Medicine Rock Montana was an experience for us all. When we arrived at the entrance we were met by an Indian family who had come to fill their water jugs. They assured us of the safety of the well, accessed by an old fashioned hand pump just like my Grandparents had on their front lawn. Then they led us into the park and showed us their favorite camping spot, warned us to carry a stick and thump the ground to scare off rattlesnakes, and went on their way.
The next morning our menfolk decided to drive off and get our mail. Back by lunch, they were sure. We women and children decided to go in to town [Ekalaka] to the library and check our email. We went to a little cafe for lunch, and the owner/operator was excited to finally meet us. Seems her middle school aged son had seen us around town, and was anticipating us moving in...with not one, but three boys about his age- a commodity that was evidently pretty scarce in the area. We were sorry to disillusion her.
For pictures of Medicine Rock, see here;
http://www.montanapictures.net/medicine_rock.htm
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
California Beach Dreams
Seems like my Big Trip posts are all about the southwest, so I’m going to try to even things up a bit. In Northern California, we camped almost on a beach by the Pacific Ocean. It was September, kind of cold I remember. One day we walked along the shore and a seal swam along beside us. We walked as far as we could one direction, then turned and went the other way, and the seal turned and swam back the same way. We repeated this a few times, I think he was curious about us [of course we were curious about him, too…would have loved a closer look.]
We found large starfish all up and down the beach-they were pretty pastel colors, like pink and purple. All were alive, so we really couldn’t justify keeping them. We ended up in this primitive camp ground run by the state because we drove just a little further after a scary experience. We had found the campground we had researched, and found it to be some different from the description. Piles of trash were everywhere, and we were barked at by skinny cross eyed dogs. Skinny cross eyed children were everywhere, and directed us to inquire at a run down trailer for the manager. When we approached the trailer, a bodiless voice yelled, “whadya want!” “Um…looking for a place to camp?” Suddenly he was all sweetness…except we could see him now…holey stained t-shirt, beer gut and all. We were afraid to put our relatively new and good looking [albeit unpaid for] trailer in this park-so off we went. Going the extra miles really paid off.
We found large starfish all up and down the beach-they were pretty pastel colors, like pink and purple. All were alive, so we really couldn’t justify keeping them. We ended up in this primitive camp ground run by the state because we drove just a little further after a scary experience. We had found the campground we had researched, and found it to be some different from the description. Piles of trash were everywhere, and we were barked at by skinny cross eyed dogs. Skinny cross eyed children were everywhere, and directed us to inquire at a run down trailer for the manager. When we approached the trailer, a bodiless voice yelled, “whadya want!” “Um…looking for a place to camp?” Suddenly he was all sweetness…except we could see him now…holey stained t-shirt, beer gut and all. We were afraid to put our relatively new and good looking [albeit unpaid for] trailer in this park-so off we went. Going the extra miles really paid off.
Cave Dwellers
My brother is pressuring me again to write something about our Big Trip...[note the capitals] So, this is for you, Jon. What do I remember best...let me think. One of my favorite parts of the trip had to do with cave dwellers. The Anasazi people before memory, and the Southwestern natives who were there when the "Americans" arrived.
We stayed a few days at Bandelier National Park in New Mexico. The cliffs here were accessible by ladders that were replicas of those used by the inhabitants. It was cool to climb up into the cave apartments and look at the smoke residue on the ceiling.
We visited Canyon de Chelly [pronounced du Shay], and camped on the rim for a week or so. One day my sons and I climbed down to the floor of the Canyon in the company of a flock of sheep. We hiked across the floor to the White House Ruins. Standing on the bottom of the Canyon, looking up at the ruins, we marveled at the people who had built these walls in a cleft of the cliff, using ladders to haul up tools and supplies, and raised families in the apartments they had fashioned.
Earlier we had hiked along the rim of the Canyon and found the site where U.S. soldiers had stationed themselves to shoot at the families who had taken refuge in a less protected cleft of the Canyon walls. It was hard to fathom what those soldiers were thinking as they shot and reloaded and shot again at men, women and children huddled in the open cave.
We stayed a few days at Bandelier National Park in New Mexico. The cliffs here were accessible by ladders that were replicas of those used by the inhabitants. It was cool to climb up into the cave apartments and look at the smoke residue on the ceiling.
We visited Canyon de Chelly [pronounced du Shay], and camped on the rim for a week or so. One day my sons and I climbed down to the floor of the Canyon in the company of a flock of sheep. We hiked across the floor to the White House Ruins. Standing on the bottom of the Canyon, looking up at the ruins, we marveled at the people who had built these walls in a cleft of the cliff, using ladders to haul up tools and supplies, and raised families in the apartments they had fashioned.
Earlier we had hiked along the rim of the Canyon and found the site where U.S. soldiers had stationed themselves to shoot at the families who had taken refuge in a less protected cleft of the Canyon walls. It was hard to fathom what those soldiers were thinking as they shot and reloaded and shot again at men, women and children huddled in the open cave.
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