More Road Art

Not far away is some interesting road art, and you can read an introduction about it here. While I was driving the other day, I noticed that this mannequin, who had recently been sporting men's clothing, was now dressed in a new style. We've had a little cold snap, so it might be getting a little chilly for her at night.

An alien sits by the side of the road, watching the traffic go by every day. The air is a little thin, hence the breathing apparatus (at least that's what I'm calling it). Even handicapped aliens manage to have a good time. I think the alien at one time was skiing, so perhaps it was a ski accident that has him sidelined.

The helmet can help protect him from the abundant cosmic rays. 

Some of the road art stays up for a long time, while other is quite temporary, so I realize I need to do a better job of photographing it. And what better place to put those pictures than on this blog?

Road Art

One road near my house has a bunch of road art on it, art on fence posts and wires. The man who started the tradition called it "Post Impression Art." He had a number of wonderful artworks out that over time blew away in the wind or were removed by the BLM. Nevertheless, other people add to the artwork from time to time. Here's a small sampling today. I love the one above, a well-done play on the "Great Basin."

Sometimes the artwork isn't a visual pun, but rather just something eye catching that helps relieve the monotony of the fences.

Here's a recycling post. 

One of the long-time favorites of the area is the horse driving the old Model-T. He's a reliable driver, there every day. Except when someone steals him. That's happened twice--what is with people who think it's fun to steal a horse skeleton and leave the car without a driver?

Here's the horse driving again. He obviously enjoys where he is. You can even see him grinning. Maybe all horses are just waiting for the day until they get a machine people built to carry them, rather than them carrying people.

Going Home from Montana

After so many great adventures on our summer vacation (see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4), it was finally time to go home. But first we took a detour over to Bozeman, Montana, where my friend Mimi Matsuda was set up an art festival. It was so great to see her and her sister Erika and take home some fantastic art (check out her website for her whimsical wildlife art).

Also in Bozeman is the Museum of the Rockies, and I wanted to take a look. The kids almost got eaten up before we even entered.

There were plenty of opportunities to get eaten (maybe my imagination gets a little carried away).

I enjoyed seeing the paleontological exhibits.

We also spent a little time in the guitar exhibit.

But the kids seemed to like the kids' section best, with geyser simulations and a place to "fish" in the Yellowstone River.

And then we went to Yellowstone. I worked there years ago so didn't feel a huge need to go. But when I asked Desert Girl if she remembered what a geyser was and she wasn't sure, I knew we had to go. We went in at West Yellowstone, where to my surprise, there was no line at 3 p.m.  Our first destination was the Firehole River, where we saw a bison sharing the road with us.

I had really enjoyed swimming in the Firehole River when I worked at Yellowstone, and since we had swum (or at least touched water) in most other national parks we had visited on this vacation, this seemed to be a good bet. We went to a spot that was much calmer than the section in the photo below and floated through a narrow canyon section a couple of times. It was a lot of fun (even if I lost my sunglasses!).

Next up was Grand Prismatic Spring. It was so crazy busy.

But the amazing colors really are worth seeing.

We checked out the new visitor center at Old Faithful. I was impressed that they had an exhibit on insects and spiders.

We wandered around a bit, admiring hot springs.

And then Old Faithful blew! It wasn't much an eruption, but at least the kids got to see a geyser go off.

I was really enjoying the area, and it was hard for me to leave. But we were hungry, so we got some food.

And then we headed south. I had to hit the brakes when this elk crossed the road.

And then we had to stop again to avoid these young moose. Their mom soon followed them across the road. This was the Grassy Lake Road, a road I had never taken before that cuts between Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. We drove quite a ways and then found a place to camp.

The next day we got up and drove the rest of the way home. It was a fun trip. And now Desert Girl says she won't complain about driving to Las Vegas---it's way shorter than driving to Montana!

Desert Destination: Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Every Monday we visit a desert destination.

Located north of Cedar City, Utah, the Parowan Gap petroglyphs grace a steep rockface. Although many petroglyph locations are kept secret to help preserve them, these are not because a road goes right next to them. The BLM (Bureau of Land Management--it manages most of the public land in the West) has erected interpretive signs and a fence. 

The petroglyphs were made by prehistoric Fremont and Southern Paiute cultures and placed on the National Historic Register in 1969. Although people guess what the petroglyphs mean, no one knows for certain what they all mean. That's part of the fun of looking at petroglyphs, thinking about what compelled someone to scrape a rock on the bigger rock and why they decided to draw what they did. They obviously had to spend some time to make the drawings, and likely they represent a number of different activities and counts. 

Here's the road that leads through Parowan Gap. The gap is a split in a three-mile long ridge of Jurassic Navajo Sandstone that's about 100 meters (300 feet) higher than the valley floor. Much of the sandstone has shattered, and the fence in the Gap not only protects the petroglyphs but also keeps falling rocks from getting out on the road. The Gap is the result of a stream that eroded away the sedimentary rock as it was being pushed upwards along a fault line.

This set of petroglyphs appears to have fewer human-like and animal drawings than many others I've seen. Instead it contains a large number of geometric designs, like the squares with dots on the right hand side and  the glyph in the middle called the Zipper. Recent research indicates that this area was used as a calendar. To learn more, click here.

These petroglyphs were first brought to the world's attention in 1849, when Parley P. Pratt led an expedition to look for new settlement sites. Over time, the Gap was used as an access route and a quarry. The road was expanded and some of the petroglyphs were lost. It's estimated that about half of the original petroglyphs are still present.

Sagebrush grows next to the small parking area. When Desert Boy and I visited, we had the place to ourselves, and most of the time this is a quiet spot. Crowds occasionally gather, such as during the summer solstice, when a local puts on a special presentation about the petroglyphs or when bike tours take a break.

On the left side of the above photo, you can see what looks like a sideways horseshoe; perhaps it is a map. On the right side is what appears to be a bighorn sheep. When visiting petroglyphs, it's fine to take photos, but touching the rock leaves behinds oils that can degrade the art. Some of the drawings may have been made over a thousand years ago. It is amazing how they have survived the wind and sun and rain and how they can inspire us.

Happy First Day of Autumn!

Snake Valley Festival with Family

 We so much enjoyed having family here during the Snake Valley Festival! They went to so many events and even helped set up and move items. We enjoyed the community breakfast to start off the second day. (The first day was the ice cream social with music and the beer tasting and silent auction.)

The book sale was a hit with the schoolteacher!

Desert Boy put some money in the bag for his sister's road art project. It didn't end up winning (the amazing Mt. Wheeler bicycle wheel art won), but she helped raise some money for the Great Basin Water Network.

We had fewer parade entries this year. I'm not sure if it was because more kids than mine wanted to watch the parade than be in it. Desert Boy wanted more candy. But this wasn't an election year, and there was no candy! He has already said he wants to be in next year's parade. Fortunately we had a band, they fit in the back of a pickup.

And a few fire trucks.

And some horses! We love the horses and horse riders!

Later Desert Girl hooked up with some friends and convinced a papa to read a book she had bought at the book sale.

Then it was time for some games on the Baker Hall lawn.

And activities.

Desert Girl had a winning strategy for the kids' silent auction raffle. She bought tickets to put in bags for different items. She put most of her tickets in the bags that didn't have any other tickets and won a whole bunch of stuff. She didn't really care too much what it was, she just felt lucky. She enjoyed showing her friend Isaac the goodies.

Later we had a great water fight (didn't manage any photos of that but the kids and I were happily soaked from head to foot). Then we took a break to change and get ready for the evening. Desert Girl rehearsed for the talent show--a rendition of What does the fox say?

The BBQ dinner was delicious.

And then it was talent show time. Desert Girl needed a little coaching (I was teased for my impersonation of a pageant show mom), but Desert Boy had no qualms about being a weight-lifting joke teller.

Desert Boy and his friend Ava won the Junior Snake Valley competition.

We watched some amazing talents, such as eating a stick of butter, recycling water, tying maraschino cherry stems with a tongue, stepping through paper, and other things you would never even imagine. I did tree pose for a minute, with kids providing some wind to blow me over.

The crowd was duly entertained.

At the end of the night we had a Mr. Teen Snake Valley, Mr. and Ms. Snake Valley, Mr. and Ms. Junior Snake Valley, and Mr. and Ms. Senior Snake Valley. I'm sure they will all represent the valley well.

The next morning we got up for the Snake Valley Slither, a 5k race. Desert Boy ran it in his sandals, not very fast.

Spectators looked for shade, as it was hot even at 7 am.

Nevertheless, everyone who started finished, some even with big smiles!

Desert Boy rallied to run at the end.

Then we had a quick kids' race.

The little girls were adorable, and Desert Girl was so happy to get a medal. She had carefully picked out her running costume.

Even our little one-year old ran!

It was a great event, even though it was tiring, and we look forward to it again next year, the third weekend of June.

For more photos of the Snake Valley Festival, check out the Facebook page.