Sunday morning,
after a delicious breakfast of crispy bacon and
farm fresh eggs from Ron and Sherri,
we headed over to Kat's place
(she has about 160 acres a couple of miles from us)
to see the
earthships she and Jonathan
(her ranch hand)
have been building.
I was so busy touring the place I forgot my camera in the van.
Next trip I am determined to go back and bring my camera with me,
because what they are doing is super cool.
We didn't stay too long since Kat (who works nights as a nurse) had to go to bed.
We invited Jonathan to come along with us on our morning hike,
and he was happy to do so,
as he usually spends several days at a time out on the ranch with nobody to talk to
and no transportation into town.
We enjoyed his company as we trekked through the canyon
(same one we visited last trip).
The sage bushes were much greener this time!
Geneva at the top of the cliff there...
Paul and I were walking along through the bottom of the canyon, but were met by an impassable trench filled with salt cedars, so the only solution was to go up.
Jacob, at this point, was feeling weary and dizzy
and would have preferred to lie down
under a juniper
and die.
We do not allow that sort of thing.
We told him to toughen up and climb!
Unsurprisingly, he made it to the top.
And from the top, we could see this glorious vista at the further end of the canyon.
I wanted to go to there.
However,
This boy was not likely to go another step
in the "away from the van" direction.
So we sat atop the mountain and waited for the girls
(who had hiked on ahead)
and Jonathan
(who had gone to fetch them)
to climb up.
Then I made them all sit on this rock
just so
and say
"Spacey"
while I took a picture.
This was among the rocks that were found while hiking.
At this junction there was a parting of the ways.
I took Jacob and Geneva
and we hiked back to the van via the ridge,
angling down to the canyon floor just before it reached the road.
There we sat with the windows open and drank what was left of
the beverages we had bought on the way out of town.
Paul, Jonathan, and the older girls,
took the camera and hiked a bit further, and took the following pics.
Right in the center of this pic you can see the van.
~*~*~*~*~
And then we had a jolly drive back to the ranch,
all hot and sweaty as we were,
and looking ever so forward to the sandwiches and
sodas we would have back at the cabin.
As we drove through the tunnel under the railroad track,
we met up with Dale and his wife,
who are building a lovely home up on the hill near the railroad,
and introduced ourselves and chatted a bit.
Before they left us as they were heading into town,
Dale noted that our back driver's side tire was looking mighty low...
and sure enough,
it was letting air fast through a slice from something we hit on the gravel road.
Thankfully, we had a pit crew on board!
Meanwhile,
the kids kept themselves entertained...
And for some reason
(perhaps being Memorial weekend)
there was a remarkable lot of traffic
coming through this tunnel.
I kept having to herd the kids out of the way for cars and jeeps and minivans!
Then they would go right back into the cool shade to sit
and write in their journals in strange and wonderful alphabets
known only to themselves.
~*~*~*~*~
The tire was changed in roughly 10 minutes and we were good to go.
We enjoyed a most welcome luncheon at the cabin
and spent a lovely afternoon and
and an evening bar-b-que
with Jonathan
as well as
Kristen and her younger kids.
Good times with good friends!
Recent Comments