Conner's new post is up: http://connersjuniorrangeradventure.blogspot.com/2011/11/hawaii-so-far.html
There is a video of us snorkling with sea turtles! Check it out!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Capitol Reef, Bryce and Zion
Capitol Reef: was a pretty cool park, I had no idea what to expect when we went there. Arriving from the east the park looked desolate. As we continued through to the other side, the winding road took us through a lush river valley complete with pick your own orchards the early Mormon settlers planted. The campground was full when we arrived so we camped at a dispersed camping area that the ranger told us about. Not bad and free which was even better no sites, tables, rings or anything really but all we wanted was a place to sleep anyway. We hung out for a couple of hours at a burger joint that had free wi-fi and caught up after a few days of no contact.
The next day we went to the Gifford farmhouse, the Fruita Historic district and to see some Petroglyphs. We attended a couple ranger talks that discussed the Petroglyphs and the waterpocket fold that makes up Capitol Reef. We hiked to Hickman Bridge and saw Capitol dome. We learned that it's called Capitol Reef because the dome like formation of Capitol dome reminded early settlers of the Capitol building in DC and Reef because the waterpocket fold was so difficult to get through, explorers likened it to a reef. The park is full of scenic canyons and lush riverside areas as well as a rich history. We drove to the Grand Wash and on to Capitol Gorge but had to return to the visitors center area soon after because a storm was rolling in. We met a great couple from Arizona and they invited us to share their campsite that night, so we did. Once we arrived in Phoenix we were able to spend the day at the zoo with them as well. We've been so fortunate to meet some terrific people along the way.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5670548699843291073
Bryce Canyon: on the way to Bryce we drove Hwy 12, a scenic byway that had loads of beautiful vistas. We went to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Kodachrome state park where Conner earned a two additional badges. After a long day of driving, we arrived at Bryce early enough to get a campsite, renew our National Parks Annual Pass and explore the visitors center. We camped in North Campground and as we were setting up camp, we heard someone say Conner?? It was the couple that we met at the Tetons in the Jenny Lake campground. They happened to be right next to us. We set up the backpacking tent because we knew it was going to be cold, and then it started raining. I covered the tent with a tarp just to make sure it wouldn't leak. Then we headed out to explore, in the rain. We ate in the car and went to the ranger program. The rain didn't let up so we returned to the tent to get a good nights sleep. The tent is TINY, so it was a cramped night but thankfully dry and warm throughout the extremely stormy night. It withstood the wind and rain with no leaks. In the morning it the rain had stopped and we rushed to catch the sunrise at.... hmmmm sunrise point. It was crowded and cold, but BEAUTIFUL! As the sun came up the hoodoos began to glow in orange and white. The rain continued on and off throughout the day, so, we did laundry and took showers... then we decided to head into the hoodoos for a hike. It wasn't recommended for us to do the one that we had intended because of the chance of more torrential rain so we did a shorter one combining the Queens Garden with the Navajo trail. It was beautiful and I felt a bit like I had traveled to Whoville... the formations were very Suesslike. We waited until after viewing sunset at Bryce point to leave. They were expecting snow, so we decided to leave early and head to Zion so that we wouldn't chance getting stuck there, kinda wish we'd had stayed for the snow, but our tents really weren't built for snow camping.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5670574772595945969
Zion: We arrived at Zion around 9PM and everything was closed. We came in from the east through the mile long tunnel, which was a bit eerie that late at night, not knowing when it would end. We camped at Watchman in a site we happened to find. In the morning we had to move but at least we had a place to set up. Temps were significantly warmer and I had a really nice rest and good yoga session in the morning while Conner snoozed. The forecast was correct and we received 3 days of rain, waiting and hoping for at least one nice day. We were planning on doing the observation point trail, but the rain made it impossible so we did some shorter trails. Angels Landing will have to wait til my little man is a bit older, I don't think my heart could take him being up there. We were fortunate to see Condors and meet some more spectacular folks at the campground and on the shuttle buses. We attended ranger talks at the lodge. One talk showed me just how much Conner had learned in the past few weeks. Every question the ranger asked the audience, he knew the answer. Once he learned that he didn't have to raise his hand to answer her questions, because no body else was, he answered before everyone. The audience roared with laughter at Conners answer to the question "does anyone know why did they do this?" when the ranger showed a picture of two Elk bucking. Conner promptly answered "to impress the girls". He couldn't understand why the crowd saw his answer as funny... he said, well they do! After the program people came up to ask him how he knew so much about the animals. I was really proud. At the same time, one of the park employees brought in a caged Ringtail that had been breaking into the lodge. It was the one animal I really wanted to see and figured I wouldn't so I was pretty happy. The thing was adorable, his enormous saucer black eyes were beautiful.
We had one nice day of hiking when the rain stopped. We road the bus to big bend, near Angels Landing, to see if we could spot Condors at sunrise. We didn't have luck at that time so we climbed back on the bus and hiked from Canyon Junction back to the campground for breakfast. We packed up camp, spent some time with our new friends at the campground before heading out for some hiking. We got in 3 hikes and a ranger talk before returning to share a campfire with the same group of friends that we had met in the campground. We were fortunate to see a couple Condors later in the day as well. It was so nice to walk up to the campground and have everyone start singing happy birthday to me. It's still amazing to me, how we have been so fortunate to meet such terrific people along the way.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5670590821677375345
The next day we went to the Gifford farmhouse, the Fruita Historic district and to see some Petroglyphs. We attended a couple ranger talks that discussed the Petroglyphs and the waterpocket fold that makes up Capitol Reef. We hiked to Hickman Bridge and saw Capitol dome. We learned that it's called Capitol Reef because the dome like formation of Capitol dome reminded early settlers of the Capitol building in DC and Reef because the waterpocket fold was so difficult to get through, explorers likened it to a reef. The park is full of scenic canyons and lush riverside areas as well as a rich history. We drove to the Grand Wash and on to Capitol Gorge but had to return to the visitors center area soon after because a storm was rolling in. We met a great couple from Arizona and they invited us to share their campsite that night, so we did. Once we arrived in Phoenix we were able to spend the day at the zoo with them as well. We've been so fortunate to meet some terrific people along the way.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5670548699843291073
Bryce Canyon: on the way to Bryce we drove Hwy 12, a scenic byway that had loads of beautiful vistas. We went to Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Kodachrome state park where Conner earned a two additional badges. After a long day of driving, we arrived at Bryce early enough to get a campsite, renew our National Parks Annual Pass and explore the visitors center. We camped in North Campground and as we were setting up camp, we heard someone say Conner?? It was the couple that we met at the Tetons in the Jenny Lake campground. They happened to be right next to us. We set up the backpacking tent because we knew it was going to be cold, and then it started raining. I covered the tent with a tarp just to make sure it wouldn't leak. Then we headed out to explore, in the rain. We ate in the car and went to the ranger program. The rain didn't let up so we returned to the tent to get a good nights sleep. The tent is TINY, so it was a cramped night but thankfully dry and warm throughout the extremely stormy night. It withstood the wind and rain with no leaks. In the morning it the rain had stopped and we rushed to catch the sunrise at.... hmmmm sunrise point. It was crowded and cold, but BEAUTIFUL! As the sun came up the hoodoos began to glow in orange and white. The rain continued on and off throughout the day, so, we did laundry and took showers... then we decided to head into the hoodoos for a hike. It wasn't recommended for us to do the one that we had intended because of the chance of more torrential rain so we did a shorter one combining the Queens Garden with the Navajo trail. It was beautiful and I felt a bit like I had traveled to Whoville... the formations were very Suesslike. We waited until after viewing sunset at Bryce point to leave. They were expecting snow, so we decided to leave early and head to Zion so that we wouldn't chance getting stuck there, kinda wish we'd had stayed for the snow, but our tents really weren't built for snow camping.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5670574772595945969
Zion: We arrived at Zion around 9PM and everything was closed. We came in from the east through the mile long tunnel, which was a bit eerie that late at night, not knowing when it would end. We camped at Watchman in a site we happened to find. In the morning we had to move but at least we had a place to set up. Temps were significantly warmer and I had a really nice rest and good yoga session in the morning while Conner snoozed. The forecast was correct and we received 3 days of rain, waiting and hoping for at least one nice day. We were planning on doing the observation point trail, but the rain made it impossible so we did some shorter trails. Angels Landing will have to wait til my little man is a bit older, I don't think my heart could take him being up there. We were fortunate to see Condors and meet some more spectacular folks at the campground and on the shuttle buses. We attended ranger talks at the lodge. One talk showed me just how much Conner had learned in the past few weeks. Every question the ranger asked the audience, he knew the answer. Once he learned that he didn't have to raise his hand to answer her questions, because no body else was, he answered before everyone. The audience roared with laughter at Conners answer to the question "does anyone know why did they do this?" when the ranger showed a picture of two Elk bucking. Conner promptly answered "to impress the girls". He couldn't understand why the crowd saw his answer as funny... he said, well they do! After the program people came up to ask him how he knew so much about the animals. I was really proud. At the same time, one of the park employees brought in a caged Ringtail that had been breaking into the lodge. It was the one animal I really wanted to see and figured I wouldn't so I was pretty happy. The thing was adorable, his enormous saucer black eyes were beautiful.
We had one nice day of hiking when the rain stopped. We road the bus to big bend, near Angels Landing, to see if we could spot Condors at sunrise. We didn't have luck at that time so we climbed back on the bus and hiked from Canyon Junction back to the campground for breakfast. We packed up camp, spent some time with our new friends at the campground before heading out for some hiking. We got in 3 hikes and a ranger talk before returning to share a campfire with the same group of friends that we had met in the campground. We were fortunate to see a couple Condors later in the day as well. It was so nice to walk up to the campground and have everyone start singing happy birthday to me. It's still amazing to me, how we have been so fortunate to meet such terrific people along the way.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5670590821677375345
Friday, October 28, 2011
Some small pieces will be showing at Studio gallery for the Tiny show in San Francisco, November 3rd through December 23rd. Opening reception November 6th, 2-6pm. http://studiogallerysf.com/page15.html
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Today
Last night, we watched over a hawks bill turtle nest waiting for the hatchlings to emerge... a no show, Haleakala tomorrow... panels built and gessoed so...today, I'll paint.
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| Building some larger panels |
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| pile of gessoed panels!! |
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| 1 done and ready for gesso |
Saturday, October 22, 2011
After I promised to write more, it's been a while again. We've been to a number of places since the Tetons. Dinosaur, Colorado National Monument, Arches, Canyonlands, Kodachrome, Grand Staircase, Bryce, Zion, Pipe Springs, Grand Canyon (north Rim and South Rim), Wapatki, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Tuzigoot.
Dinosaur: Fun, we arrived for the opening day at the new visitor center. Conner was the first Junior ranger in the new visitors center. We saw some dinosaur fossils and met some nice folks. There were a lot of dignitaries there and the entire ranger staff. There is absolutely nothing around the park. The towns on the map generally consisted of a gas station, and maybe a bar. We missed the opening of the best feature in the park, after 5 years they're reopening the visitors center that contains the majority of the large fossils that have been excavated but not removed from the park. Some day we'll have to go back and check them out.
Colorado National Monument: Beautiful park that we didn't even know about until spending a couple of nights in Grand Junction, CO. It was only about 5 miles away so we decided to head over. It was easily the scariest drive that I have ever done. Super windy with sheer drop offs and very few sections with guard rails. Still, it was a beautiful park and it's founder had the same name as my grandpa Youmans. John Otto... tho that was his full name and just my grandfathers first and middle. I have a few paintings in mind there. The ranger that awarded Conner's badge was from the Adirondacks. Pretty cool place. A huge shift in weather and scenery from the Tetons.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666393516430273473
===========
Arches: What a great park, sooooo beautiful, just outside the town of Moab. We loved it there, Of course we visited double arch which is in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was our favorite spot in the park. We attended a ranger talk at the coolest amphitheater that we had been to yet. It was in the campground and had lights and a movie screen, all outdoors. Bats were flying around and at the end of the program, Conner was awarded his badge
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666404969541319745
Canyonlands: A great park, we met a really nice interpretive ranger/volunteer from Rochester, that new someone from Middleburgh and remembered what a small world it was. It was pretty hot there, but at a high altitude so it was much cooler than it was in Arches (which was close to 100). Canyonlands was not crowded and is a fairly primitive park with only pit toilets. The only water was at the visitors center water fountain. We arrived at sunrise and wandered around all day. It seems we are always pleasantly surprised by the parks that are less traveled.
Dinosaur: Fun, we arrived for the opening day at the new visitor center. Conner was the first Junior ranger in the new visitors center. We saw some dinosaur fossils and met some nice folks. There were a lot of dignitaries there and the entire ranger staff. There is absolutely nothing around the park. The towns on the map generally consisted of a gas station, and maybe a bar. We missed the opening of the best feature in the park, after 5 years they're reopening the visitors center that contains the majority of the large fossils that have been excavated but not removed from the park. Some day we'll have to go back and check them out.
Colorado National Monument: Beautiful park that we didn't even know about until spending a couple of nights in Grand Junction, CO. It was only about 5 miles away so we decided to head over. It was easily the scariest drive that I have ever done. Super windy with sheer drop offs and very few sections with guard rails. Still, it was a beautiful park and it's founder had the same name as my grandpa Youmans. John Otto... tho that was his full name and just my grandfathers first and middle. I have a few paintings in mind there. The ranger that awarded Conner's badge was from the Adirondacks. Pretty cool place. A huge shift in weather and scenery from the Tetons.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666393516430273473
===========
Arches: What a great park, sooooo beautiful, just outside the town of Moab. We loved it there, Of course we visited double arch which is in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was our favorite spot in the park. We attended a ranger talk at the coolest amphitheater that we had been to yet. It was in the campground and had lights and a movie screen, all outdoors. Bats were flying around and at the end of the program, Conner was awarded his badge
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666404969541319745
Canyonlands: A great park, we met a really nice interpretive ranger/volunteer from Rochester, that new someone from Middleburgh and remembered what a small world it was. It was pretty hot there, but at a high altitude so it was much cooler than it was in Arches (which was close to 100). Canyonlands was not crowded and is a fairly primitive park with only pit toilets. The only water was at the visitors center water fountain. We arrived at sunrise and wandered around all day. It seems we are always pleasantly surprised by the parks that are less traveled.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Grand Tetons and Yellowstone - https://plus.google.com/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5657837867757998513
Up til now
The trip has been great, we left the Tetons a few days ago and are meandering through Utah soon. Dinosaur was a neat stop and Conner happened to be the 1st Junior Ranger sworn in at the new Visitors Center, unfortunately we missed the opening of the new exhibit hall that isn't scheduled til next week. That halls been closed for 5 1/2 years and contains the best samples of dinosaur fossils that the park has.
The Tetons were amazing, Jen and Timmy joined us there and we hit the trail most days. On the 1st day we hiked up to Inspiration point from our campsite at Jenny Lake. The 3rd day we did a 10 mile grueling trail to Amphitheater Lake, it earned it's Most Strenuous rating with 5 miles of steady climbing. Conner did great as usual. I'm taking a hiking break and letting a wicked blister heal from the trek. So worth it tho, the views were outstanding and getting back into the Tetons is spectacular. Backpacking up there would be great. After the hike we jumped in the frigid Jenny Lake and shared a couple beers on the shore, the water was "refreshing" it felt good to be clean :) Conner made some new friends who were rooting him on to dive in. They came over and visited with us for a while, I am always amazed by how easily he makes new friends.
In between big hiking days we drove the loop for views, hiking short trails, seeing the Tetons from a distance. Conner and I headed out just after sunrise one morning to see wildlife and were rewarded with Moose, Wolves, Bison, Pronghorn, and Elk. That was the same day that we hiked to Amphitheater and on that trail we saw a red tailed hawk, a bald eagle and a deer. It was a stellar day for everyone.
We drove up to Yellowstone and did the loop in one day. The geology of the park is pretty cool. Conner earned his Young Scientist patch since he already did his Junior Ranger there last year. It was a long day, in the evening, we saw lots of bison, a fox catching a critter, but not much other wildlife. I have to say the Tetons are not to be missed, Yellowstone has to be seen for it's geological elements alone, but if you had to choose.... the Tetons would be my pick hands down.
The town of Jackson was very friendly and we had a great time the day we left the area. We went to the rec center for a shower and found out that we could use the pool with a huge water slide... we had a picnic in a park in the center of town and then went back to play once the pool opened to kids. Who knew that would be part of the day? The highlight for me was 2 showers in a day :)
I've not been painting and we're probably going to speed through the next section of the trip, we're in need of a break, funds are extremely tight and I really want to paint. It's been such a great trip, the country constantly amazes me, and I can't wait to get back to some of these places.
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