Just thinking…

When I begin a post or actually decided that I might have something to say or share for a post I do a lot of thinking. I don’t want to ramble….like I am right now because I want people to think that I actually am intellectual and have something to say or share. All of which really doesn’t matter does it? So once again for posterity sake and hopefully for your curiosity into my big and exciting world (hehehe) a week has gone by and I thought I would……share……once again.

A week after my surgery I had cabin fever and I didn’t want to miss the fall leaves, since nothing was really turning here in the valley we ventured into the mountain of Southern Utah, not too far. An hours drive away then another couple of hours through the mountain and into Dixie National Forest.

I was so disappointed with the colors, maybe we were to soon? Maybe we were too late, but they were not vibrant. We pulled off of the road and stood at a turn-out section and this is what we saw at the 9,500 ft elevation.

Much of which was so desolate looking. The air was even a little hazy. Could there have been fires somewhere?

We continued on our road trip and came across a very interesting sight, a field of lava….it is plentiful in this area

This sign explains a little about the lava field and how it was formed. I found it to be very interesting because we were driving where dinosaurs probably walked…

This is what the sign says about the Lava Flows…

These Lave Flows are very young 1,000-5,000 years. They come from vents not a central volcano. There are many land forms associated with the Lava Flows. Lava Tubes, Cinder Cones, Sink Holes and Craters. The Cinder Cone developed from a series of continuous mild volcanic explosions piling the debris on the surface surrounding a volcanic vent. There are numerous Cinder Cones on the Cedar City Ranger District, many visible from the highway.

interesting don’t you think…

We drove a bit further and the vast spread of the forest seemed a little daunting to me. It almost made me sad. Several years ago a Pine Beetle infested the beautiful forest and killed thousands of acres of pine trees. This is the devastating results.

Trees once green and lush are now gray and almost scary…

one teeny tiny match or a cigarette flicked from a car window would be disastrous!

These things ran through my thoughts…

And I hoped that everyone else driving through these parts would be thinking the same.

We came upon another lava field and stopped to take a few pics. I tried walking through the field. It was very difficult. I decided to just stop and sit on a rock. Which was not a wise choice. Lava is not a comfortable rock to sit upon.

The sight of these fall trees was amazing through the black lava

Of course Huhoney spotted a hole…probably another exit for a lava spout, who knows how long this hole has existed, right here in this very spot. Huhoney was so curious, luckily it was NOT big enough for him to shimmy into! THANK GOODNESS.

He decided that he would be happy just to take a little piece of the past home with us and place in our yard. The dead wood was also very intriguing so it found a place in the trunk of my car too. Just a small one!

We left the national forest and made our way down Scenic Highway 89. A favorite drive of mine.

We came upon a KOA camp spot.

It was deserted and closed for the winter……..

except for some horses being stalled there

This drive was green and lush and I did spot a few bright red and yellow and orange trees so my journey was not in vane after all!

For some of our drive we enter a very short part of Arizona.

Have you ever wondered…..or even witnessed how all of these communication poles got to be? I have. And for hundreds of miles, there is always a fence along side the road you are traveling keeping you OUT, I have NEVER seen any person installing these fences. They are ……..just there…….

Just a thought, that’s all

Just a thought…..

My friend Kathie sent me these beautiful flowers. I was reminded after my wonderful drive with Huhoney how blessed I am.

Have a wonderful weekend my village friends….

Sit back and enjoy a blast from the past!

This came from You Tube through an e-mail and I just thought it would be fun to share. If you are an old movie buff like me you will enjoy these clips! Be ready because it is about 10 minutes long. You won't be sorry you sat through it!

click on the above link it will take you right to the clip.
miles of smiles....

Snow Canyon

Saturday was a beautiful day for a bike ride.  The weather was so perfect.  It was in the lower 70’s all day.  We loaded up our bikes and headed up Snow Canyon.  A state park that is about 20 minutes from our home.  When you enter the park you are immediately surrounded by the steep red cliffs that this part of Southern Utah is so famous for.  We parked, unloaded our bikes and picked an 8 miles gravel and dirt path to take our ride on.  It was said to be an easy ride.  Although I have only ridden on paved pathways before, so for me it was challenging.  It just took a little  more of an effort and some of the soft sandy places on the path were difficult at times, but it was fun.  Over all I snapped about 70 pictures!  YES, it was beautiful that is why so many. 

scenes like this  was ahead of us on the trail, around every turn you came upon there was something a little different to see.

 

 

 

I turned around after about a  mile and caught a glimpse of the valley below us, St. George and Santa Clara.

 

Still finding some of the desert in bloom

 

 

Now it gets very interesting…I zoomed in on some hikers across the way.  WAY ACROSS the WAY!

 

Red rock and white rock seem to have been placed here side by side out of no where.  It is amazing to see the striking difference between the color of the hills and wonder how it happened.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each piece of this world is so different, no matter which way you turn you look at a story of time.  Layers upon layers of rock that seem to have been a bed of an underwater world when time, wind, rain, and water weather itself into the cliffs and bedrock.

I just couldn’t get over the beauty and peaceful serenity of this canyon.  Once in a while another biker would pass us by and nod and we would nod and smile back.   Words aren’t spoken, it is almost as if you are in another world where you shouldn’t break the silence.  When you speak it is in a whisper……because the mountains are listening……

We silently rode back to the parking lot where our truck was.  For some reason, I was not completely up to par to do the 8 miles up and back so we turned around after 6.  

I rested at a picnic table and had a cool refreshing drink before heading over to another trail.  This time to stretch my legs a bit.

If you look closely, this path had a stake in the ground that had a picture of a shoe and a mark through it (NO TRAIL),  I don’t think too many people took note.  There were a lot of foot prints….

  We came upon fields of lava that were so beautiful.  A lava cavern that undoubtedly was the source of the fields of lava.  Bob was dying to go into the caves but I told him NO WAY HOSA’ you will have to come back with someone who will be able to get you out of the hole once you are stuck and that person is NOT ME!  I am such a poor sport!

I do have to admit that it looked inviting.  Scary, but adventurous.  See Huhoney looking into the cavern.  Later  on the way back we noticed some empty water bottles and thought how inconsiderate someone was to have left them so

like good doobies we picked up the plastic water bottles and dumped out the water remaining in a couple half full bottles….no sooner did we do that and 3 people emerged for the CAVERN! LOL SORRY! we thought that someone left there garbage behind and we were cleaning up, so we gave them a new bottle of water we were carrying around!  We were told that the cavern went back about 150 feet and was very COOL to go into!  At that point HUHONEY was so ready to venture into the lava spout cavern I had to almost hog tie him!

I am such a poor sport!  Need I remind you that CELL PHONES have no service under ground in the cavern and that without a flash light I was NOT going into the unknown!  He would have to get one of his sons to go with him…..LOL

half way up this photo just right of center is where our truck is parked.  We walked about 3 miles on this little adventure.  It was a good stretch for our legs that just biked about 12 miles!

 

just a little bit further honey, you can to it!  the stairs looked very ominous to me….PHEW I did it!

On our way down to the valley, we stopped and watched some young people repel down the cliffs.  They were just setting up their ropes when we first had started our bike ride about 3 hours earlier.  It was amazing what these young people were doing.  I totally admire their skills and BRAVERY! (be sure to click on each photo to ENLARGE and get the total effect of their climb!)

 

You have to actually squint to see the tiny spec of a person in the center of these pictures…that is how massive this cliff was.

I don’t know how far up they were but I am guessing over 500 ft.  It was pretty amazing to watch.  Their group actually did 2 climbs.  The one hole in the wall on the left straight up and the other was the triangle where they had ropes repelling down the right side of the triangle from about 3/4 of the way up.  It was a great show!

I don’t think I would have it in me to do it.  I am a little afraid of heights…I wish I weren’t but I am…I am good about embracing it and continually do things that scare the hebie-geebies out of me just to say I am EMBRACING my fear!

Coming home at the end of a perfect day left us once again with a beautiful orange and pink sunset.  God is great isn’t he?  I am sooooo BLESSED!  Thanks for joining me today  and sharing my adventure and blessings with me. SMILES ACROSS THE MILES…..lindalu