Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

The new way to make a photo album: photo books by Shutterfly.

North of the Grand Canyon (Days 10, 11, and 12)

“Mom, if a piece of paper could exist in a 2D world... how would you cut it? And if we could make a tool that uses the fourth dimension, then every 3D object would be paper thin in the fourth dimension.  This would make every object easy to break.  Imagine how that knowledge would affect battles in our world.”  (paraphrased)

Wow.  The parenting continues.

  Nathan woke up early and started driving North toward Page, Arizona.  It amazes us how few people there are in the northern parts of this state.  We saw on the map that we would pass 2 towns on our 2.5 hour drive to Page.  When we passed the first (Gap, AZ), it had less than 20 homes along with a small school.  The other town of Bitter Springs was the same story.

  Luke and Gabe were excited to be arriving in Page so early.  They had both been anticipating the pictures that we would be able to take in the most famous “slot canyon” in the western United States.

Antelope Canyon, AZ

Lower Antelope Canyon is on Navajo land so we enjoyed an hour tour of the quarter mile canyon with a Native guide and his flute.  We had to squeeze through a crack to enter the wider canyon region below the desert floor.  Fourteen visitors were killed there during a flash flood in 1997.  Most of the victims were French.  There was a memorial plaque at the entrance, along with a few preserved dinosaur footprints.

  Staying with the theme of small canyons and dangers from flash floods, we decided to head even further west.  The detour from our original itinerary would mean adding Utah to our state map and a few extra hours of driving on the way home.  Since we had no internet in the desert, I called my mom to find out whether she liked Bryce Canyon or Zion National Park better, both were equidistant from Page.  Hours later we pulled into our camping spot along the Virgin River at the gate to Zion.

One of the first things that stuck out to us, other than the incredible red walls of the narrow canyon, was that nearly all the rock formations had biblical names.  We supposed this was due to the Mormon settlers.  It made me wonder why the formations at the Grand Canyon were named after eastern gods and philosophers.

  Come morning we were ready for our big challenge.  It was our goal to tackle as much of “The Narrows” at Zion National Park as possible.  This 9 hour strenuous hike begins as a paved trail, but after 1.5 miles the trail ends at a wide stream that runs between canyon walls that are 1,000+ feet high on each side.  The number of people heading to the Narrows amazed me.  Each person was outfitted for the amount of the journey he or she intended to complete.  We only had three hours so we headed off with our water bottles and our water shoes.

The trail was incredible.  Within the first 100 yards you are forced into freezing flowing water over your waist.  I heard someone say that it was a great example of “survival of the fittest”, the number of hikers diminishing with each new challenge.  One hiker even stripped to his underwear and carried his shorts over his head.  

  The walls towered above us, becoming more impressive as we travelled. Luke even found a small snake sitting on a rock that stuck above the cold creek water.  We would love to have been able to finish the 9 hours, but the East Coast was calling to us.  

  At noon on Tuesday, we left Utah for a 22 hour drive to Arkansas, where I am sitting now beside a lake with a stunning sunset.  We drove straight through the night with the exception of a 3 hour stop at a picnic area.  Pretty tiring but it is worth it as it makes the rest of the trip lighter.  Nate and Gabe are out birding as Luke and I watch a fisherman’s boat pull in for the night.

  It is worth mentioning that between 30% and 50% of the people we have hiked beside, camped beside or pretended to be amazing photographers with have been international travelers.  I have found this particularly fun.  I love hearing the array of languages.  One asian man was great at the Grand Canyon.  It seemed that we passed each other many times.  Sometimes doing photos for one another, even though our communication was fairly limited.  At our last meeting he stopped me on the rim path to show me a photo on his camera.  It was a picture of Nathan and I dancing on a rock.  I hadn’t even seen him there.  Travel can be a unifying experience... I think I’d like to go to Asia.

Heading North to the Grand Canyon (Days 8 and 9)

Doe Mountain Hike and Nate

       “So where are the hikes?” Nate asked as we drove through Sedona.

        I googled some hiking sites and we turned onto Dry Creek Road.  Wow!  The kids wanted to get to the top of one of those mountains and they did!  We chose a trail head that took a steep climb up Doe Mountain.  The kids had their water backpacks and off we went.  The hike up was strenuous and the view was rewarding.  A perfect fit.  I enjoyed photographing the cairns, dead trees and cliffs.  Nate and Gabe spotted the black chinned sparrow, a special sight.

        After hiking and a second stop at the art gallery, back by popular demand, we spent the afternoon at our camper.

Saturday marked our last leg as we journeyed toward the Grand Canyon.  We made 2 pit stops in Flagstaff.  I got a henna tattoo (as has become my tradition) and Gabe and Luke discovered that they love Vanilla Chai.  After our walking tour of the historic district we headed to Lowell Observatory.

        Begun in the late 1800’s by Percival Lowell, this site is home to the discovery of the Red Shift (the expanding universe), and the dwarf-planet Pluto.  The “P” and “L” standing for Percival Lowell.

        We enjoyed our guided tour of the grounds.  Everyone liked learning about how the enormous telescope worked, with no electricity and a handful of undersized scientists to move its massive frame into position.  The dome that houses the beast was built by bicycle mechanics from flagstaff (then a town of 200 people).  The lens of the finder’s scope is protected by a pan stolen from the kitchen of Mrs. Lowell.  She was furious and refused to bake a pie until her husband replaced it.  His diary notes that this was the hardest two weeks of his life.  The trials were worth it though as his wife’s pan ended a string of nebula discoveries that turned out to be dust.

        Two more hours north and a brief battle with our camper’s potty later, we arrived at Grand Canyon National Park.  We stopped at the park airport before entering and made reservations for a Helicopter tour for the next day, then we settled into our campsite (1/2 mile) from the rim and raced through dinner in order to join the masses for sunset.

        The goal was to arrive by 7:00 and choose our spot for the big moment.  It was only a mile walk to the coveted Yavapai point with its great westerly view, but our progress was slow.  There was so much to see on the way, mostly birds and canyons.  When we finally found our rock we made it home for the next hour.  

        People were swarming to the area, each staking their claim and setting up tripods or steadying their iPhones.  We had hundreds of pictures by the time that we got back to our camper.  Who walks to see a sunset and doesn’t take a flashlight?  It was a pretty dark walk.

        On Sunday morning we headed for historic Grand Canyon Village.  We enjoyed fine dining at the El Tovar, an old hotel on the rim and then sought out the Kolb Studio.  It was on our list as soon as we learned that it was built in the early 1900’s by a pair of brothers from Pittsburgh.  They were photographers of the most daring nature.  Gabe enjoyed seeing them lower themselves through crevices with their old-fashioned cameras, which he said looked like accordions.  

GC at sunset

        The older of the two brothers arrived in the Grand Canyon on one of the first trains to the area with only 2 dollars in his pocket.  When he was joined by the younger brother, they bought a small photo shop near Flagstaff and began selling their amazing black and whites.  The beauty of their home, which hugs the southern rim, is tribute to their successes.

        By 4:00 we were ready to be belted into our helicopter, life jackets and all.  The unexpected news that the cost was four times what we were expecting caused an initial shock.  Luke decided that he would make it all worth it by creating a video memory of the event.  I am so excited to see his work.

Maverick Helicopters, Grand Canyon

        We shared our ride with three other people, whose flight would have been cancelled if we had backed out.  Two were from New Zealand and one from England.  Our Pilot, Matt, was great and narrated throughout our journey.  The most amazing moment is when you are flying over the Ponderosa pine forest and all of the sudden the ground falls away, dropping a full mile to the bottom of the canyon.  It was better than a roller coaster and all onboard were yelling with excitement.

        Another amazing site from the air was the Confluence.  The Little Colorado River, which I am following even as I write, joins the Colorado River and the difference in water color is incredible.  Due to the Calcium Carbonate in the rocks, the Little Colorado River is bright turquoise and the larger is greenish brown.  The Little Colorado River is the only northern flowing River in the USA.

        We spent our evening photographing a deer and sitting around our picnic table as the sun set.  All were in agreement that we loved camper camping.  The kids said they loved being outside as soon as they stepped out the door.  Gabe mentioned the short walk to the bathroom, two steps from his chair and bed.  As we talked, the air of thankfulness made a good end to an exciting day.

Entering Arizona, (Days 6 - 7)

The 4th of July, Petrified Forest Nat'l Park, AZ

With our bodies still on PA time, we were up and driving by 6:00 AM.  We crossed the border into Arizona and the clocks went back an hour so we reached the Petrified Forest National Park at 5:55 AM. Pretty good time. :)  We cooked some pancakes in the camper while we waited for the gate to open at 7:00 AM.  

The park is a 28 mile drive with numerous scenic views and trails.  It was the fourth of July and we were fortunate to find a couple to take our picture holding their American flag at one of the petroglyph sites.  I know that you are supposed to be “wowed” by the petrified wood and the ancient ruins, but oddly enough, my most memorable moment was when we crossed a dry river bed.  From the bridge, I saw a mud hole with a cow standing in it.  Beside the cow was a mummified (well dried up and dead) cow.  As we continued to explore the riverbed, we found a living calf, a dead calf, and 3 or four other living cows.  It had a real “circle of life” feel to it.

  We were all glad to arrive at the Thousand Trails campground, in Cottonwood AZ, early in the afternoon.  The employees all gave us a hardy welcome when I told them that I was Alan Koelble’s daughter.  That is always fun.

With the help of the kids we chose a great camp site.  We opted to exchange the provided sewage hook-up for lovely shade, a large “back yard” and access to a nearby desert stream, with water in it and no visible dead cows.  Gabe pulled for the site pretty hard as there was a camper with 3 hummingbird feeders across the street.  I have been informed that in PA there is only one type of humming bird, but Arizona has 12 (?).

Photo by Gabe

  Other than the sign on our back fence informing us that we share our space with a rattlesnake (we even found a shed skin), we have thoroughly enjoyed our location.  We have now spent two nights here and are sleeping better and better as we adjust to time changes and different beds.  It was fun to learn that our neighbor with the feeders is a retired test pilot for the army and a Pre-med student at Pitt (I was too).  He also lived in Gloucester, Virginia during the same time as my own family.

Our first night at Thousand Trails (the 4th of July) we took an evening drive to Jerome, AZ.  It is an abandoned copper mine town turned “artsy”.  Cottonwood has an elevation of 3,000 feet and we drove up a mountain to 5,280 feet, home of the Mile High Cafe.  Not much was open but window shopping was fun and the restaurant that was open was fabulous!  I had a delicious taco salad with roasted pumpkin seeds at “15.quince”.  Nate had an elk burger.

The next day we spent a leisurely morning at our campground.  Gabe took literally hundreds of photos of birds, mostly hummingbirds and Luke began his work on a movie about a boy who is pursued by minotaurs.  You can probably see it on YouTube.  I am actually featured in the film.  :)  By lunch time Nate and I were ready for an afternoon outing, so we unplugged the camper and took off for Slide Rock National Park.

  What used to be a successful apple orchard homestead is now a natural canyon water slide visited by hundreds of people each day.  Nate, Luke and Gabe slid down the shoots of water and jumped of cliffs for an hour or so while I shutter-bugged.  It was packed with people.  Nate and I noted that there were no people running or doing dangerous things (other than the obvious).  The place was a hazard in numerous ways but people seemed to be using more caution than they would at a pool.  I can remember my sister Darcy, a landscape architect, telling me that playgrounds with more risk rarely have more injuries because people exercise caution.  Parents watch more closely, etc.

  Anyway, the natural wonder made for a fun filled afternoon followed by a bit of shopping and ice cream on Main Street in Sedona, a small town nestled in Oak Creek Canyon.  Nathan and I were constantly in awe of the beautiful rugged landscape around us.  Both at Slide Rock and in Sedona the towering red formations towered above us.  It was quite impressive.  Our favorite stop was the Sedona Art Gallery and School.  Gabe was taken with all the photographs and was excited to learn a little about technique from the guide.  It was a fun coincidence to learn that the man, now retired, did his undergraduate work in Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, just like Nate.

Hollywood and Hooghans (5th day)

“The former things have taken place

And new things I declare”

Isa. 42:9

I have been meditating on this verse this summer and it came to mind again this morning as we head west to new adventures.  We are currently 142 miles from Flagstaff, Arizona, at an elevation of 5872 feet (home is 500 feet above sea level).  I am passing the 8 sided hooghans on the right and the left, but I am getting ahead of myself...

Two nights ago we stayed at a KOA outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It was an urban campground at the base of the Sandía mountain range.  We never expected to spend the evening with a touch of Hollywood.

Our peaceful swim alone at the pool became a memorable social event with the addition of another family.  Natalie and her two kids, Josh (12) and Chloe (5?), joined us from Los Angeles, California.  They were in Albuquerque visiting their husband/dad while he is working on a new movie, The Lone Ranger (with Johnny Depp).  He is a set designer who often travels with his work.  I will certainly not look at the curtains in the train scene the same after talking with his wife.  Natalie is embarrassed to say, that her husband is a better seamstress than she is.  Luke comforted her by noting that every time he tries to sew with our machine, the thread breaks.  Her husband also did the sets for Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter and Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3.

The next morning (Tuesday, July 3rd) we had a leisurely drive to Gallup, New Mexico.  We pulled into  a small church in what is called Little Mexico.  John Thumma is a pastor in Gallup as well as in a community within the Navajo Nation, 18 miles to the North West.  We made arrangements to stay in the church parking lot after our school did a fundraiser for John’s ministry in March.  We were so glad that we did!

Nate, Luke, Gabe and I piled into the church van for a guided tour of the largest reservation in the US.  The Navajo Nation is the size of  West Virginia.  Pastor John’s description of this area could be summed up by saying: “It’s complicated”.  Sifting through all the details led us to a watered-down understanding of this Nation within a Nation.

There are three Navajo Reservations in the state of New Mexico and reaching beyond to Arizona and the north.  The land is concentric in nature.  The two inner “circles” belonging strictly to the tribe while the outer layer is called a checkerboard.  Each square mile is owned by 1 of 3 groups in an alternating fashion: the US government, Anglo landowners, and Navajo individuals.

We travelled to the Navajo church which holds services in the Navajo language with a translator.  90% of the population speaks Navajo in this area.  We lost Gabe while exploring the church area.  We found him up over a hill chasing birds with his camera.  The sighting of a mountain bluebird was his reward for his diligence.

Pastor John took us to land covered with prairie dogs.  We were amazed at how hard it was for us to see them till we got our “desert eyes” on.  We also saw goats, sheep, cattle, horses, alpacas and the interesting homes with 8 sides called hooghans.  Nathan has Native American roots on his mother’s side and her maiden name of “Hogan” took on new significance for us.

Nathan would say that the highlight of our Navajo tour was the visit to the Navajo capital of Window Rock.  Named after the natural wonder which sits in front of the capital building, Window Rock is the location of everything from the Navajo Attorney General to the president’s office.  A statue commemorating the code talkers of WWII sits in front of the enormous red land formation with the window.  The Navajo take pride in their participation in the US military even before they were given the right to vote.  One of the original 29 code talkers was a member of John’s church until he died in 2010.

Luke found this area particularly disappointing. The red rock was calling to him and he was not allowed to climb it without a permit.

In the evening we returned to Little Mexico to settle in for the night.  Elizabeth, the church youth pastor, joined us for dinner and we enjoyed her company until the lights went out in our home away from home.

Canyons and Kites, (3rd day on the road)

    Last night felt like one of those stops in Pilgrim’s Progress, when the hero rests in a beautiful castle or other amazing location.  We enjoyed time with Nate’s aunt and uncle and a scrumptious homemade meal.  The sweet night’s sleep was very welcome.
    A light day on the road.  We drove a mere 6 hours.  Signs warned us not to drive into smoke (due to fires) and every few miles we were reminded that we are traveling the famous Route 66.
    Last night we arrived in another beautiful oasis.  Mile after mile of fields that extend all the way to the horizon, turned into red canyon walls and thick lush trees (and poison ivy) as we drove into Red Rock Canyon State Park, Oklahoma.
    Within 5 minutes Gabe had found a new bird.  A few Mississippi Kites were making their home, and at times making babies, in the trees above our camper.  Pretty exciting for our nature enthusiasts.  We chased birds up and down the red canyon walls.  These adventures led to the first 2 rules or our trip.

1. Do not go anywhere (up or down) from which you are unable to return
2. Don’t touch poison ivy.

    Luke put rule 1 to the test after dinner when he climbed a cliff and was exploring the desert area on top. After about 10 minutes, Luke stopped answering our yells and remained out of contact for about 20 minutes.  He found us again happy and healthy, albeit a little nervous.
    The boys were set for adventure, though, with stylish backpack water bottles from their Grandma Koelble. When they asked to do the scenic route around the state park we had to say yes.  The four of us hiked up, then walked the rim of the canyon (not too close to the edge), keeping our eyes open for landmarks below and birds above.      The journey got us back to our silver home on wheels as the sun was setting.  It was a beautiful evening hike over fine red sand and enormous slabs of rock.