Son Christopher packed up and headed back to California this morning. Mama’s eyes got a bit misty during that last hug and watching him drive away. We have loved having him with us this week.
We headed up I-15 to the Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Park. This was our first glimpse of the mega-bohemoth rocks as we rounded a curve. It was so shocking that I stopped in the road to take a picture of that moment.
I pulled into a parking lot to take a picture of the first one.
I noticed the slabs at the base and zoomed in on those.
This is the view of a valley, or canyon, between two of the mountain-sized rocks. I have since cleaned the smear off my camera lens.
There is a succession of them.
I noted that it looked like a scene from a movie set in pre-history. Andy responded, “A prehistoric movie?”
The end of the road was only five miles in. That surprised me as the Kolob Terrace road is so much longer. We took the overlook trail, which was a bit rougher than Andy’s sense of balance likes. He did very well anyway. This was an easy section, a walkway like I’ve never seen before. It was a series of raised beds made from logs and dirt. That way, water could run between them and on down the mountain.
We got a good view of a little valley high up on the mountain. I thought that was a little world all to its own.
I’ll call this last one the giant giant rock of a mountain. I zoomed in on it and kept seeing a face through the camera, but it is not there with the naked eye.
We stopped in Subway for a sandwich on our way back south. Then we went to Grafton, Utah. Eddie recommended it yesterday. I suppose he investigated it because his name is Grafton. It is really close to the RV park, but we had to cross the river on an old historic bridge in Rockville and double back on the other side. This is along the dirt and gravel road to get there.
Grafton was settled by Mormons in 1859 in response to Brigham Young’s hope to establish farms to produce cotton. With regular flooding, it turned out not to be a good place to even grow enough food for a settlement. But, there were 168 people living there according to the 1864 census. The last residents left in 1945. Here is the town in 1929.
This is the church, school house, and community center, built in 1886.
This is the Alonzo H. Russell house. The exterior has been restored.
Alonzo H. Russell built this house for his wife Louisa Marie between 1873 and 1879. There must be a good story there. Was she the troublesome wife? How many wives stayed in the fine house across the road?
This is looking out the front door of Louisa Marie’s house. It is the only building that is open for inspection.
This is the John and Ellen Wood home, built in 1877.
Singer-songwriter Steve Warner performed in the social hall this evening. I loved his songs better than his voice. It was a good show, but we did not buy any CDs.
Dinata Misovec 