Grand Time

GREAT WIDE OPEN: So, last week we had a great trip the the American Southwest, including spending several hours at the Grand Canyon. 

It was the first time Christian, CJ, Annabelle and I had ever seen it.

I was expecting it to be big, and, well, grand, but wow ... you just have to see it to believe it.

Have I mentioned it's really big? Oh, and do you see the wildfire across the canyon there? That made our photos not so clear and my sinuses not so happy.

I have *so* many pictures. 

In retrospect, I wish I had cataloged all my photos somehow by viewpoint, day, time ... anything, but I didn't. We just went, and marveled and I snapped some shots.  Living in the moment.

For the record, we were there on  the afternoon of September 12, 2018, through sunset, and then on the morning of September 13.

So, I'll park a bunch of photos here now. At some point I hope to double back and explain which viewpoints we were at. 

I do love this photo (below). Kind of puts things in perspective. Literally.

 I suppose I should mention we were on the south rim. 

 The rock formations below were so interesting. What caused the craters in them?

 In the photo below, note the smokes from wildfires on the north side of the canyon.

 The Grand Canyon offers so many faces!

Up, down, and every place in between, life finds a way !

 There were many points and places to stop and contemplate. 

 The canyon has so many faces. 

 Now that I've seen just a portion of it on high, I really want to be on the floor and gazing upward.

 In the photo below, check out the people off trail (to the left) for a photo opp.

Scenes from the Road

LV to GC: On September 12, we left Las Vegas and started making our way toward the Grand Canyon, where we'd spend the next couple of days. It's about a five hour drive.

Honestly, most of the drive is desolate stretches of desert, but we did make a few stops along the way.

For instance, we took a few minutes to make it a point to stop at an overlook of Lake Mead.

Turns out we were at the Robert L. Mendenhall Scenic Overlook. Mendenhall was a standout in the paving business. In 1974, Mendenhall’s Las Vegas Paving Corp. made history by renovating a one-mile stretch of interstate highway with recycled asphalt. Mendenhall devised the process by experimenting with hot pavement recycling. It was a game changer in the industry, and Mendenhall was a celebrity in the paving world. He passed away just this June, at the age of 90. At the time he held more than 50 U.S. patents, and was an inductee into the Nevada Inventors Hall of Fame.

 Another highlight of the trip - a stop at Gus' "Really Good" Jerky store.

We'd seen a couple of billboards along the way. It struck us that Gus was advertising just "really good" jerky. Not great, not the best, but just 'really good.' We had to try it for ourselves. 

And so we stopped. In our opinion, it was just fair jerky. 

We drove on and found ourselves in Ash Fork, Arizona, at one point. CJ can tell you a bit more about that stop.

In the midst of our visit to the Southwestern US, while on our way to the Grand Canyon, my family and I passed through the city of Ash Fork, with an approximate population of 457 people. According many of the city's residents, it is the "Flagstone Capital of the World," due to the five large stoneyards (and, by extension, stones) present in the city. The only real address we stopped at in Ash Fork was the local "Family Dollar," probably Ash Fork's most significant grocery store. We bought a pack of straws, and that was about it. Before heading out of Ash Fork, we had to get a picture by one of the umpteen Route 66 signs.

I'm guessing Ash Fork, like a lot of other little towns, had their fortunes fade when Route 66 no longer brought a steady stream through their city.

We were on Route 66 for small stretches multiple times on our trip. Annabelle has a bit to share about the historic highway.

Route 66, officially “Historic Route 66,” is a highway stretching from Santa Monica, California, to Chicago, Illinois. It passes through many towns and cities, one of which being Flagstaff (where we stayed during our vacation to the Grand Canyon). It was established November 11, 1926, and signs were put up the following year. The route is well known for being the main highway across America for a large time, though it has since been overshadowed by others.

Nowadays, Route 66 is usually used by those looking to take a relaxing, slow-paced road trip instead of having a specific destination in mind. Since the route doesn’t even show up on most modern maps, if you want to drive it you’ll have to look for one specifically made for doing so. I haven’t seen the whole route myself, but I’d be very willing to drive it and see what’s in store!

Another thing we saw along the way were multiple political signs, including ones where someone was running for Justice of the Peace. 

We don't have that in Seattle, so I Googled just what that job is. Per the ,"In Arizona there are 87 Justice of the Peace precincts. JP courts are considered the “People's Court.” Per the Arizona Justice of the Peace Association, "JP's see everyone arrested and charged with a felony within 24 hours - 7 days a week. They read the charges and set release conditions."

Hot Dam and Cool Treat

UPDATE FROM THE ROAD: MPA is still off campus. After a couple of days in the Grand Canyon, it was off to Flagstaff, Arizona for a night, and then back to Vegas. On the way back to Vegas, we felt it would be remiss if we didn't stop by a world-renowned engineering marvel, the Hoover Dam.

Annabelle will give you a brief overview of our visit. More facts and photos to come when we're back on 'campus.'

When we arrived at the Hoover Dam, the temperature was over 105 degrees

Fahrenheit in the air alone, meaning the dam itself was over 110. When we stepped out of the car, we immediately began walking to the nearest drinking fountain, hoping to get some relief from the intense heat. We splashed ourselves with water and filled our bottle to the brim, enjoying the shade when we could. On one side of the dam, there was a "cooling station" with a large swamp fan provided to the public.

The architecture of the dam itself was beautiful, with multiple concrete arches and an Art Deco look. There were two towers along the edge with large clocks reading "Arizona time" and "Nevada time" respectively. There were multiple memorials scattered along the edge dedicated to the workers and volunteers that helped create the dam, including one featuring two angels surrounding the American Flag. The dam is hard to describe in words, but it's completely free to drive across, and if you'd like to walk, parking is just $10.

We've been working on a few projects around the house, and having fun in Vegas - including seeing Queen on Saturday night (more on that later). We've also had some fun with food experiences. CJ will tell you about a trip to the custard shop today. ...

On the way back to Vegas for the weekend. On 17 September 2018, a warm, sunny day in Las Vegas, I went with my father, my brother, and my sister to CJ's Italian Ice & Custard, located at 3555 South Durango Drive. According to the creamery's About Us page, CJ (the founder of the establishment) founded the restaurant because he felt the Las Vegas area was lacking in custard and Italian ice, which is a dessert staple in the Eastern United States (where he grew up.)

While at the restaurant, I ordered a regular-size Italian Ice + Custard treat. From bottom to top, it was:

• Chocolate custard

• Mountain Dew Baja Blast Italian Ice

• Salted caramel custard

It tasted better than one might expect. In addition, I also got an "I  ❤️  CJ's" t-shirt (which, according to my mother, appeared as though it was designed by a nine-year-old girl.)

Grand Time

WONDERMENT:  MPA is on a field trip to America's Southwest. First stop was Vegas, baby! We flew in Tuesday midday, and got to see Rick and Rachel's new place and visit our favorite Dobermans, Pretzel and Strudel. But more about that later, as it's late we're oh-so-tired, a little sunburned and totally impressed by what we saw today: The Grand Canyon.

Naturally, we've seen photos and videos and know it's one of the seven wonders of the natural world, but it's impossible to appreciate it for all it is until you're there, on the ledge, looking out and over it. 

Trust me, the crappy cell phone photos in this post don't do it justice. With an average depth of one mile and an average width of ten miles (16km). 

 It's stripes and steppes, plateaus and craggy cliffs are so varied and compelling. They tell an ancient story about just how different this blue marble was long ago. 

 We visited the south rim of the canyon, about four hours east-southeast of Vegas. We walked well over three miles in high heat, at an elevation of 7000 or so feet, and in sometimes high winds. 

 We walked from east to west, then caught a shuttle bus back westward to where we parked our car, and then drove further east to where we could get a look back at the canyon for sunset.

More photos and facts to follow when we're better slept and I can get the pictures off my Nikon camera.

All's Fair

FAIR ENOUGH: Last week, we made our annual trek to the Washington State Fair in Puyallup. 

We did our usual park in the back 40 on private party land for less, and hike into the fair. On our way in, we saw this sign that had been surplused, apparently. It made us kind of sad and wary - we remember that sign from our very first visit to the fair about a decade ago.

We arrived before the rides opened, and took that time to visit some barns. Posing with the red hatted goose is a mandatory tradition.

We always enjoy seeing the majestic draft horses. They're so massive and impressive!

We checked out chickens. I thought this one looked downright sinister!

Personally, I really enjoyed the gardens on the fairgrounds. These Atlantic pumpkins were impressive.

Below: A tunnel of squash! Gosh, this would be fun to replicate!

I think it's been a banner year for sunflowers based on what I've seen around town and at the fair.

Check out this mountain of wood chips! They must go through so much in the livestock barns!

A new addition to the fair this year was "The Farm." Below is a photo I took of the space from a nearby Ferris wheel.

The buildings on its grounds were so cute! 

 Loved the oversized wheat rising from a roof!

And how cute are these carrots poking down through the ceiling?

There were lots of great learning stations. The milk bottle barn was all about how milk is made for the market.

Here's what CJ had to say about our fair trip this year.

Every September, the Washington State Fair occurs in Puyallup, Washington, attracting over a million guests each year. On the sixth day of that year's September, we went to the 2018 Washington State Fair, driving twenty-five and a half miles in the morning. Upon arrival, we parked in a local resident's parking lot that they set up for fairgoers. We entered the fairgrounds through a farm dedicated to cattle. My sister remarked that you don't realize how large cattle are in real life until you're right next to one in real life. Said barn was adjacent to other buildings housing farm animals (horses, swine, poultry, et cetera.) This was before the big rides opened, so we spent some time in the "kiddie" area, waiting for the big rides to open at 11 A.M.

We went on multiple Ferris wheels, including a small one and a large one. In tradition, I went on the "Scrambler," a ride that thrashes the riders around, like a giant egg scrambler. We also went on the "Wildcat" (the fair's signature ride, a roller coaster established in 1985) and the "Classic Coaster" (apparently the oldest currently-functional wooden roller coaster in the US.) After going on the Classic Coaster, I went on the "Zipper," a thrill ride carrying passengers around a zipper-esque machine.

Eventually, the midway opened and we were off the races. And the roller coasters. :)

Riding the old Wildcat! Christian's in the front seat of the car below with a hardcore fair fan who glommed on to him while in line. :)

The kids are in the backseat in the photo below.

Christian and the kids also rode the old wood "Classic" coaster. Can you spy them in the middle of the chain of cars below?

Annabelle passed on The Zipper, but CJ and Christian gave it a go. They're in the car on the upper right in the photo below.

 Killing time and all rides passes on their wristbands, the kids and Christian hit up this clown swing.

They skipped this colorful, country music themed attraction.

The Scrambler was awesome, as always. 

Annabelle went on this "Zero-G" ride a couple of times. For CJ, once was more than enough. 

We played a couple of midway games. This pickle didn't make it home with us, but Christian did win a stuffed otter!

Sad cow "taxidermy" on the front of the country themed 'fun' house.

We were happy to see one of the Have a Great Day signs survived. We did, indeed, have a great time at the fair, once again. 

Here's what Annabelle had to say about the fair this season. ...

This year at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, we spent around 4 ½ hours exploring the fairgrounds and riding rides. We came in through the Fifth Street entrance, right next to the fair’s “Agriplex” that held cows, horses, and other animals. The Agriplex opened up to Sillyville, the children’s portion of the fair that opened before the other rides. Despite being designed for small children, Sillyville houses a few of the most fun rides at the fair, including the Scrambler; a ride that has a rotating center, three rotating arms, and four rotating seats on the ends. The larger rollercoasters opened at noon, so we made our way to the Wildcat, one of the most extreme coasters at the fair. The Wildcat has three drops that actually take you out of your seat, and two sections where the track goes sideways in a downward corkscrew.We also took a look at a few rides we hadn’t been on before, like the Zero Gravity ride. The ride consists of a large, open disk with sections on the sides where you stand up with nothing but a loose cloth strip holding you in. The ride then turns on its side, perpendicular to the ground, and spins. The riders are held in by nothing but centrifugal force, meaning you’re constantly pressed to the wall while riding. Overall, I can’t wait until next year to see if any other new rides have opened! The actual timing of the fair varies, but it’s usually late August to early September at the Puyallup fairgrounds. I strongly encourage taking a trip, and going on a day when they offer ticket wristbands as opposed to standard tickets.