The Volunteer Tour
Actions…not TransactionsThe Old Bones
We gave the foodbank a bit of assistance today (5-24-10), stocking some shelves and such; they lent us a bit of assistance as well we a few much-needed supplies. Thank you! The senior center needed no assistance from us however, we were summarily dismissed when we tried to help out. Oh well, it is obviously a VERY well funded center. We also met an extremely rude manager at the Virginian RV Park in Jackson, Wyoming. Don’t bother going here, the management wasn’t slightly rude, they were outrightly and distinctly rude on multiple occasions, even though our response each time was nothing but courteous back. The hail and snow was off and on today, even down in Jackson, although it’s lesser this evening. Again, the incredible wildlife around Teton National Park is phenomenal. Bison and elk and pronghorn antelope herds, a moose, a northern harrier, several bald eagles, hawks, cranes, kestrels, ravens, songbirds galore, none seem to mind the cold spell.
Since we took the time to drive up to the next two campgrounds today (5-25-10) to clean out the firepits and pick up garbage, we decided to take a hike in a new place. There’s a small creek running from the north, about 2.5 miles east of ‘home’. We parked and walked, sometimes on the trail but mostly wandering near the gorgeous little creek, following elk and deer trails. We eventually crossed the creek and found a shoe and torn jacket, then another shoe 5 meters or so away. The shoes had slight chew marks. Creepy. Paul marked on the GPS, Indigo will contact the forest service to see if someone went missing. We searched the area and found nothing else, although across the river and a bit upstream we found a large boneyard. We hiked upstream and eventually crossed and walked back to the boneyard to see what it was. It looks like a very large carnivore had dragged it’s kills to this spot on more than a few occasions. What is doing it? The first thought is grizzly bear. The size of the animals killed, including a full grown elk, seems to point to grizzly. The bones are scattered all around, which could be bear or wolf. Then we also found a large cat scat there as well. There where no antlers about, perhaps humans have scattered the bones. Hard to tell, but a very interesting place, with bones both fresh and old. We have found an incredible number of animal bones when we hike here, but, we have seen an incredible number of animals as well, so I guess it goes hand in hand. We saw two small herds of bighorn sheep, a female herd and a male herd. It was very, very nice to have a sunny and warm day today after all the cold and snow. There is still fresh snow in the red hills, it only makes them look more gorgeous.
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A little help from for our friends
We were happy to assist at the Good Samaritan Mission today (5-18-10), after a day spent in Jackson Hole dropping off fliers, looking for new clients. The mission is a homeless shelter that is being remodeled by Habitat for Humanity. After a brief meeting with them this afternoon, we came back to help cook and to serve for the 27 or so people there. We enjoyed a meal ourselves, it was bison and elk stroganoff. We are in wild country for sure! Too many rich people here want to kill animals and not use them so this is the ‘extra’ meat around. It was delicious. We stopped in to the forest service headquarters in the morning, trying to nail down our ‘host’ spot at Atherton Camp Ground. We got the phone number for Todd who is the boss of all the hosts, we called and left a message. He called back later, he couldn’t have been nicer and is happy to have the help. We will meet him tomorrow and work with him, no problem on the place to stay. Great! We need it, the temperature is plummeting quickly. Oh yes, on the way to Jackson this morning, there was a nice little group of Bighorn Sheep right next to the road, not a mile from home. There was even a young one, although not an infant. Just another day in paradise, driving by bald eagles, bison, elk, like it’s just ordinary.
We got up early today (5-19-10) to get to Granite Hot Springs to meet with Todd and work this morning. We were supposed to meet at 8, we left at 7, but the drive was nearly 60 miles one way, and that’s not all highway! We stopped for bison on the way, they were right next to the road, and the 14 miles to the main road from our home is not fast anyway. Then through town, out the other side (behind a school bus) next to the Snake River, and back in to Hoback Canyon on the Hoback River for 12 miles, then on a dirt road following the Hoback River up 10 miles to the hot spring. We saw our first moose of the trip on the way up! It was GORGEOUS up there, but we were in a hurry, we were going to paint the pool they fill nightly for the hot spring. We met Todd and two of his employees, Todd was great, we got along instantly. The paint was no good, so the other guys left and we worked with Todd on some other projects. Cleaning the yard a bit, making it look nice, then a nasty job of cleaning out an old forest service cabin. The hot spring is open in winter for snowmobiles, they are supposed to pack out their garbage but most don’t. So, the bags of garbage get piled in this cabin all winter. Then the local marten (or pine marten in local speak) breaks in and tears it all to shreds. This is a lot of garbage, a full pickup trucks worth. The three of us cleaned it out, filling Todd’s truck with garbage bags. Nasty work, but we’re glad to get it done. It didn’t take too long, so Todd left and told us about the local natural hot spring near the stunning waterfall a bit down river. We hiked to it, but the water is too high in the river and utterly freezing cold, so as soon as the hot water mixes, it’s just too cold. MAN that water was cold! It was a nice hike anyway. We took our time driving out next to the river, stopping for lunch, picking up a little garbage here and there. We hope we can make it back for a swim in the pool, it looks lovely. They drain it, clean it, and fill it again every night. All year long! The winter host just stays there, snowmobile in and out only. Cool gig. Todd was having orientation and a BBQ at his house later that afternoon, so we went there and met the other camp hosts and heard their orientation. It didn’t much apply to us as we’re temps and not on payroll. The BBQ was great with fresh elk burgers and lots of goodies. It was a really nice payoff for just a couples hours of work! However, the drive was really long, it cost a lot of gas for us, we’re trying to stay closer to home. On one of the drives we even got to see some baby bison running with their mothers and aunts! Just awesome. They were crossing the Gros Ventre river. The sunset over the Grand Tetons was breathtaking. WOW, what a place this is! We’re happy we can stay for two weeks. We drove up to the next two campsites, 5-6 miles up further from us to check the bathrooms and take the plastic off the signs. It’s official: We are OPEN for business. It was a long day. We picked up a chainsaw to cut up a pine that fell in one of the upper campgrounds, we may do that tomorrow. But first, a long night’s sleep…..
Happy Birthday Roy Grove (5-20-10)! It was cold and blustery most of today, raining on and off. We worked a bit in the morning, Paul using the chainsaw to cut down a few little trees in the way of the gate and Indigo doing some computer work, sitting outside and hidden from the rain with a plastic tarp. We went to town for a while and visited with the food bank, but just missed the stocking of the shelves, perhaps we can make it there next Monday to actually help. It’s a nice food bank, organized and neat with good community support according to the nice person with whom we spoke there. It’s always great to see a good food bank, ready to help out. The afternoon cleared up so we traveled to the campgrounds further up the road and cut up the tree that had nearly fallen on the water pump, cleaned up the limbs and put the handles on the water pumps for any campers that may come. On the way, there was a small heard of young female bighorn sheep, three hardly left the road for us to pass. Of course we saw pronghorn antelope and elk as well. Just another day in paradise. Have I said that? This place is spectacular.
It’s so cool to hear our friend the ruffed grouse every night. He sits in the same place, seemingly unperturbed by our presence, patiently drumming for a mate. Best of luck my friend, best of luck! We’re pulling for ya… (5-22-10) It snowed all last night and most of this morning. Yes, snow. It covered the trees this morning, but the wind has mostly blown it off from the branches. The ground has some, but the wind and small bouts of rain have mostly kept it cold and miserable but not white and fluffy. There have been times where it was snowing so hard we couldn’t see across the lake. Wow, it’s good to have electricity, it would be dangerous weather to be boon-docking. On and off all day, although the sunny bits in the afternoon allowed us a small hike up into the canyon. We saw lots of animal bones, including a rotting deer skeleton with some hide still attached (no skull though). The sandhill crane was in the wetlands, but off her nest. The eggs were there still. Lots of smaller songbirds were still around in the cold, robins, white crowned sparrows, mountain chickadees, and Paul’s favorite, the wily Clarks nutcracker. The ground in the woods is covered in wild strawberry, many in bloom. There wasn’t much snow left on the ground at that point, just falling from the trees in the wind gusts, then it started falling again so we headed back home. COLD tonight, it is dropping fast.
Last night was a new record for cold for us, it was probably in the high teens. We made it OK though! Today (5-23-10) we spent a little time outside again, it was warm and sunny in the middle of the day. We cleaned out the firepits in the campground, it started snowing again just exactly when we finished. Isn’t it nearly June? We had a nice close visit with the local raven and three local magpies, all coming for the little bits of bread we threw outside. We were hoping to feed “Thunder”, our local ruffed grouse, but perhaps these birds got it all instead. Oh well, at least it fed SOMEbody. There are very few campers here, even on the weekend, just a few people coming to use the boat ramp. It’s an AMAZING camp, it’s surprising that more people don’t come. Oh well, it’s certainly nice to have it mostly to ourselves! We have a really nice chat with the ‘real’ camp host Karen, she and her husband Dave will be staying all summer. We’re glad we can help them out here, they actually have 3 campgrounds to cover, although the other two have only a few sites in them.
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A little hear A little See A little Do
Today (5-12-10) we visited the Ashley Valley Food Pantry and gave a little help. It’s a well-run, well-organized food bank in Vernal, Utah. They have the real advantage of lots of community support (unlike Green River), including several bakeries who donate food to them. They have quite a large food bank with lots of refrigerator and freezer space, which is good considering the amount of baked goods they receive. They has just run a postal service driven food drive and gotten 4000 pounds of food donated! Yet, with this huge influx of new food from the community of around 11,000 here, everything was well sorted, clean, and organized. Nice job, Ashley Valley Food Bank! Feeding people is good work.
It’s time to move on, going north today (5-14-10) up to Flaming Gorge. It’s not far but we don’t really know where we’re going to stay, off into the great unknown again. Traveling is fun! Hopefully we’re not bringing too many mice with us, the trap and cat have caught nearly 10 in our stay here. The owls certainly get their fill, but there’s not enough hawks and foxes and weasels around to keep that population in check, apparently. Anyway, it’s time to move on again and to spend more time serving and volunteering in new communities, now in Wyoming.
Flaming Gorge, as is well documented, is simply gorgeous. The drive up the pass was slow and windy, but not a problem. The old truck is still holding his own! We had several views of the gorge from above, but we didn’t stop for very long. We have some miles to cover and we need to find a place to sleep for the night. We keep heading north and a little west, up through the town of Manila on the border… and on in to Wyoming at last! The Gorge is now to the east of us. We drive down a side road, looking for a place to pull away from the road, maybe with a view, for the evening. We drive for a few miles, have a hard time turning around, but there’s really nothing we can use here. It’s still afternoon so we’re moving, north again. We made it through Green River (Wyoming, not Green River, Utah although it IS the same Green River running through both). Finally we see Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge and decide to pull in there (Seedskadee is a mispronunciation of the Shoshone name for the river Sisk-a-dee-agie, or ‘river of the prairie hen’). It is a 27,230 acre refuge on the Green River, developed because of the huge expanse of wetlands destroyed by the formation of the Flaming Gorge dam and the Fontanelle Dam which is upstream from Seedskadee NWR. Fontanelle destroyed the annual flooding cycle of the Green which of course created a major challenge for the riparian habitat and all the species that depended on it. The NWR now creates the different flows of water and still waters of different depths for the huge variety of wildlife that calls Seedskadee home. The dirt road to the NWR is about 5-8 miles, and we have to go slowly. When we arrive at the NWR we see a large sign indicating NO CAMPING. It’s now too late to go further, we need a place to call home for the night, so we pull the MVU on to the BLM land that is adjacent to the NWR and park right outside the entrance. Good enough! We take a brief hike in the gorgeous sunset and see trumpeter swans and Canada geese in the river, and a porcupine in a small cottonwood near the river, as well as countless smaller birds all around. Life abounds here.
Paul took an early morning walk today (5-15-10), it is simply too gorgeous to NOT take a hike and drink in some nature. There’s a sheepherders wagon on the horizon, we saw another on the way in. There are white pelicans in the Green River, basking together, Canada geese on some big stump piles, hollering at the intrusion of man, hawks and ducks, maybe an eagle, a pair of trumpeter swans, a blue heron on a huge nest at the top of a large cottonwood across the river, and an immense cascade of smaller birds, blackbirds especially. It would be great to stay, to float the river and see the local moose, to go in to the uplands and see sage grouse in spring, to really explore, but we are on the move. At least we have the morning to enjoy, and enjoy we did! Indigo drove on the way out and a bit on the highway, just to get a feel for what it’s like to tow the trailer. There were very few people on the roads here. But the pronghorn antelope where everywhere! Wyoming has stunning wildlife. Driving in the middle of the day we saw pronghorn antelope, mule deer, elk, bighorn sheep, eagles, a feringous hawk, sand hill cranes, and more. Wow. The highway sidles up to the Hoback River and we follow that into Hoback Canyon. The river is strange, flowing towards the mountains instead of away. The canyon is stunning and huge, we stop at a campground that is not open, but not gated off and choose a spot right on the river. Nice! There is NO phone or internet signal here, it will be a quiet night for us. We hiked the river a bit, explore some beaver ponds and listen to the ruffed grouse drumming, and even get to see a male strutting a bit. The nights are still chilly, but not quite freezing, we are still riding that edge of cold, cold weather.
We wake next to the Hoback River (5-16-10), highly enjoying the view and vibe of the area, but with NO signal, we cannot stay. Even for free. We head in to Jackson Hole, about 20 miles north, and get our first on-network and full strength phone signal in weeks. ATT has lousy coverage in Wyoming and Utah. The area is jaw droppingly gorgeous. We walk around the town a bit, looking for a coffee shop with internet (it’s Sunday, so no library is open). None open. We finally find a bagel shop and get done what we need to get done. After stopping at the large visitor center and talking with the forest service people there, we decide to keep heading north, up Gros Ventre (‘grow vaunt’) canyon, east of Grand Teton National Park. The Tetons defy description, the draw to this area is certainly obvious. The town is very nice, but touristy and expensive, but the nature is the big thing. On Gros Ventre we immediately see a herd of bison. Wild. Then, after a few miles, another herd with the Tetons in the background, creating one of the most dynamic photo ops in the world. Just another day in the Tetons! We head for several miles up the road, stunning views (and tourists) all around. We stop at the first campground, it’s open and charging, they suggest heading up further. We had researched a place called Atherton Creek and decide to head that way, more miles up and east, and further and further from phone signal again. Ugh. After a few more miles of stunning nature and fewer and fewer people, we finally come to Atherton camp, right on the Slide Lake (in 1925 a 50 million cubic foot slide of rock dammed the river, creating a lake, in 1927 the dam partially broke, wiping out the town of Kelly downstream, but the lake still remains with the river still flowing). We drive around he camp, deciding on a location… and get a tiny, weak little signal, but a signal. We have phone service! The park is closed, but accessible, which means free camping. We finally chose a site and devoured the beauty of the area. Just a hint of the Tetons to the west, a huge farm across the lake, and nature all around. We’re in heaven. There is a camp host trailer but no camp host, and a camp host spot with no one, but the hookups are working. Hmmmmm…… We hear more ruffed grouse drumming and actually get to observe a male doing his stuff. He doesn’t seem to even notice us, just a few feet away. Indigo spies some elk coming to water near the trailer. We like our neighbors.
(5-17-10) Indigo sets up camp at the camp host site where she can get signal and power, it’s the most beautiful office in the world. We’re looking for clients in Jackson, hope we can find some work. Paul does some chores around home, then takes a lovely walk in the mountains to the north of the lake. Flowers abound, especially the lovely smelling flox, and yellow violets. Paul walked very quietly to a small marsh up in the hills and found a sand hill crane on a nest. What a site! It’s nice to spend a day in this area, it’s a natural wonder and very relaxing. As evening approaches, we’re a little worried about the cold. Our battery is holding out, but not great and we need to dump eventually. Indigo called the forest supervisor earlier, she said it was fine for us to stay in the park until it opens on the 20th. So, tonight we decide to move over to the camp host site, just so we have power and sewer for an evening, we’ll move back to our other spot in the morning in case this camp host comes and we’re gone. NICE to have hookups again! We see the other camp host is there and she’s about to clean bathrooms, so we go down to introduce ourselves, so we don’t look like some freeloaders at the camp host site. Although in a way, we are! We help her out with the bathrooms, she has a lot of work to do, it looks very much like we can stay here, in the camp host site (the person who usually comes here is not coming this year) for a few more days. Which is perfect, cold weather is coming, we need the hookups! Plus we can work here and help out, since volunteering is what we do. We will have more details tomorrow. Sometimes the path opens up in front of you, you just have to keep stepping ahead.
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Utah on the road again
We have learned to be flexible, and today we decided to flex (5-7-10). We got up early to work in the park with Marlin and got done in a couple of hours. Our plan was to leave tomorrow (Saturday) and start heading north, so we had work to do today to prepare. We decided to go down town to get the mail and such and on the way stopped at the Forest Service headquarters to ask about our path up Flaming Gorge. It’s still just too cold to move north and up. A call to Yellowstone this morning told us that the south gate is still closed and most of the roads require snow tires. Snow tires? We’re not ready for that, not with pulling a trailer. Mike at Steinaker said he was happy to have us stay longer, his hosts won’t be here until the end of the month and he likes the work we do with Marlin. So, we decided to postpone our trip for another week or so and to stay here in Steinaker State Park, helping here and in Vernal, to give nature another week to warm up. The people at the forest service were most friendly and had lots of good advice, but most of their camps are still closed. The writing in on the wall. We should not, can not, risk severe cold with the Shining Example. It’s a great blessing that we have this place to stay, that we like it and they like us, and that it’s warm enough here (with the hookups) to stay without risk. We have to take that advantage, take that gift as it is given. Thank you Mike and Marlin at Steinaker for making our trip safer and more enjoyable!
North East Utah is pretty too, but in a totally different way than SE Utah. We took a small hike (5-8-10) on the north side of Red Fleet State Park to explore a place where they have discovered over 200 dinosaur tracks. Wow! The hike there was excellent, the rocks and trees and flowers are all beautiful here. You can really see the motion of the geology. Like the San Rafael Swell, this is a huge anticline which pushed up, then was eroded off, exposing eons of rock layers, so of course a whole lot of fossils (and oil and natural gas wells and phosphate mining and all the rest). It’s so cool to see these definitive layers pushed up at strange angles and exposed for viewing, and how different each layer is. You can see the old sea floors and sand dunes and everything. The dinosaur tracks (dilophosauraus) are right at the reservoir, so when the water is high most are under water, but since it is still low we could see many including some trackways, which are two or more consecutive tracks made by the same individual. How many other wonderful mysteries are hidden beneath the Earth’s surface? We saw mule deer and a juniper titmouse and western bluebirds and watched a spotted towhee working on his low nest and squawking furiously at everything. Flowers included penstemon, mustard, fringed gromwell (or fringed puccoon), spring gold, evening primrose (birdcage I think), cactus buds, and more we cannot identify (yet). Wow! Indigo also found an amazing fossil, a full little clam in the rock. It was a nice evening walk.
Yesterday we went out to lunch to celebrate Indigo’s birthday which is today (5-9-10). Happy birthday Indigo! And thank you to Roy and Carol who sent a little money just for this treat. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mother’s out there, and again, happy birthday to Indigo! Yay!
Miracles abound in nature. This evening (5-11-10), between the rain/hail showers, we sat beside ‘our’ lake to watch the birds. The sound of the owls hoot echoing off the hills across the bay and the red winged blackbirds cry, each staking out his territory, along with the myriad other birds around us on shore kept our ears company while we watched the western grebes diving for fish, the tree swallows circling in acrobatic whirls just above the water, visits from spotted sand pipers, spotted towhee, osprey, a yellow-rumped warbler and a gray-headed junco, plus numerous others too fast to identify (including a hummingbird going about 300 mph). Storms are brewing on the horizons and the temperature has plummeted again. That means more mice trying to move in to the MVU, which is unfortunate for them. The cat decided to catch a baby chipmunk yesterday, I think we got him away from her before he was hurt; kitty wasn’t really hungry, just having fun. The little guy was terribly frightened but appeared unharmed. He was about the size of a mouse, mom has been outside lately and she’s quite large for a chipmunk. Life abounds here, whether the vista is large or tiny. After a stroll enjoying the gorgeous lake and abundant bird life recently, Paul stopped randomly in the sagebrush and enjoyed a vista on a much smaller scale. A small sage plant had a caterpillar in it. We have seen these caterpillars, they are remarkably fleet, easily 5x faster than any we have seen before. This caterpillar didn’t seem to be eating the sage, just inspecting. Then, on close inspection, there sat a beautiful beetle, colored just the same gray green as the sage. Again, he didn’t seem to be eating the sage, just using it for cover. Little vistas, all around, little miracles abound. It’s not always what we see, it’s HOW we see. The rain has started again, which is better than the hail we felt while doing our rounds in the park this afternoon.
blah blah blah
Lynda has needed some work done, which is great because we’re just the people to do it! Today (4-26-10) we met with Lynda in her office and got the details on what was needed. We were then contacted by two people who had just interviewed Daniel Suelo in Moab, who mentioned us, so they drove to Price and met us at the library and interviewed us on camera for a documentary. It appears to be on the “Freegan” lifestyle, living without money completely, although we don’t practice this ourselves (and they cannot do it completely either since they are driving!). They are nice people, we had a terrific chat and an easy interview. Not sure where that one is going…. After this we went back to Lynda’s office, then took pictures of some of the work she did on one of her HUD properties. She got stimulus money to upgrade them, and she did such a good job that they are asking for pictures and video of the work, which is the first of our jobs. The buildings were built in the late 1970′s and had to be continually repainted and repaired. With the money she got, they installed 3/4 inch more outside insulation with moisture barrier and then vinyl siding which needs no repair or repainting (all made in the USA). They replaced all windows with modern 3 pane low-e windows (made in the USA), put more attic insulation in, and installed safety lights that turn off automatically in the daylight. All these things hugely improved the looks of the property, and of course the energy efficiency for all the tenants. Great work! We found some before and during construction pictures, we took the ‘after’ shots, and made the video she needed.
Today (4-24-10) is mostly a work day. We ran some power to the trailer from Lynda’s house with a LOT of power cables, just enough to run the computer and such. We worked out the details on a new website with her as well and are beginning on that as well as finishing the video work. Joni came up from Green River and they very kindly treated us to a lovely meal out on the town at their favorite Greek restaurant. Thank you! Paul did a little hiking while Indigo slaved away. What looks like barren rocks and some scrub weeds turns out to be an amazing variety of wildflowers, blooming everywhere! Spring is such a lovely time, and with the way we are traveling and the timing in which we are doing it we are having the longest spring of our lives.
We need more pictures of the other housing projects that Lynda is working on. However, there is a major storm coming in with sustained winds of 30-40mph and 70 mph gusts. We decide to pull off the ridge behind Lynda’s house and move to an RV park in town (4-28-10). That way we have power, water, and can dump our tank, plus this little park is low and somewhat protected from the wind. Lynda decided to take the day off, so she led us to the park and picked us up later for another tour. We saw three of the other low income housing projects she oversees and we took pictures for the website. Of course, since we’re out and about, we might as well see some more of the area around! We visit East Carbon and Sunnyside to the south to take pictures of the furthest of her projects, These are major coal mining areas, and now also house an absolutely enormous landfill that is filled with toxic nastiness, including from Boston Harbor. Yes, it was moved by train all the way from the East Coast to be dumped here, over the only aquifer in the entire region. It feels like a giant, festering sore of the face of our Earth mother, that WE created (we being humans, not Paul and Indigo specifically). But, well, it brings jobs as of course, coal mining doesn’t get the miners themselves rich. We decided to go up in one of the canyons to see a little of the country around and are blessed with two small herds of bighorn sheep near the road! This is Paul’s first ever sighting of the animals so we stop for pictures. One herd has 8 animals, the other has 11. What a nice surprise! We spent a little time today picking up garbage that has blown in to Lynda’s property, we would have liked to do more but we have many errands to do before we continue on our way, and much work to do, including websites and of course….this here blog to write!
The weather has kept us another day, it was blowing hard and even snowing a little today (4-29-10). We had more work anyway, so we paid another night at the nasty little RV park where we are staying (they’re about as friendly as a cornered badger here, but I guess it pays to be the only game in town). The mountains all around are powered with fresh snow, with blue skies above and storms all around. It’s really quite lovely, but not a good day for traveling with the trailer. Plus it’s very cold, even down here. We have to cross a 9100 foot high pass to get to the next place we’re staying, which will be Steinaker State Park near Vernal, Utah. No high winds and snow please, not when crossing a pass THAT high! We took some more pictures for the website and spent a little more time with Lynda today as well, which is always nice. It’s good to keep warm tonight, we’re expecting it to get VERY chilly indeed.
On the road again… uggg I hate that song.
We started early today (4-25-10) to get ourselves road ready. We finally met Joni at 9:40AM as she decided to join us on our first leg of the trip, to nearby Price, Utah. We were going to stop and visit with Joni’s cousin Lynda, whom we met earlier when she was visiting Green River to help Joni start some low income public housing. Price is about 60 miles north and a little west of Green River, so our first leg is a nice, short hop. The ride next to the Book Cliffs and San Rafael Swell is lovely and if feels good to be back on the road. We meet with Lynda at her home in Price and park the MVU on a 2-track on her property about 100 meters to the north of her home and buckle down for some dry camping. Our water tank is full and battery is as charged at it ever gets, so we’re ready. We walk back to Lynda’s house and proceed to have a lovely evening. She was born in this house, both of her parents have died in it. Her family was one of the first in the area, they have quite a history and Lynda knows it all and shares pictures and stories with us. She even took us out in her car and drove us around to show us a bunch of interesting things, including Dead Man Canyon, the top of which is a coal mine. We see many of the fully 19 different churches in the area, a diversity not shared by the rest of the state of Utah. It seems Carbon County is quite progressive! She treats us to dinner at her house, including some beef from one of her sons all grass fed, organic (probably) cows. Lynda is a wonderful host, she has a keen intellect, and her and Joni are great fun together. Sixty miles of driving and we’re already home again!
Great stories and Great ladies too!
We love Joni.
The night before we left (4-24-10) we were invited to dinner by Joni, the manager of the community center. She has been great fun and a most gracious guide to all that is Green River, we have really enjoyed working with her and for her and are amazed at how she is keeping it all running through a myriad of trials and hardships. Needless to say… and how.. should we say this, She does not really get the support she should. This is a very ” Peyton Place” kind of town. Excuse my french but Joni works her ass off. She is always giving, and helping others. If I had a million dollars, I would buy her a house in another county- so she could follow her dreams. At dinner we also met her husband who is a police officer. He turned out to be full of wonderful stories and has a heart of gold. He talked freely about the problems that police officers so often face, especially the difficulties of racism and seeing the rest of the world as the enemy instead of those they are working to protect and serve. He has worked in very difficult situations, from gang units to undercover operations, he knows intimately how it can make a person cold and hard. He has overcome those obstacles, and we hope that he can start helping other officers find their peace in the world. He has terrific stories that he has written, we hope to be reading them soon! One story he was relating concerned a case he was working with a serial killer, and finding the bodies so that the families of the victims could have closure. He said a crew from the TV show “48 Hours” was with him. We ended up watching him on that show later the same night! Anyway, it was a lovely dinner and amazing time of talking and sharing with two wonderful people from the town of Green River. We were really amazed at how wonderful, open, intelligent and fun they were.. we are going to miss them .. A LOT! It was also a great send off; tomorrow we roam!
One other goodbye today, we said goodbye to Lance, a very friendly and warm hearted man who will be competing in the Special Olympics very soon. Goodbye Lance!
Lance is training for the Special Olympics where he plans to compete in the 50 meter freestyle and the 50 meter backstroke. He is also a member of a relay team comprised of other Utah residents going to the Special Olympics. The week long event will be Lance’s first time competing on a national level.
Our Favorite special Olympian Lance Riches
Holy Shit.
We were told a story today that bears repeating (4-24-10). It’s a true story that happened to a friend now here in Green River. Our friend has been in banking most of his adult life. Early in his career in the early 1970′s he worked in the security portion of the bank community, in Denver, Colorado. It was a large bank in a rough part of town that had enough troubles that there were four full time Denver police officers stationed in the bank itself. Our friend’s desk was near the president’s secretary, who, on Wednesday received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the FDIC and wanted to make an appointment with the president of the bank on the upcoming Friday at around 2:30. She thought the call was a bit strange and cryptic so she mentioned it to our friend, who suggested really getting all of the information next time but didn’t think it strange enough to report. Now, at this time in the 70′s, a 2:30 on a Friday was when the most money was in the bank. The tellers had put their money in the vault from the day’s transactions so they could start the afternoon fresh and be open until 6 to work with all the people getting paid and cashing their checks and such. Around 2:30 on that Friday, in walks a very dark black man in a pinstripe suit with a briefcase in his hand, walking directly towards the president’s office. The bank had a trainee at that point, another black man, who noticed him and noticed something odd. He immediately called our friend and said, “That’s not a black man.” He could tell somehow that it was someone impersonating a black man. Our friend felt the tension and immediately calls the Denver police in the building, and the five of them go directly to the president’s office, whose door was closed. Our friend asked his secretary what happened, she said he walked right past her into the president’s office and closed the door. Oh oh. So our friend and the four officers knock on the door, the man in the pinstripe answers, “Come in, I’m in control, and here’s the way it’s going to work.” They open the door and the man is in the office with the president, cool as a cucumber. He opens his briefcase and inside is several sticks of dynamite, a dry cell battery, and an obvious triggering mechanism. One of the officers was on the bomb squad who saw right away that it was real. They all have their pistols drawn and pointed at the man, the president is so scared he’s about to faint. “If you shoot me, my hand come off this grip, the bomb will explode and take out the whole bank and most of the city block around it. We’re going to play it my way.” What could you do? “Call the head teller, all of us are going to the vault.” They had done their research. Only the head teller has the combination for the vault, and right at this time, on this day, is when the most money is in the vault. Everyone is trying to keep it cool so that no one in the office knows the danger and panics. They get to the vault and meet the head teller who is told what to do. He’s so scared that he almost passes out, he has to open the vault from the floor on his knees because he can’t stand. Once the vault was open, the man in the pinstripe suits hands over a large duffel and tells them to fill it, no marked bills, no small bills, just fill it. It’s as large as one man can carry. So they fill the bag, just as they are told. “Now we’re going to the employee exit in the back, and I am taking the president with me as a hostage.” They all file in to the small hallway in the back of the bank, the robber in front. They open the door and he stepped out, the president had the wits about him right then to push him ahead and slam the door, leaving the robber outside near his getaway vehicle. Of course the Denver police are on alert, there are choppers in the air, all the main arteries are being watched. It’s an unmarked van, the robber gets inside and the driver pulls away. But instead of going to any of the main arteries, they pull into the neighborhood behind the bank which is not being watched. After three blocks, the van stops. They only find out later what happens next. They disarm the bomb (which was real) and change their clothes. They pull off a manhole cover under the van and climb down, leaving the unmarked van and unexploded bomb, and escape in the sewer tunnels, most likely to another vehicle a short ways away for an easy getaway. All told they got between $250-$300K and where never caught. Wow, it sounds like a movie plot (and probably could be, consider this copyrighted 
! It’s hard to believe something like that could ever really happen. Further FBI investigation found a teller who had started dating a customer several weeks earlier. He asked question after question after question about the bank, which she freely talked about. They tried to find him but his name didn’t match, he was obviously hiding his true identity. What planning, panache, and… excuse the term… balls of steel! And what a way to make a living….
WOwie Zowie holy moley sweet and wow.
Our time is quickly coming to a close here so we decided to take a day to see a few of the major local attractions. Today (4-19-10) we got up before dawn and headed east and south to Dead Horse Point State Park.
Dead Horse Point
Wow, that was well worth it! It’s similar to the Grand Canyon, only the Colorado River is 2000 feet below instead of 5000 feet. It’s a truly stunning point of land with a very narrow entrance. The name came from some unholy cowboys who herded some of the local wild mustangs out to the point and corralled them off at the narrowest point. They then chose the horses they wanted and left the rest to die of thirst, 2000 feet above the water they needed. It’s an ugly reminder of just how cruel greed can make humans. The majesty of the place truly celebrates the spirit of those lost horses, it’s terrificly beautiful, the sheer cliff walls are extremely vertiginous, and the view is simply splendid. The view down is in to Canyonlands National Park, and although we did not visit this park directly, we did get to see at least a portion of the stunning beauty if protects. It is a must-see if you are anywhere near SE Utah. From Dead Horse Point we drove to a dirt road that headed to Gemini Bridges. The road was in good condition so we chose to take the detour, it was not on our agenda but it was on our way. About 6-7 miles down the road (and I mean DOWN) we came to the Gemini Bridges.
Gemini Bridges Utah
Bridges are formed from water through the rocks, arches are from wind and rain erosion. The bridges were gorgeous, and like all of SE Utah we have seen, the rocks look more like artwork, a great reminder that nature is the original artist! The road further down from here became quite rough indeed, it really did take a high clearance vehicle. It seems that coming UP this road would take 4WD as well, although we didn’t need it. The desert flowers were blooming as well, from the shocking red of desert paintbrush to the cheery yellow of Fendler’s bladderpod. They were such a great splash of color and we stopped often to admire them. After a stop in Moab to fuel up, get some groceries and have a rare meal on the town, we headed just north of Moab to Arches National Park. We had decided to splurge and pay for the entrance fee, only to find out that there is NO fee for this week! Wow, what timing! The park, like all National Parks we have visited, is fantastic.
Arches National Park
We hiked a little, drove a bit, and truly enjoyed the incredible natural artistry. It is heartening to see a natural national treasure like this preserved for all to enjoy.
Balanced rock
All of the geology in motion, the flora and fauna, the views, and of course the arches, spires, and pinnacles, are spectacular and easy to access, with plenty of good information about the history. Again, the desert wildflowers were on high display, we saw lots of gorgeous lavender colored crescent milkvetch, what may be the red explosion of color called scarlet bugler (although it doesn’t typically grow this far east), a few southwestern thorn apple whose flowers wilt by late morning, and the beginning of the Blackfoot daisy blooms.
The day was actually hot already, but the late afternoon saw a lovely smattering of clouds, raining in the south near the La Sal mountains but never enough to reach the ground when the clouds made it far enough north to provide shade in the park.
Delicate Arch
One other note, concerning Dead Horse Ranch State Park. First, imagine the size of this area, the incredible cliffs and towers and gorges as far as you can see, the river cutting a serpentine path, millions of years of erosive power on majestic display in such immensity that it defies description and certainly defies the ability to truly capture in a photograph. All of this grandeur is laid out in front of us in jaw-dropping magnificence. We are standing on the SW point, drinking it all in, when an adult human female standing below us asks her male companion, “So this is all natural?” It’s sometimes said that there are no stupid questions. That, that was a stupid question. It did serve to make us laugh for about 1/2 hour straight, so at least it wasn’t a useless question. Wow.
It seems we can do a lot for the Green River Community Center. Sometimes we cook for the ‘meals on wheels’, we have helped unload the food truck which was here in Green River to make a special delivery since the coffers are low at the food bank, and we have even filled in working at the Thrift Store since that was needed to let the manager Cecilia go to a meeting (4-20-10). It’s great to be of service to this community! The park goes through days of slow and busy, but work here has been pretty simple since we now have the full compliment of seasonal workers and volunteers. We have even taken to doing a little fishing in the Green River in the evenings, when the mood arises. The weather has been fantastic, it is amazing how quickly the trees have bloomed. The birds are singing like crazy, the flickers are about, the American gold finches and yellow-rumped warblers are eating the buds on the tree above us like crazy, raining down the leftover pods in such a flurry that it sounds like a veritable hailstorm!
making potato salad for meals on wheels
Two is Groovy
There are many reasons why it’s good that we are two, why it’s great to be a couple. One of them is that we can volunteer in two places at once! Yesterday (4-7-10) Indigo worked at the community center, cooking the meals for the seniors and the kids, while Paul covered volunteering at the park (with occasional forays to the community center to help out with washing dishes and serving the meals). Bases covered! Still many good things going on at the center, as always money is a challenge for them (and for most of us) but Joni’s hard work and dedication is making things happen and good things are happening here in Green River. It’s inspirational. The truck is not so happy though. The drivers side window stopped working, Paul has spent two days so far trying to repair it. It may be a bad motor, there’s not much chance of finding one (or affording one) here in Green River. The park is almost full tonight (4-8-10), it was busy for hours on end. Once again, being two made it SO much better; Paul worked on trying to fix the window (with occasional forays to the office or grounds to assist) while Indigo was in charge of checking everybody in (with occasional forays to the truck to assist Paul). Teamwork! And love!
