The adventures of a Gypsy and a Garbage Man…

Another weekend arrived and that was our queue… Loaded up the truck and headed down the hill for another adventure and get some shopping done while we were at it.

We got to the Visitors Center, Picked up my jr ranger book, of course, and headed out side to look around…

The first person I met was this guy… He was pretty silent but it was obvious he liked the attention…

Here he is getting his head scratched… He stood there real still while I scratched behind his horns…

The next was this little pony in disguise… maybe he was wanted for something… I didn’t ask… We then looked around a bit at the bunk houses

This is one of them, east I believe…

Then we went to the “Fortress” proper… This was built directly over a natural spring…

Inside view of the front door… “Windsor Castle” is it’s name… Established in 1870 as a Mormon Tithing Ranch. Butter, cheese, and cattle were taken to St. George, UT. Also it was used for the protection of the polygamists from the federal marshals…

Out of everything in the house, the coolest thing was this cup made so you wouldn’t dip your mustache in your hot tea…

The next person we ran across was this duck… All he said was that his name was not “Daffy”…

Here is a reconstruction of a Piute dwelling… Almost looks like a sweat lodge…

Oh yea, getting sworn in for the third time as a jr ranger… This time they snuck in the part about eating all my veggies and cleaning my room…

The badge is what sets it off, don’t you think?

On the way home we had some tricky driving… But we got through it all just fine…

And so the sun set on yet another adventure for our fearless duo… Gaelyn took all the pictures and I did all the driving…Check out the video she took of us crossing an over flowing wash. So I think on our next days off we’ll spin the wheel… Round, round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows!

I am what I am

A trip with a Gypsy… or… I love this teepee livin’ !

The trip to Cedar Breaks wasn't all bad and no good… Referring to the “Gnome Incident”… The scenery was awesome!

 

The way the rocks had eroded over time lets you stand there for a while with your mouth open in awe before you even think about getting your camera out…

 

The mountain in the back ground is Brian Head… Gealyn is the photographer on all the photos here… She posted on Brian Head and you can see it HERE…

We saw a lot of flowers there. My favorite though by far were the Columbine…

This Mountain Bluebell is really nice too!

One of the times where I was standing… Just looking…

While we were there, I started working on my Jr. Ranger book. It’s fun and you get to act like your smarter than a fifth grader…

Getting my book signed by Ranger Brandon. He gave a Ranger Talk about lightning. I thought he did a great job!

Getting sworn in… Check out the Ranger… Good times! He was having as much fun as I was…

 

So after a wonderful time at the visitors center with some great people, we went up there…

To see this… Cedar Breaks from the look out at Brian Head…

And this is the hole that the Gnome Guy was climbing in and out of…

This is the best hotel on earth! It’s got wheels and it can go where ever you want, almost…

After we left Brian Head we headed into the forest to look for a spot to camp for the night… That’s when we were met by at least 2000 sheep… They just kept coming and coming… They were led by two white dogs, and followed up my two black and white dogs and two cowboys, or sheep herders should I say. Quite a responsible job actually…

It was a wonderful day and we got to enjoy a wonderful sunset at the end of it!

I would like to thank my sweetie Gaelyn for showing me new places that I would never have seen otherwise… And also for her loving kindness…

                                                                I am what I am

Gnome guy “Breaks Free!”

On my days off, Gaelyn and I went up to Cedar Breaks, and had a wonderful time! I got another Jr. Ranger badge, and all things were beautiful… We had seen some amazing things… I’m sure that even Gnome Guy, “Ollie”, was having a blast even though he was in the truck the whole time we were there until we went up to Brian’s Head look out.

We had got there and “Ollie” was rearing to go! He didn’t even have any trouble breathing at 11,000 feet above sea level. He just ran around and seemed like he was very pleased to finally be some place where the air wasn’t so thick.

Several times we had to tell him to get back from the edge, as he was climbing in and around all the rocks that hung off the side of the mountain… He was jumping through this hole he is standing in front of, and popping up un the other side of the rock. Laughing the whole time!

Here we are at the look out building… From here you can almost see to the ends of the Earth! We posed for a couple of snap shots and off he went to explore… I realized that I didn’t bring my camera and started back to the truck. The photos you are about to see are not for the squeamish…

   When I was almost to the truck I heard a loud crash and Gaelyn saying in a loud panicky voice, “Oh No!”

 

This is the last picture of “Ollie”… He was up on the wall as he is always doing and Gaelyn said that he started dancing some kind of funny little dance and the wind just picked him up off his feet and…

CRASH!!! This is what was left of him after he was showing off and got blown off the wall… I felt so bad for Gaelyn because she thought I would blame her for it… That guy was always showing off and I kept telling him that if he didn’t slow down, his folly would be the death of him… He would just laugh and say… “When?”

So the next day, I took “Ollie” to the Zion Over look. If you’ve ever been there, you know how beautiful it is… I laid him on a piece of bark, and said my good byes, and laid him to rest.

I then placed him under a thick bush so the earth can take him back… He was a pretty cool little dude. His sense of humor was a little questionable sometimes, but all in all, he was alright in my book!

Every where we went after that we kept seeing these rather confusing signs along the road…

I wondered about those signs and came to the conclusion that “Ollie” would have said,” No driving? Huh…. Good thing you brought your lob wedge!”

So that’s exactly what I did! I pulled over on to a pullout and busted out my lob wedge! “Ollie” wouldn’t have it any other way! What do you think of the back swing?

Oh yes! Contact! I smacked that ball a good one… Made sure I wasn’t a spot where there were any plants and well, you see… Nice form I think, head down, rotating through… Ahhh, still got it!

Now when I think of friends I’ve lost in the past, I remember them like this awesome bird I caught in flight in front of a rain storm… Flying free from all that would make us mortal…

All of the pictures, except the last were taken by Gaelyn. Don't you think she does a great job? I do!

So I guess the moral of the story is this…

“Don’t go dancing on the wall when the wind is blowing… You might break free!”

   I am what I am

The Face of The Long Life Happiness One Whose Ways Are Beautiful!

It was two days ago that Gaelyn and I stood in the presence of the Almighty… Here is my version of the encounter… We found ourselves at Crazy Jug Point, after a somewhat long and slow ride… But I have to say that it was very beautiful! The forest had many different trees and shrubs and flowers of all kinds. All of which were beautiful. From the tallest of Ponderosas, to the smallest of little blue flowers. Gaelyn has all those pics and I’m sure you all will be seeing them soon. We arrived at our destination after many stops to take pictures, and just to look around. I didn’t even seem to find myself becoming impatient to get where we were going! The views were fantastic! And after awhile, The Lord came and showed off a little in the form of an awesome rain over the canyon…

  This view was really cool from the end of the point…

There was one storm that came by with some lightning… so we just stayed in the camper for a while until it passed… Got pretty windy, but little rain. And of course Talking God had something to say… Maybe an invitation to the spectacle that was about to occur…

The show hade begun… No lightning, just a gentle, female rain. It looked as if the Spirit was washing it’s child…

As the water fell to the earth, a reassurance of the soul could be felt. All will not thirst forever… Through it all, the Light kept shining.

There’s that Geogypsy doing what she loves to do! She has really made a beautiful scene even more so! She fits right in!

The face of the Creator could be seen in every turn of the clouds, and drop of rain…

I didn’t even realize that I had gotten this image until I downloaded it from the card that evening. Can you see the face of Jesus? 

A few moments later, that face had opened up into this hole and the light shined again.

The rain just got more and more spectacular! As it passed right in front of us, it began to do something that was truly amazing.

  A double rainbow appeared in the rain laden sky. Gods promise and covenant with all humanity… The crowning glory of the event we had just witnessed! The second rainbow is a faint copy of the original, a reflection in the water vapor. I figure this because the colors are switched in both, see?

I am so thankful to see that smile! Just makes my millennium!!!

After a while we went inside to eat lunch, that rainbow wasn't going anywhere… In fact it stayed for more than an hour!

After lunch we came out to an eerily awesome sight… The rainbow had taken on an almost physical appearance. It began to look like a tube that you could either walk on or be taken up into… And the rain seemed as if it were coming from the rainbow itself… And believe me, my cheapo little digital camera can’t really show you what it was really like. It was something I had never in my life seen with these eyes of mine. I was blown away with the sheer size of it, and the way it seemed to declare something greater than all things, a name above all names, The name of my friend and brother… Jesus…   

 

                                                                               I am what I am

Wow! That was cool… or… Cool! Was that wow?

Not to long ago, Gaelyn and I went for a little trip around and looked off the North Rim in several places… See, I have always been somewhat intimidated by heights.

When I was a much younger man, I tried to get over this “problem” by getting a job working derrick on an oil service rig. It was exciting work to say the least. I don’t have any pictures of those days, but it was a job where one would be working 25 to 96 feet off the ground, depending on what kind of rig you worked on. I remember how the rig would seem like it was ready to jump off the ground when the weight of a string of pipe, ( the deepest I’ve seen was 24,000 ft.), was being pulled out of the ground.

But although I thought I was conquering my fears of heights, most of the time I was terrified… Even though I could work and function, that same old feeling would eat at my stomach…

 

Now, I have been to the Canyon before, in fact, I worked on the south rim back in 1991. Never really spent much time looking off the rim. Saw all the sights, you know, the stuff without a view of the canyon…

 

When Gaelyn and I went for our little day trip, things changed…

Above, you can see what I’m talking about… I had to sit there for a couple of minutes to get the courage up to get close to the edge…

Above is a view of the window I was sitting on, it’s a “fin” that juts out from one of the points, sorry I can’t remember all their names. But I think it is called The Angel’s Window…

As time went by, I was able to swallow my fear enough to get out to the end, and stand at the rail and look into the depths of the canyon. While I stood there, a strange feeling came on that I wasn't familiar with. I wasn’t thinking about the rail giving way, or the rocks collapsing, or any other catastrophic event occurring. I was so blown away by the beauty of the place, that all fear was gone.

I had gotten comfortable enough that I could lay down on the edge and take some pictures. it was quite exciting to see all that splendor!

As I stood there with my arms open, I could feel the wind trying to lift me off my feet… It was so cool, I felt like I could take off and fly! When I sat down, even forgot I was wearing my pack, and just took it all in, I was totally at peace… if only for a few moments… but in those few moments, there wasn’t a care in the world, no fear, just perfect peace…

 

A smile came over my face, and and a whole new attitude about heights and all other irrational fear that may pop up in my head, became rooted deep in my heart.

 

So, the next time you feel like the wind is about to lift you off your feet… Just spread open your arms and let it take you away… What’s the worst that can happen? Something might scare you? Big deal!

 

I’m going to leave you with one last thought…

 

If we are part of this beautiful creation… Than what does that make us?

 

 

                              I am what I am…