four corners for now. Writing this now it seems incredible that it was just this morning – we cover such vast distances and our days are so long they seem to merge together, sleeps seem like naps and we’re off again.

Our car was wholly unsuitable for the full 17 miles of off road experience across the valley. A 4X4 is required and we didn’t fancy paying for the tours available for this – we have decided to save paid tours for wildlife specific experiences. The trading post and visitor centre is excellent though and I acquired a cowboy hat, photo to follow I promise.

Lunch was in a Navajo café in the next town along the highway. We picked well amongst the Macdonalds and Taco Bells, finding just about the only independent place still open in town. Sitting down to look at the options we were approached by the native American couple at the next table offering us a trade – our cute young boys for their teen age girl. We were tempted but alas they were joking. Ensued a conversation about where we were from and the hill they live on (I say hill… they pointed to it… I mean sheer cliff in the middle of the desert) and the sheep they graze on common tribal land. They recommended the best local dishes of fried bread with beef and mutton which we went with having glanced around the room to see that literally everyone was eating it too. We all shook hands and said goodbye… well, we all shook hands except Patrick, who in attempting a high five actually just chucked his massive glass of water across the room. The food was genuine and delicious.

And again we drove… and drove, weaving back and forth between Arizona and Utah. Just as you think the desert is so vast you can’t imagine it ending, so you’re starting to feel the reverse of claustrophobia from earth curvature views and skies broken only by occasional man made aeroplane trails – the only modern intrusion in this untouched scene – just as you wonder “how much further can this possibly continue”, despite the diversity of colour and rock and sand and plant. Suddenly it ends. Green appears across the sandy ground. Albeit a shrubby dry green. The sand and rock changes colour again to one we’ve not yet seen, a deep red/brown and the horizon is no longer broken by rugged, random and precarious rocks but instead by rolling hills and more gentle protrusions. There are still sharp ledges and sudden gorges, where dried river beds eagerly await the coming rains, but they are softened by the greenness. As I took a turn driving so Rob could have his daily nap I saw a cow licking a new born calf, always a magical sight.

It’s so late now, we are in a town called Kanab. The children are asleep and we need to get up early tomorrow to set off to Bryce Canyon before a particular road closes and blocks our route until lunchtime. I haven’t got time to transfer photos to the computer and process them for this post but tomorrow night I’ll do a photo post for you of the last few days.

From East to West – The Road Trip Days, Part 2

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Oklahoma to Mesa via Santa fe

The following morning seemed to drag also, due to various mishaps such as muffin mushed into carpet and painful splinters in feet requiring two man extraction. Plus the traffic around Oklahoma slowed down our pace. But our plan for the day was to drive… and drive we did. We detoured from the interstate at Elk City to drive across the Black Kettle National Grassland. Now these were country roads… Big skies, long empty roads and stunning views stretching for miles and miles.

Open views for miles and miles

By the afternoon the sky had interesting clouds though and we were mystified by the strange mists rolling around us blocking the views… Suddenly the “clouds” closed in and smelled of smoke… we were headed straight for a wild fire. The winds were picking up and an email arrived from a friend warning us of the tornadoes building in the area. Now quite honestly I’m all for a bit of excitement and extreme weather and were I not with my three small children and beloved husband I would be well up for sticking around in the thick of the action… but with our parental instincts kicking in with full force we were driving on adrenaline to get the hell out of there!

The smoke was closing in and getting thick

A sheriff come in the opposite direction and turned us around away from the fire. Following her directions to safety we relaxed until the moment the wind made a dramatic change in direction, the smoke thickened and we realised this way was even worse… so did everyone else and trucks, cars and bikes started turning around as three fire engines with gas masked men on the front wizzed past, lights flashing and sirens blaring.

The fire engines had wizzed past and we decided to head the other way

Detouring again down dirt tracks we managed to put some distance between us and the smoke and finally came across a small town with a Subway for some sandwiches, as our picnic plans were somewhat scuppered by the extreme weather. From the car to the door was treacherous with strong winds which nearly picked feather light Patrick off the floor. We ate and we drove… and we put as much distance as we could between our children and the dangers we simply aren’t accustomed to.

We put some distance between us and the fire as quick as we could!

A beautiful sunset and clear interstate got us to New Mexico and we stopped for the night at Santa Rosa, transferring sleeping babies straight to their beds. Far more efficiently we rose, had a quick breakfast and hit the road, making it to Santa fe by mid-morning for a fantastic brunch. Santa fe is an interesting place. It’s hard to remember you’re still in America feeling far more Spanish/Mexican. Stunning art and crafts line the streets and the wealth of the area seems to seep through the side walks adding glamour to your steps.

Santa fe is a beautiful city. Even the drive to get there is stunning with the snow capped mountains of New Mexico towering over the desert

A city for hippies and artists we didn’t spend long with the children but is definitely on my list of places to return to in the future with adult only company. It’s beautiful, romantic and exciting. After the delicious food we wandered back to the car peering into the pricey shop windows wowing at the cowboy boots and massive diamonds and set off again to reach Mesa by nightfall. It was a long drive but it was fun and we made another detour once we reached Arizona.

The Painted Desert within the Petrified Forest National Park. The colours are from various geological periods with gaps from erosion between vast time frames.

The Petrified Forest National Park, an incredible desert landscape with fascinating geology spanning almost unfathomable periods of time and littered with trees so old they have turned to stone. It’s hard to get your head around the process of wood being changed into stone and yet retaining it’s fine detail, character and appearance. More than just retaining such detail it is enhanced with vibrant crystal colours and a texture which is difficult to process when your eyes see trees but your fingers feel rocks. It’s hard to picture the forest that once was in this barren, Mars like landscape but the evidence is there, fossilised and palatable and so real to the naked eye and fingers.

The Petrified Forest National Park… fossils like you’ve never seen before.

The kids have been great, looking out and discussing the landscape. Although there have been plenty of rows over toy guns and catapults, goodness knows how many toilet stops and far more hours watching films then I would ever have thought I would allow. Rob and I have been listening to the audio-book of The Earth Abides, at the start of which he completes the same road trip in reverse – it’s passed many hours and complemented the landscape with apocalyptic loneliness we both love to imagine.

From East to West – The Road Trip Days, Part 1

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Memphis to Oklahoma

From New Orleans in Louisiana to Mesa, Arizona with various detours has taken us about 2,500 miles across this vast continent. Very little time has been spare for such matters as blogging so I’ve got rather a lot to fill you in with now, from my room in Flagstaff while the other four members of Team Dean sleep quietly around me.

We bounced into Memphis and it was sooo cool! Sadly the Civil Rights Museum was just closing when we arrived but they have a fantastic interpretation display outside the incredibly persevered Lorraine Motel, where Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated. It’s a truly humbling experience and we used it as an opportunity to discuss race issues and inequality with Alfie… a little beyond him I know but good to introduce young in my view… lest we forget.

Standing in front of the Lorraine Motel is a humbling experience. An opportunity to reflect on our history, mistakes and hope for the future.

If you’re going to visit Graceland then check into the Days Inn across the street. It’s cheap and totally what you would expect from a hotel next door to Elvis’ place. With a guitar shaped pool and tacky memorabilia everywhere you get the chance to meet all the other real life pilgrims making their way to this iconic, bordering on ironic, place.

The guitar pool at Days Inn, Memphis. It was freezing but Alfie braved it and jumped in.

Graceland is unexplainable and quite honestly I don’t want to attempt it as you need to visit this place for yourself. We aren’t particular fans of Elvis, which admittedly resulted in us feeling somewhat like frauds or fakes amongst the silver haired worshippers, who needed to don their reading glasses every time we changed the number on our audio tour gadgets. The children were under stricked instructions not to ask who Elvis was whilst there. We had tested them repeatedly with the various Elvis pictures in the hotel room the night before but alas, by the morning they had forgotten and we were nervous of being caught out as intruders.

Graceland, surprisingly understated and homely.

Tickets to Graceland… keepers for the scrap book!

It really didn’t matter though. That place is spectacular! The house is uber cool with it’s mirrored ceilinged TV room, the Jungle room and the humble kitchen and sitting room. It’s a home. And it’s a reflection of the man, undoubtedly an interesting character regardless of personal favour for his music. If you do find yourself making the journey one day then definitely get the ticket to the aeroplane and car museum too… They were so fun. His private jet, bigger than many a house with it’s bedroom, dinning room, bathrooms, sitting rooms, all complete with gold plated seat belt buckles is like a dream, it doesn’t seem real, except you can walk through it and touch it and it is real. The car museum is a super fun time machine housing the most spectacular vintage vehicles from pink Cadillacs to toy snow mobiles altered to run on grass, Ferrari’s to a John Deere tractor – That man enjoyed his toys!

Inside Graceland

Elvis’s toys. His plane, Lisa-Marie and a few of his cars

We had really hoped to visit the Sun Studios but sadly children under 6 aren’t allowed in so it was off the agenda for us and by lunchtime we were crossing the Mississippi into Arkansas. A quick flick through the Rough Guide I’m increasingly relying on these days and we were detouring off the interstate down to a town called Hot Springs to visit the Fordyce Bathhouse, a Victorian spa. It was pretty fascinating to see the old tubs and it’s been impressively persevered. The town was a quirky place, long past it’s hey day when the rich and famous flocked there for it’s waters. It reminded me very much of Matlock Baths in Derbyshire, in as much as it was a Victorian holiday town struggling to maintain it’s tourism, encouraging the motorcyclists and hippies who naturally came for it’s surrounding beauty… I liked it! I didn’t like the revolting meal we attempted to eat at a little café there, ergh… shudder. That’s the last time I order Gumbo outside of New Orleans!

The gym at the spa reminded me of my days at a convent school with much of the same Victorian equipment, probably still in use now!

We decided to press on after dinner and drive as far as we could. With a film on for the kids and full tummies we made it past Fort Smith and stopped further down interstate ready for an early start the next day.

The early start didn’t seem to happen quite right though. We got up early enough and realised that we had paid as much for a room with no wifi or breakfast as we had the night before for both plus board – a rookie mistake we won’t make again. I scouted out the gas station opposite for sustainable and to improve the mood of the children but alas it was poor pickings. We packed up and headed for the Interstate, hopeful that the next junction or so would offer more appealing options. It did. We found a fantastic little diner, kitted out in true Route 66 funky glory… and then waited for what seemed like forever for the chef to cook a couple of eggs and some slices of toast! Man it took ages… by the time we set off again it was mid morning and we felt frustrated, vowing only to stay places where breakfast can be swiftly dealt with in our own time frame.

No breakfast served here!

Pressing on to Wednesday’s detour we headed North of the interstate, now in the state of Oklahoma. This beautiful dive took us closer to the Great Plains and we arrived at Woolaroc after lunch. There was a fun play park for the kids to burn some energy and there was what must surely be the most impressive museum and art gallery in this region of the States. The paintings and sculptures were utterly captivating and despite Patrick’s best efforts to ruin this little excursion (I’m sure they have an organised rota for their turns at being utter monsters) Alfie, Rob and I learned lots about the Native American history in the region from the fascinating artefacts and accompanying interpretation. If you are even vaguely near this place then detour to it.

From top left, An Indian headdress, Stone axes, a fire drill and shrunken heads – warrior trophies!

We left after ice lollies and pressed South again to the interstate, stopping my a creek to get the kids into pyjama’s and making a cup of tea on the stove so as to drive on later and make some miles up around Oklahoma City. We made it to the edge of the city to a room with Wifi and breakfast. I did a couple of hours of work and slept well.

Adventures of Muma Dean

and her team…

Monthly Archives: April 2014

Canyonlands National Park

A Bird Watchers Paradise – The Great Salt Lake

Yosemite – moving swiftly on

The Big Trees – Sequoia National Park

Joshua Tree National Park – Our first foray into camping

Lets go to the desert and shoot some guns

Canyon Country Photos

Deserts deserts everywhere

From East to West – The Road Trip Days, Part 2

From East to West – The Road Trip Days, Part 1