If there is anyone out there who is still following my blog, I apologize for not posting for so long. Thank you for your patience. To update, I am still coordinating the Global Studies Program at Evergreen School (I have been now involved in this program for 31 years, since its beginning), and every summer I still go on an extensive driving trip. In 2017 at Evergreen School we studied about and then traveled to Peru. In the 2017-18 school year we returned to Vietnam, starting our two-year rotation of Vietnam and Peru.
2018 Summer Road Trip
I first headed from Seattle to Madison, Wisconsin. It took three long days since I prefer to drive on the small roads with lots of towns. I met my son, Natan, for his 23rd birthday, then headed north one hour to the Dells, where the National Jump Rope championships were being held. My niece, Ricki, and nephew, Rory, are super jump ropers. They each competed in 12 different events and both won numerous awards. Ricki was declared the number one all around best female jump roper in the nation.
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| My sister Amy holding Ricki's "Best All Around Female Jumper" award |
Below are video links to a few of Ricki and Rory's jump roping events (it is super amazing what they can do while jumping rope):
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| My younger son Natan at his work at Epic systems outside of Madison |
After visiting with my son for a couple of days I headed southwest to Colorado to visit my sister (2 long days) and then another 2 long driving days to visit my parents in Las Vegas. On my route to Colorado, when I was in the Southwest corner of Missouri, I remembered that my older son, Noah, was in a business trip in Omaha, Nebraska. A short 2 hour detour took me to Omaha, where I met Noah at the airport and we had dinner together.
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| Dinner with my older son Noah in Omaha |
On my drive to Las Vegas, I had to change my route as fires broke out in Colorado. This did not greatly affect my drive, as I wanted to go on roads I had never been before and visit some national parks on the way to Las Vegas.
Ouray, Colorado
Near the southwest corner of Colorado on Highway 550, just north of Mesa Verde National Park.
Mesa Verde National Park:
Mesa Verde became a national park in 1906.
President Theodore Roosevelt created the park to preserve the iconic cliff
dwellings. It is home to numerous ruins of villages and dwellings built by
the ancient Pueblo people,
sometimes called the Anasazi. They lived in the dwellings from approximately
600 to 1300 AD. There are over 4000
archaeological sites and over 600 cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people at the site. The
people of Mesa Verde were farmers who grew beans, corn and squash. They
supplemented their diet by gathering other edible plants and hunting deer,
squirrels, rabbits and other animals. Mesa Verde was likely deserted by the
year 1300 C.E. No one is quite sure why. Some researchers blame crop failures.
Natural Bridges National Monument:
Natural Bridges National Monument, in
southeastern Utah, was established in 1908. It contains three natural sandstone bridges. The largest bridge, Sipapu, rises 220 feet above the
stream bed and has a span of 268 feet. The other two natural bridges are Kachina
Bridge (210 feet high and 204 feet across) and Owachomo Bridge (106
feet high and 180 feet across). There are many Native
American ruins in the vicinity, and pictographs are found on Kachina Bridge,
carved by Anasazi cliff dwellers.
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| Sipapu Bridge |
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| Kachina Bridge |
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| Owachomo Bridge |
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area:
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| Bridge crossing the Colorado River |
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| The Colorado River |
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| Bridge crossing the Colorado River |
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| The Colorado River |
It was not established as Capitol Reef National
Park until 1971. The name 'Capitol Reef' was used as the name of the park
because “reef” refers to an extremely rugged section of a rocky spine called
Waterpocket Fold contained within the park itself, and because the white dome
formations look similar to the American State Capitol Building.
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| Native American petroglyphs |
Zion National Park:
President William Howard Taft designated a
protected area in 1909: Mukuntuweap National Monument. 10 years later President
Wilson designated it a National Park, and its name was changed to Zion. One is dwarfed
by the spectacular drive through Zion’s massive sandstone cliffs. The canyon is
approximately 2600 feet (800 meters) deep.
Native people have lived in the area for at
least 8,000 years. Remnants of their life exist throughout the park. There are
abandoned cliff houses and rock art in the park that were left behind by the
Anasazi people 800 to 1,500 years ago.
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| Kolob Arch is one of the world’s largest arches at a little over 287 feet long -- second only to Landscape Arch at Arches National Park. |
Prius "Selfies"
My Prius was feeling left out. It wanted its own photo series, so here it is.
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| There you go - a happy Prius |
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