Kitchens Are Monkey Business

May 22, 2012. Aztec Ruins In Aztec, New Mexico.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 09:19:00 +0000

In the northwest corner of New Mexico,

just north of Aztec on US 516,

is one of the largest and best preserved
Ancestral Pueblo ruins in the Southwest.

The misnomer, Aztec,

was applied by early settlers who incorrectly

inferred the builders' identity.

The largest of these sandstone pueblos,

the West Ruin,

was built about 1110

and contained nearly 450 rooms,

some of which remain intact.

Several smaller structures adjoin the main ruin.
The Ancestral Pueblo people built an extensive community
of ceremonial structures, earthworks,
roadways, multi-storied building,
and smaller residences.
Then a regional center
for ceremony, trade, and administration,
now Aztec Ruins National Monument
remains alive in the histories and traditions
of modern Pueblo, Hopi, and Navajo people.

Mr. Hawthorne takes off.

This place is sacred.

Grinding stones.

Mr. Hawthorne flat out refused

to help me carry this one back to the truck.

He can be so intractable at times.

I watched this lizard grapple with the worm

for quite some time.

Wish I could have gotten closer.

The worm was putting up quite a fight;

the lizard was determined.

I had already picked out the perfect place to put this.

I could actually see myself,

in a colorful serape,
hunched over,

grinding blue corn in my well-worn metate.

Pirated off Google Images.

From the late 1000s - 1200s,

ancestral Pueblo people at Aztec

planned and built a settlement

that included large public buildings,

smaller structures, earthworks, and ceremonial buildings.

These structures were not built

by central Mexico Aztec Indians.

They were built by Ancestral Puebloans

who lived here centuries before the Aztec

civilization prospered.

Anglo settlers named the place Aztec,

inspired by popular histories

about Cortez's conquest of Mexico.

Scholars once thought the Aztecs

had migrated to Mexico

from the southwestern U.S.,

causing early settlers to

believe the Aztecs built these monumental ruins

along the Animas River.

The first recorded visitor at Aztec Ruins

was Dr. John S. Newberry,

a geologist, who in 1859,
found the West Ruin

in a fair state of preservation.

Walls were 25 feet high in places

and many rooms were undisturbed.

From the amount of rubble,

Newberry concluded a fairly large population

had once lived here.

Newberry recorded much of the site

before it was looted over the next 50 years.

In 1878, anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan

investigated the site,

estimating that a quarter of the site's stones

had been carted away by settlers

for building material.

In the early 1880s,

a local teacher and his students explored the ruins

and found things the earlier visitors had missed,

including a burial room and well-preserved artifacts.

Objects starting disappearing as looters broke into rooms

which had been undisturbed for centuries.

The site became relatively safe from looting

in 1889, when the West Ruin passed into private ownership.

The American Museum of Natural History

began sponsoring excavations in 1916.

Twenty-five year old Earl H. Morris

headed the first dig at Aztec.

Morris spent the next seven years

excavating and stabilizing the ruins.

In the 1930s,

he supervised the excavation

and reconstruction of the Great Kiva.

Congress designated this valuable site,

covering 320 acres,

Aztec Ruins National Monument in 1923.

Here's another lizard

gorging.

Archeologists have determined

that the creators of these striking buildings

were the ancestors of people of many southwestern tribes.

The builders here and at other places

throughout the Southwest were called "Anasazi"

for many years.

Archeologists had adopted that word,
meaning "ancient ones,"

from the Navajo language and popularized it.

Most Pueblo people today prefer that we use the term

"Ancestral Puebloans" to refer to their ancestors.

About 2000 years ago, nomadic people

throughout parts of New Mexico, Arizona,

Colorado, and Utah

began to live year round in villages and cultivate crops.

They became accomplished farmers,
traders, artisans,and architects.

Although there were many regional differences in

architecture, pottery styles, and other characteristics,

these Ancestral Puebloans shared a similar way of life

which made it possible for them to cope with the

challenging high desert environment.

Excavation of the West Ruin in the early 1900s

revealed thousands of well-preserved artifacts

which provide glimpses into the history of life here.

A remarkable variety of food remains,

stone and wood tools, fiber sandals and mats,

pottery, feather and cotton clothing,

and jewelry made of turquoise, obsidian, and shell,

were discovered, revealing much about

the Ancestral Puebloan peoples' use of

local resources and trade with others.

Here's one of several ceremonial kivas

in the area.

A large, semi-subterranean building,

the Great Kiva,

dominates the plaza.

The builders carried sandstone blocks by hand

from quarries several miles away.

Stone hammers, mauls, and stones

were used to break and dress the sandstone,

which, in this particular area,

is difficult to fracture into level surfaces.

Some walls contained unusual horizontal bands of green stone.

It is thought that the outer walls

were probably plastered in mud,

obscuring any decorative stonework underneath,

but protecting the structure from the eroding forces

of rain and snow.

Early exploration focused on the West Ruin.

The north wall of the West Ruin stretches 360 feet.

It was constructed between 1110 and 1130.

You can trace the remnants of the upper walls

of an unusual tri-wall structure,

one of a "handful" found in the Southwest.

The spaces inside three concentric circular walls

were partitioned into a series of rooms -

14 in the outer ring

and 8 in the inner ring.

Most compartments were accessible

only by roof hatchways.

The central space is called a kiva,

and is marked by a circular wall.

Archeologists generally agree that

this was a ceremonial room.

"Resonance

The People celebrated the mystery of life in their kivas and their plaza. They sang ancient songs timed to the beat of their drums ... and their hearts. They danced in honor and prayer to the animals and plants whose life they shared in this place. Through their rituals, they strove to establish a 'resonance' with the Earth and the Cosmos. They believed harmony in the Cosmos was essential to recreate in their lives, relationships, and community. The People watched the movement of the Sun, Moon, planets, and constellations closely throughout the year, for these heavenly bodies were part of their mythic story and their understanding of themselves. They aligned some structures with the positions of heavenly bodies during certain important times of the year.

Exact timing of planting and harvesting was important to ensure the well being of the People, so an intimate knowledge of the movements of the Sun and Moon was required to maintain the complex ceremonial cycles that harmonized The People with the Cosmos. Spiritual vigilance ensured that The People would 'remember to remember' their relationship to the natural order of the universe."

Three of these tri-walls are found here at the Aztec Ruins,

suggesting that their locations and their relationship

to the other buildings were important symbols

in the "ritual landscape" of the civilization.

Maintenance to preserve the exposed and crumbling walls

proved to be too costly and the site was backfilled

to halt its deterioration.

This doorway and the next few I'll pass through

are modern, not original.
Looters in the 1880s punched holes

through these walls,

took the artifacts they found,

and destroyed valuable information

about this culture that might have been revealed to us.

The trail passes through inner rooms as it leads to the plaza.

The inner rooms are intimate spaces. During the winter, mothers prepared food while children slept, dreamed, and played. Grandmothers and grandfathers told stories by the light of the fire. Men and boys wove cotton cloth and yucca fiber blankets, prepared hunting arrows, or made ceremonial clothing and jewelry. Women, young and old, made pottery or ground corn on stone metates. There was a natural rhythm to their life, an order which kept time with the days, the seasons, and sacred cycles of nature.

Imagine living here at that time. Smell the aroma of corn and venison stew simmering in clay post over a fire of cedar and pinon wood. Feel the Presence of The People.

Mr. Hawthorne consults his map.

These are the original ceilings.

They have widely spaced pine, fir, and spruce beams

set into solid masonry walls

that provide support for the next story.

These timbers were probably carried

from higher elevations at least twenty miles to the north.

The overlying aspen poles supported a layer

of thin splints of juniper or rush matting.

On top of this was a heavy deposit of tamped mud,

forming the floor of the upper story.

Small vents were set high in the corners,

allowing for limited ventilation.

Imagine how dark these rooms were,

along the north wall.

Artifacts found included cloth fragments,

bone tools, fiber sandals, broken pottery,

and bits of matting.

In this room,

at least a dozen people were buried.

They had been carefully prepared

with shrouds of cotton cloth or feather.

Some were wrapped with rush matting.

Offerings of baskets, pottery, sandals,

beads, sticks, and other items were placed with them.

Early researchers likened this building to an apartment house

Its main function was to shelter people.

Later research disagrees,

arguing that this building and nearby community

may have been a regional center

of cultural, administrative, and cultural activity.

Residential use in this building's early history

may have been limited to a caretaker

or a seasonal or intermittent elite population.

For nearly two centuries,

the inhabitants modified and used rooms

in whatever ways met their needs.

In the later years,

these rooms were used for storage,

similar to our present-day garage, basement, or closet.

Things were stored or discarded here

but daily activities did not occur here

and there was limited residence.

The rooms were used for not only storage and refuse,

but also also as work areas, burial chambers,

and toilets.

Most of the artifacts unearthed by Archeologist Morris

came from this later use.

For centuries,

the tops of sandstone walls

jutted above a brush-covered mound,

hinting at the large building beneath.

Although this plaza may appear unremarkable,

for David Morris, it revealed

a long sequence of occupation.

During his excavation of this area,

buried kivas were found,

some with thick deposits of broken pottery.

Large T-shaped doorways

commonly open onto the plaza.

Another kiva.

Kivas are used by Pueblo people

for sacred rituals and other special activities.

This particular kiva lies in

the earliest constructed wing of the building.

The masonry in the kiva

consists of carefully shaped stones

laid with little mortar

and a low, encircling "bench."

A kiva was entered by a roof hatch

that also allowed smoke from the central hearth

to escape.

A ventilator shaft worked like a chimney in reverse,

drawing in fresh air to feed the fire.

Low pillars that rested on the bench circling the wall

supported the roof.

On the upper stories,

there are three doorways connecting rooms

at their corners.

This is slightly risky construction technique,

since the inclusion of the doorways

reduced the stability of the wall.

Architectural changes due to remodeling

over a long occupation

and recent preservation work

are evident throughout the West Ruin.

The style of masonry can abruptly change,

possibly due to repairs made by later occupants.

The National Park Service has stabilized walls

to discourage deterioration.

Some rooms have been backfilled for preservation.

Eroded mortar and missing stones have been replaced,

Wall portions have been rebuilt

and the original wood has been treated.

The many years of preservation and stabilization

have altered the architecture

and erased many details of prehistoric masonry.

The building's layout and form haven't changed much,

but in many areas, certain features and the masonry

do not accurately reflect the work of the original builders.

The timbers resting upon one another in this kiva

indicate the lower part of a domed, cribbed roof.

This is the Great Kiva.

Archeologist Earl Morris excavated it in 1921

and reconstructed it in 1934,

This is one of perhaps fifteen kivas in the nearby area,

an unusually dense concentration of great kivas.

Quite a bit of organization, materials, and labor

went into its construction.

It is agreed by most archeologists that the kiva

was a public building,

built and used by people of this community

and others nearby for ceremonial and other community functions.

Morris uncovered remnants of the original building,

from which he built this reconstruction.

This is the central fire vault.

The purpose of these large floor vaults

on either side of the central fire vault

is not known.

The colors are based on bits of

reddish and white-washed plaster

found clinging to the original walls.

Four massive pillars of alternating maasonry

and horizontal poles held up the ceiling beams,

which in turn supported an estimated 95-ton roof.

Each pillar rested on four shaped stone discs,

each weighing approximately 355 pounds.

These limestone discs came from mountains

at least forty miles away.

This arc of single rooms

enclosed the plaza on the south side.

Cobbles are plentiful everywhere.

They were used for wall foundations.

Stabilization has obscured other materials

used in the walls,

including sandstone blocks

and sticks laid horizontally and vertically

in vast amounts of mud.

Archeologists still have many questions

about this civilization.

It was common for a people

to use a building for a generation or two,

and then move on,

but by 1300,

not only Aztec,

but the entire Four Corners region

had been deserted.

A period of extensive drought in the late 1200's

may have precipitated their departure.

Add to the drought,

an overuse of natural resources

may have contributed also.

Perhaps social, religious, and/or political

issues were a factor.

After two hundred years in one place,

their fields could not have been that productive.

Explanations for the people's exodus

remain tentative.

Researchers may never fully understand the lives

of these Southwest American inhabitants.

Puebloan descendants live today in the Pueblos

of Acoma, Hopi, Laguna, Santo Domingo,

Zia, and Zuni,

Today, many Southwest tribes,

descendants of the ancestral Pueblo people of Aztec,

maintain cultural and spiritual ties to this site,

through oral tradition, prayer, and ceremony.

This site is not forgotten.

Aztec Ruins National Monument
remains alive in the histories and traditions of modern
Pueblo, Hopi, and Navajo people
who continue a rich culture

influenced by their ancestors.

May 21, 2012. The Hawthornes Travel Through New Mexico. Shiprock!

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:36:00 +0000

After a fine lunch (for me)
at Amigo Cafe in Kayenta, AZ.,
the Hawthornes are driving through New Mexico

and are enjoying the scenery.

I'm curious about this town in the middle of nowhere.

There are schools here.
I think it must be the town of Shiprock.
Shiprock is the largest Navajo community
in the Navajo Nation.

The scenery is constantly changing.

We're driving and driving and driving ...

... and we see this formation looming in the distance.

I am fascinated by it,

so you will be inundated by many pictures.

This is in the Northwest corner of New Mexico.

This geological formation is Shiprock.

Within the Navajo Indian Reservation,

it is the basalt core of an old volcano,

rising more than 1700 feet above the desert.

According to my AAA Tour Book,

Shiprock appears to shimmer and float at sunset.

Mr. Hawthorne would not park and wait

for me to experience this phenomenon.
Fie!

The Navajo consider Shiprock to be a sacred place.

No climbers are allowed to scale it.

Shiprock, to the Navajo, is Tse Bit a i,

with the appropriate accent marks
which Blogger and my keyboard don't have.

It means "rock with wings."
The name comes from an ancient folk myth
that tells how the rock was once a great bird
that transported the ancestral people of the Navahos
to their lands in what is now northwestern New Mexico.
The Navahos had crossed a body of water (Bering Straight?)
and were fleeing from a warlike tribe.
Tribal shamans prayed to the great spirit for help
and suddenly the ground rose from beneath their feet
to become an enormous bird.
The bird flew south, finally settling at sundown
where Shiprock now stands.

From ancient times to the more recent past,
Tse Bit a i was a pilgrimage place of major importance,
the destination of young men engaged in the rigors
of solitary vision quests.
The legend of the rock could be seen as a metaphor
of the site's magical power
to lift the human soul above the problems of daily existence
into an awareness of the great spirit.

Anthropologists believe the Navajos arrived in the Southwest
approximately 800-1000 years ago,
crossing the Bering Strait land bridge and traveling south,
arriving in the Four Corners area.
The Navajo people call themselves Dineh,
meeting "The People."

The Navaho learned the rudiments of agriculture,
then domesticated livestock after their contact
with the Spanish,
learning shepherding and horsemanship.

The United States defeated Mexico
in the U.S. - Mexican War of 1846-1848,
the first major conflict driven by the idea
of "Manifest Destiny,"
the belief that America had a God-given right,
or destiny, to expand the country's borders
from "sea to shining sea."
In doing so, they gained control of a vast expanse of territory
known today as the Southwest and California -
Navaho country.

The belief that the United States
had a God-given right to occupy and "civilize"
the whole continent,
had taken root among the American people
as they settled the Western lands.
President Polk, who came to office in 1845,
was a firm believer in the idea of expansion.
The fact that most of these areas already

had people living upon them was usually ignored,

with the attitude that democratic English-speaking America,

with its high ideals and Protestant Christian ethics,

would do a better job of running things

than the Native Americans

or Spanish-speaking Catholic Mexicans.
The idea of Manifest Destiny would eventually
cause a great deal of suffering for many
Mexicans, Native Americans, and U.S. citizens.

Colonel Kit Carson instituted a scorched earth policy,
burning Navajo homes and fields,
stealing and killing their livestock.
After starving the Navajos into submission,
Carson rounded them up -
about 8000 men, women, and children,
and forced marched them approximately 300 miles.
The Navajo were deported in 1864
and forced to walk at gunpoint from their
reservation in what is now Arizona
to eastern New Mexico,
to an area called Hweeldi by the Navajo.
During "The Long Walk,"
many Navajo died along the way.

In 1868, after signing a treaty with the United States,
the remaining Navajos were allowed to return
to designated lands currently occupied
in the Four Corners area.
This is one of the few instances
where the U.S. government relocated
a tribe to their traditional boundaries.

From Navaho Stories of the Long Walk Period:

"This story is about the long walk
to Fort Sumner.
There are two points of view regarding it -
the White man's and the Navajos."

"As I have said, our ancestors were taken captive
and driven to Hweeldi for no reason at all.
They were harmless people, and, even to date,
we are the same,
holding no harm for anybody.
Many Navajos who know our history
and the story of Hweeldi say the same."

"You ask how they treated us?
If there was room the soldiers put the women and children
on the wagons.
Some even let them ride behind them
on their horses.
I have never been able to understand a people
who killed you one day
and on the next played with your children."

Shiprock is an inselberg,

German for "island mountain,"

or an isolated rock or small mountain

that rises abruptly from a gently sloping

or virtually level surrounding plane.

Usually, volcanic processes are involved here.

Generally, volcanism gives rise to a body of rock

that is fairly resistant to erosion,

inside a body of softer rock,

such as limestone, which is more susceptible to erosion.

When the less resistant rock is eroded away to form a plain,

the more resistant rock is left behind as an isolated mountain.

According to my research

(i.e., Googling),

the Four Corners area
(That's Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah,
in case your brain was straining.),
of the American Southwest

has about 80 old, eroded volcanic centers

of Oligocene (34 - 23 million years ago)

to Miocene age (23 - 5 million years ago).

The most distinctive volcanic neck in this area is Shiprock.

It represents rocks that filled up

the subsurface vent complex of an ancient volcano.

Studies of the eruptive centers

in the Navajo Volcanic Field

indicate that the original volcanoes erupted violently.

This typically happens if the magmas

are rich in dissolved gases

(water, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, etc.).

The magmas came in contact with groundwater,

the water boiled to steam while still confined underground,

and the steam pressure increased until

it overcame the strength of the overlying rocks,

thus resulting in an explosion and the creation

of a surface crater (maar).

This is known as a hydrovolcanic eruption,

or to volcanologists,

a phreatomagmatic eruption,

one of three main mechanisms

by which an eruption occurs.

I'm sure you want to know more about volcanic eruptions,

so Rosie will tell you.

Volcanic eruptions happen three ways:

Magmatic eruption - gas release under decompression.

Such an eruption is driven by gas

accumulating under great pressure.

Driven by hot rising magma,

it interacts with ground water

until the pressure increases to the point

where it bursts violently through

the overmantle of rock.

Phreatic eruption - ejection of entrained particles during steam eruptions.

This type of eruption occurs when magma

heats ground or surface water,

causing near-instantaneous evaporation to steam,

resulting in an explosion of steam, ash,

rock, and volcanic bombs.

(Example: Mount St. Helens, Washington, in 1980)

Phreatic eruptions typically include steam and rock fragments.

The inclusion of lava is unusual.

Phreatomagmatic eruption - thermal contraction

from chilling on contact with water.

This eruption is a result of the interaction

between water and magma.

Shiprock is an example of a volcanic neck,

or central feeder pipe.

It is the basalt core of an extinct volcano.

Near the main peak,

one can see small pinnacles,

which are the remains of smaller auxiliary volcanic vents.

Stay tuned.

Our next stop is the Aztec Ruins National Monument.

And Aztec is a misnomer.

It's Ancestral Puebloans.

May 21, 2012. Kayenta, Arizona. Amigo Cafe.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 12:26:00 +0000

On our last trip across the USA,

the Hawthornes stopped in Kayenta, Arizona,
at Amigo Cafe.

We happened to be in the area this trip,

so I wanted to stop and have lunch again.

I'm glad we did.

A deliciously hot salsa was brought

to the table which I enjoyed thoroughly.

All.By.Myself.

Tortilla chips are not in Mr. Hawthorne's diet.

Poor Mr. Hawthorne

NOT!

I ordered, from right to left,
the taco, beef enchilada, and pork tamale
with rice, beans, and sauce.

Oh my, this was good.

Mr. Hawthorne had a really crappy salad.

There is a certain amount of schadenfreud
involved here,
which I'm taking great pleasure in.

Life is Good.

May 21, 2012. The Hawthornes Check Out The Navaho National Monument.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Thu, 31 May 2012 10:14:00 +0000

On the way from

Tuba City, Arizona, To Farmington, New Mexico,

the Hawthornes stopped at Navaho National Monument.

Navaho National Monument is off US 160,

about 50 miles northeast of Tuba City

and 20 miles southwest of Kayenta,

where I made Mr. Hawthorne make a special stop

for me so I could eat once again at Amigo Cafe.

Now get this:

We're driving down 160

and suddenly we see a sign

for the Navaho National Monument.

What?

What is this?

I immediately open up my AAA Tour Book

for Arizona and quickly turn to the page

for the Navaho National Monument,

and read the description out to Mr. Hawthorne:

Navaho National Monument

Reached via US 160 and a 9-mile paved road (SR 564), Navaho National Monument preserves some of the largest and most intact of Arizona's known cliff dwellings in perhaps the most awe-inspiring area in the Southwest. There are two areas that can be visited by ranger guided tours, each of which contains a remarkable 13th century Pueblo ruin.

The monument lies within the Navajo Indian Reservation. Traveling off paved roads is not permitted. Most of the unmarked dirt-surfaced roads on the reservation are private driveways; private Navajo property is not open to visitors.

...

Note: In summer the Navajo Reservation observes daylight-saving time, which is an hour later than outside the reservation.

At an elevation of approximately 7300 feet, the visitor center at the monument headquarters offers exhibits of ancestral Native American artifacts, a 20-minute videotape about the prehistoric culture.

Betatakin Area is 2.5 miles from monument headquarters by way of a strenuous 5-mile round trip trail. This is the monument's most accessible area and is home to its headquarters.

...

The cliff dwelling also can be viewed across the canyon from the end of the Sandal Trail year round via a 1-mile round trip self-guiding walk.

Keet Seel Area is accessible by hiking a difficult 17-mile round trip trail. The area contains the largest and best-preserved cliff dwellings in the vicinity, which date 1250-1300.

I guess you know which 2 out of 3 hikes

the Hawthornes are NOT going on.

After seeing the sign

and reading the information,

the Hawthornes do a u-ey,

maybe 1/2 mile down the road,

and travel back to
the Navajo National Monument turnoff.

Now, here's the golden part:

Backtracking to NNM,

(Mr. Hawthorne HATES backtracking.)

Mr. H. turns to me and says,

"You know?
You really should do better research."

Rosie has shown so much restraint,

what with Mr. Hawthorne's diet issues.

And now I get this comment from him.

A mere mortal woman

would have disposed of him by now.

Tiny pieces.

All across the United States.

We have talked about this utterance since
and he has said,
"You know, as soon as I heard that
coming out of my mouth,
I knew I'd eff'd up."

He has since apologized profusely
for this gaffe on his part.

All you need to know
is that I'm a very capable navigator.
I would say - an excellent navigator.
I coordinate everything -
our route,
physical maps, AAA Tour Books,
and smart phone,
which I'm not smart enough
to properly utilize.
And sometimes,
just sometimes,
things might fly underneath my radar.
This happened with the Navajo National Monument.

But, at least,
I caught the sign.

On the way to Navaho National Monument,

we stopped at the Tsegi Overlook.

This is a maze of canyonlands stretching before us -

the continuing work of millions of years of

powerful and pervasive geological forces.

Upside-down Mountain

On the left:

Hidden away in Tsegi Canyon's wilderness of bare rock, sand, and sparse vegetation are surprising pockets of luxuriant growth. Betatakin Canyon - home to a village of prehistoric cliff-dwelling farms - is one of these oases. Fir canyon, over to your right, is another.

From top to bottom:

Zone 1 - Aspens, Douglas firs

Zone 2 - Ponderosa pines

Zone 3 - Pinyon

On the right:

The deeper and narrower the canyon, the less sunshine reaches into its depths. Less sunshine means less evaporation of rainwater, so plant life flourishes. You could say the the climate of Fir Canyon is like an inverted mountain: there's a gradation downward toward cooler and more humid conditions in the bottom - with plants and animals to match.

From bottom to top:

Zone 1 - Aspens, Douglas firs

Zone 2 - Ponderosa pines

Zone 3 - Pinyon

Water scours and down-cuts channels

in the soft sandstone plateau.

The process is augmented by the forces of frost, plants,

and alternating expansion and contraction of the rock

due to temperature changes.

A gradual uplift of the land

further promotes canyon-cutting

by increasing the speed and cutting force of water.

Flowing water is the "freightline"

that will carry the entire canyon landscape to the sea.

After checking out the Tsegi Overlook,
we went to the ranger headquarters,
where I grabbed a map
and Mr. Hawthorne sat down to watch the video.

We have about a mile walk to see where the

prehistoric Puebloan Ancestors

built Tsegi villages within the

natural alcoves of the canyons.

These villages date from AD 1250-1300.

On the walk down,

please enjoy the scenery.

I was amazed at the beauty

growing in this desert.

We're actually walking through a pygmy forest -

a complex community of plants and animals

that dominates the high, semi-arid plateaus

of the American Southwest.

At the beginning of our walk down the path

to the overlook of the Puebloan homesite,

there are relocated footprints of a small dinosaur

that apparently walked on his hind legs.

About 180 million years ago, he left a lasting signature

by walking through the mud.

The print then filled with sediment

and both print and cast eventually turned to stone.

Tracks of these three-toed Jurassic reptiles are very common

in the limestone formations of the Navajo Country.

This miniature forked-stick hogan

without a smoke hole is actually a highly effective bath -

an ancient solution to the problem of keeping clean

in a land where water is scarce.

Stones were heated in a fire,

then rolled in, or carried in on a wooden fork.

The bathers undressed outside,

and then crawled inside.

A blanket was hung over the door opening.

Now, all it took was patience

while the radiant heat did its work.

This was the time for relaxing tired muscles and conversing.

Afterward, the bathers emerged from the sweathouse

to rinse off with water,

if any was available, or to rub dry

with the soft absorbent sand of Navajo country.

The Navajo Indians resourcefully met the demands

of desert dwelling when they came up

with this comfortable and sturdy fork-sticked hogan -

so called because its main structural support

is made up of three poles

with their forked ends interlocked at the top.

These old-style hogans are rarely seen around

the Navajo Reservation today.

Instead, one finds modern multi-sided log hogans

and earth-covered hogans,

and more the more popular mobile homes

and rectangular frame homes.

No matter how modern the dwelling,

you'll usually find a hogan of some sort nearby.

Navajo tradition dictates that

important curing ceremonies can't be held anywhere else.

Navaho land encompasses some 27,000 square miles,

including parts of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.

Larger than the state of West Virginia,

the sovereign nation is the

largest Native American nation in the country.

Navajoland is home to more than a dozen national monuments.

Heritage is important to the Navajo,

and singing and dancing give the Navajo a chance

to wear their traditional attire.

Tribal dress includes knee-high moccasins, velvet vest,

concho belts, and silver and turquoise jewelry

for both men and women.

Pow-wows often are performed

throughout the Navajo nation

and visitors are invited to observe.

The Navajo, or Dineh, consider themselves

an extension of Mother Earth

and therefore treat nature with great respect.

Not only rich in culture,

the Navajo live in an area rich in minerals:

oil, gas, coal, and uranium lie beneath the arid desert.

The discovery of oil in the 1920s prompted the Navajo

to form their own tribal government to help handle

the encroachment of mining companies.

Reorganized in 1991,

the Navajo government consists of an elected president,

vice president, and 88 council delegates,

representing 110 local units of government.

As we walked down the path,

we saw markers identifying the different plants.

Over centuries, Indian people have deepened their dependence

on these arid lands by gathering native plants

for subsistence and well-being.

Steadfast Pueblo Indian farmers once foraged for

greens, nuts, and berries

to supplement their meager crop harvests.

Contemporary Hopi Indian religion sustains

a profound relationship with the

natural world through plant allies.

Searching continually for food among the dry mesas,

the nomadic Navajo gleaned hard-won knowledge

about plants that were vital

to their desert survival and harmony.

With patient study and skill,

they also practiced herbal cures

under a system of traditional medicine

that still functions today.

While many visitors may only see desolation here,

native ceremonial gatherers find healing and value

in almost every plant along this trail.

Ethnobotany, the study of traditional plant use,

continues to enrich modern medicine.

It is a precious heritage.

This is Big Sagebrush

(Artemisia tridentata)

and I've seen it growing everywhere out West.

It is not known if the prehistoric Indians of the canyons

used this plant,

but both Navajos and Hopis make medicine from it,

to cure stomach aches.

The Navajo use it to cure colds and headache.

This trail leads through a pygmy conifer forest -

vegetation typical of the plateaus of northern Arizona.

Although the trees are small,

they make up a true forest -

the pinyon pine-juniper forest.

The stunted trees and plants here

may seem an unlikely source of food, tools, and clothing,

but for the people of Betatakin,

their Hopi Indian descendents, and the Navajo Indians,

it was a natural storehouse of these things.

A sneak peak of what's to come.

Dwarfed and gnarled pinyon and juniper trees

"pose" at odd angles, postures, and configurations,

sprouting peculiar limb growths and

bearing tangles of exposed roots.

This plant is roundleaf buffaloberry

(Shepherdia rotundiflolia),

apparently not used by the Indians

until the white man came to the Southwest.

Its only use was to make a salve to treat irritation

in sheeps' eyes.

How they figured out to do that,

I have no idea.

)

The is the pinyon pine (Pinus edulis).

The nut of this little tree,

eaten raw or roasted,

is a favorite wild food of the Southwestern Indians.

These are the pine nuts used in our

contemporary pesto;

however, I don't like the piney flavor of pine nuts.

I use pecans in my pesto.

Prehistoric Indians used the pitch

to fasten stone arrowheads and knives

to wooden shafts and handles,

and to repair broken pots.

Navajos waterproof baskets with it.

Pitch can also be chewed as gum.

I love the contorted configurations.

This is cliffrose

(Cowania mexicana, var. Stranburiana).

Hopis made arrows from the wood of this plant

and shredded the soft bark to make a padding

for babies' cradleboards.

Like many of these plants,

it provided medicine,

and was used as an emetic

and as a wash for wounds.

Broadleaf yucca

(Yucca baccata).

All parts of this plant

provided something for the Indians.

They ate the fruit,

shredded and twisted the leaves into cord and rope.

Soap came from the crushed roots

and is used as a shampoo

in Navajo and Hopi ceremonies.

Mormon tea (Ephedra viridis),

when made into a brew,

was a multipurpose medicine,

prescribed for stomach trouble,

kidney afflictions, venereal disease, and coughs.

Utah juniper had many uses.

Many of the roof beams in Betatakin are juniper.

Fires were started with juniper fire drills.

The shredded bark was used for tinder

and the wood was used for fuel.

The shredded bark was used for tinder

and also served as diaper pads.

It was braided into rope

and was coiled into rings to support pottery jars.

The wood was used for fuel.

A brew from the leaves

was used by the Hopis as a laxative.

The berries could be eaten.

Descendants of the Hopi people who built this place

call it Talastima,

a Hopi word for "Place of the Blue Corn Tassels."

They called their ancient relatives Hisatsinom.

The Zuni, also pueblo builders,

knew that several of the clans began in this area.

Later, San Juan Southern Paiute,

famous for their baskets,

moved into this area and lived near the cliff dwellings.

"Betatakin" is a Navajo - or, Dineh, as they call themselves -

word, meaning House on a Ledge.

Today this place is surrounded by the Navajo Nation,

as it has been for hundreds of years.

The Ancestral Puebloans were great traders.

Here they made excellent ceramic pottery for trade.

Rocks from elsewhere were used for grinding

stone, tools, or arrowheads.

They traded for turquoise, shell, parrots, and macaws.

We're at the point overlooking Betatakin Ruin -

a multi-level cliff-village,

home to a community of 13th century Anasazi farmers.

The Ancestral Puebloans often chose

south-facing alcoves like these for their cliff villages.

Here are all the basic necessities of life -

benefits of winter sun and summer shade,

shelter from the elements,

and springwater for drinking and cooking are inside.

Animals are nearby to hunt.

There are plants to gather and open streamside lands to farm.

The Puebloans grew cotton,

using dry-land and irrigated farming techniques.

The climate back then was much like today.

Turkeys and dogs were domesticated.

The Puebloans used everything the land provided -

pinyon pine, prickly pear cactus,

ricegrass, and sunflowers.

Archaeologists discovered the remains of

400 different plants here.

The people here knew this land well.

Tree-ring dating shows that a 20-year drought

ended about 1300.

For farmers who had a close relationship

with rain and the land,

this was a message.

It was time to move on and continue their life journey -

the migration to find the spiritual center of the world.

The people left this place intact,

storing food and supplies for their future return.

Hopi oral history says this sacred site is not abandoned.

The builders are still here with us.

By 1286, Betatakin village housed 100-125 people

clustered into 20-25 households.

Tsegi farmers raised corn, beans, and squash,

and supplemented their diets by hunting and plant-gathering.

They fashioned objects of utility and beauty

from the wood, clay, bone, stone, and fibers that lay close at hand.

They cultivated an impressive, intimate knowledge

of the plants, animals, and cycles of the land.

This pitiful plant looks like a poppy to me.

I found none in bloom -

only spent blooms and buds.

This is a grizzlybear prickly pear

(Opuntia erinacea).

The fruit of the prickly pear cactus

is widely eaten by Southwestern Indians.

It is picked with a forked stick or wooden tongs

and the spines are broken or burned off.

It may be eaten fresh or dried.

Aspen forest overlook.

May 20, 2012. The Hawthornes Visit Dinosaur Grounds!

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Wed, 30 May 2012 11:31:00 +0000

We're in Arizona, traveling from the Vermillion Cliffs

to Tuba City for the night

and we're out in this barren desertscape.

I see a sign announcing DINOSAUR TRACKS.

Well, you know Rosie.

The Hawthornes are going to see DINOSAUR TRACKS!

We not only saw tracks,

we got to see BONES too.

A softspoken Navaho Indian guided us through the area,

pointing out the different tracks and bones,

highlighting them with water

which he would squirt from a bottle

on the designated areas.

These tracks and bones were discovered

in the 1930s-1940s.

The tracks were formed in the early Jurassic period,

around 200 million years ago.

This is thought to be the footprint from a velociraptor.

Big footprints.

Indians set up their ubiquitous wears everywhere.

Dinosaur head.

Our Indian guide drew in the teeth.

One can knock on the bones.

They're hollow.

This is fossilized fecal material.

Real dinosaur poop!

Or at least that's what we were told.

These are dinosaur eggs,

highlighted with water.

Bones.

The greenish part in the middle is the marrow.

Said to be T-rex.

I'm not sure,

since T-rex lived 65 million years ago. (?)

Fossilized rippling of water.

Surrounding area.

May 20, 2012. Rock Houses.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Tue, 29 May 2012 11:12:00 +0000

We're still traveling the Vermillion Cliffs Highway

in Arizona and here we are at Rock Houses.

Gotta stop and check it out.

The erosion of sandstone formations leaves a variety

of crevices, caves and overhangs.

Over time, travelers and residents found

creative ways to use these natural features

as temporary or permanent shelters.

Mr. Hawthorne checks out one of the Rock Houses.

The story of the Rock Houses

begins during the Great Depression.

Around 1927, Blanche Russell,

a former Zeigfield Follies dancer,

gave up her highly successful career back East

to tend to her husband, Bill,

who was suffering from tuberculosis.

The couple packed up and moved to the southwest.

The Russells' car broke down

as they traveled through this area,

near the big rocks.

Forced to camp overnight,

Blanche decided she liked the scenery so much

that she bought property and stayed.

The couple threw up a lean-to of tarpaper and boards

against the largest rock.

The stone buildings under these littered, balanced boulders

were built shortly after, in the 1930s.

The Russells stumbled onto a unique

money-making operation here.

Blanche started serving food to passers-by

in return for labor as the house got larger.

Soon, the couple had a full-scale restaurant

and trading post on their hands.

They also catered to the Mormons,

living in Arizona,

who traveled through this area

to have their marriages sanctified

at the temple in St. George, Utah.

After about ten years of living in this isolation,

Blanche tired of it,

and sold it to a local rancher, Jack Church,

who added his own personal touch

by turning the restaurant into a bar during World War II.

In 1943, third owners, Art and Evelyn Greene,

purchased the land.

They kept the old dwelling,

which then consisted of eight buildings and a gas generator.

The Greens eventually opened the new

Cliff Dwellings Lodge in the early 50s.

The Greenes used the lodge as a base for some of

the first guided boat tours of the Colorado River,

run by Earl Johnson, who was 81 at the time.

Johnson recalled it was hard living,

especially during the A-bomb tests

in the Nevada desert.

The subsurface vibrations nearly knocked

the largest rock off its mooring.

As Johnson said,

"It was pretty lonely since there was no telephone

and we could only get two radio stations on a good day.

But at least we had our beer license and

Conoco serviced the gas pump.

We'd go arrowhead hunting around there to pass the time."

79-year old Evelyn Greene said that her mother-in-law

did most of the cooking for the restaurant.

It became a favorite for Boy Scout troops

who went on outings in the area.

A tour bus also stopped three times a day

as tourists took in the unusual surroundings.

Greene also worried about the area:

"It got really scary, though, because all the rocks

up there were wearing away at the bottoms.

When we finally moved, we didn't do it

a bit too soon."

A waitress at the current Cliff Dwellers restaurant

gripes about all the rattlesnakes in the area,

saying she's nearly stepped on seven of them

in the short distance between her apartment and the restaurant

in the past three months.

Inside looking out.

I have a funny story about this picture.

I posted this on Rosie's Facebook page,

with my usual caption,

"Where's Rosie?"

One of my friends and readers, Lori in Michigan,

commented on that post,

"At the Comfort Inn.

For her Freebie!!!"

Hee!

Good one, Lori.

Mr. Hawthorne and I both got a kick out of that.

Thanks for the laughs!

The Indians set up their wares

anywhere and everywhere.

Stay tuned for dinosaurs!

May 20, 2012. Vermillion Cliffs.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Mon, 28 May 2012 10:40:00 +0000

We're driving from Cedar City, Utah, to Tuba City, Arizona.
Enjoy the Vermillion Cliffs.

But first, a geology lesson
about the Grand Staircase.

The Grand Staircase refers to an immense sequence of sedimentary rock layers that stretch north
from the Grand Canyon, through Zion National Park, and into Bryce Canyon National Park.
In the 1870s, geologist Clarence Dutton conceptualized this region as a huge stairway ascending out of the bottom of the Grand Canyon northward,
with the cliff edge of each layer forming giant steps.

Edges exposed by uplift are susceptible to erosion.
In Utah, the southern edges of the High Plateaus
have eroded into the cliffs of the Grand Staircase.

A Grand Canyon
B Chocolate Cliffs
C Vermillion Cliffs
D White Cliffs
E Zion Canyon
F Gray Cliff
G Pink Cliffs
H Bryce Canyon

Deformation, Uplift, and the Grand Staircase
Horizontal compression related to the formation of the Rocky Mountains deformed these rocks. Then volcanic materials from the north and west covered part of the region: black rocks at the mouth of nearby Red Canyon and on the Sevier Plateau - to the north - still protect the softer underlying layers. About 10 million years ago, the Earth pulled apart, moving and tilting great blocks along north-south trending fault lines. Layers that were once connected then became displaced vertically by several thousand feet,
thereby forming the High Plateaus of Utah.

Older Cretaceous layers now rested side by side with younger Tertiary layers across the fault lines. Streams began to remove the sediments that had been deposited by their ancestors. Working on the weakened edges of the upthrown blocks, water gradually removed the uppermost Tertiary layers and exposed the Cretaceous rocks once again. At that point these drab marine sediments lay on the surface of the land side by side with the brightly colored rock formed from the deposits of freshwater lakes and streams.

Researching the Cliffs,

I just read that Huff Post had a recent article

on the Vermillion Cliffs -

about National Geographic's February article

about the Vermillion Cliffs.

Enjoy my pictures.

We're looking at millions of years of work here.

Bryce Canyon Videos.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:37:00 +0000

For some reason,

Blogger is not letting me

add all my videos to my previous post.

I'll keep trying,

but until then,

here are the videos.

May 19, 2012. The Hawthornes Travel To Bryce Canyon, Utah.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sun, 27 May 2012 09:45:00 +0000

The Hawthornes left Cedar City, Utah,

and headed to Bryce Canyon.

Enjoy the scenery along the way.

I'll let you know when we get to Bryce.

Mr. Hawthorne cannot resist a roadside entrepreneur.

He stopped to buy pine nuts,

which I don't like.

These particular ones tasted like Pine Sol.

The gentleman was selling both buffalo and elk jerky

and Mr. Hawthorne bought alligator jerky.

In Utah.

I do not know the significance of the

upturned boot and the glove.
But I have a bad feeling.

This is NOT Mr. Hawthorne.

Not that that thought ever crossed your collective minds.

These bright formations of Red Canyon

are largely limestone,

built from sediments of a lake

that covered this region 35-50 million years ago.

The pink, orange, and red tones come from oxidized iron

in the limestone - in other words, rust.

Color hues depend on the amount of iron in the rock.

Welcome to Red Canyon,

considered by many to be home to the most beautiful

natural scenery on the face of the earth.

In 1875, Mormon pioneer, Ebenezer Bryce,

came to Paria Valley to live

and harvest plateau timber.

Neighbors began calling the canyon behind his home

Bryce Canyon.

Soon after 1900 people were coming to see the

colorful geologic sights,

and the first accommodations were built along the rim

above Bryce's Canyon.

W.J. Humphrey, Powell National Forest Supervisor,

saw Red Canyon in 1915 for the first time.

By 1920, he was trying to protect the

canyon's scenic wonders.

In 1923, President Warren G. Harding

proclaimed part of the area as

Bryce Canyon National Monument.

In 1924, legislation established the area

as Utah National Park,

but legislation provisions were not met until 1928,

when legislation was passed and changed

the name to Bryce Canyon National Park.

These Red Canyon Tunnels

serve as the entrance to Bryce Canyon.

There is one road in to Bryce Canyon,

which follows the rim for 18 miles.

Once in, you go out the same road.

All the overlooks are on the east side,

so we drove the 18 miles through,

then, on the way back,

stopped at the overlooks on the east side,

for the stunning geological panoramas.

These shots are all on the west side going in.

Eighteen miles in,

we arrived at Rainbow Point.

Posters at Rainbow Point

explain a little about the geology of Bryce Canyon:

Once A Lake

About 60 million years ago,a large freshwater lake began to fill the low basin that covered most of southern Utah. Over a period of millions of years, rivers and streams from surrounding mountains gradually filled this lake with clays, silts, and sands. Calcium carbonate cemented these sediments together, forming the limestone layer

from which Bryce Canyon has been carved.

A Period Of Uplift

About 16 million years ago the land in southern Utah began to rise. A series of plateaus were uplifted along large cracks in the earth's crust called faults. The Paunsaugunt Plateau, on which you are standing, rose from near sea level to 8000 feet. To the east, the Aquarius Plateau moved 2000 feet higher than the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

Erosion By Water

Even as the plateaus rose, erosion began to wear them away. The Paria River, a tributary of the Colorado River, began cutting northward in the landscape. Gradually, through a process known as headward erosion, it carved out a broad valley between the Aquarius and Paunsaugunt Plateaus. As erosion continues, the softer limestone on the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau is washed away, leaving the many colored pinnacles, or hoodoos, of Bryce Canyon.

The Colors

The range of color in the limestone layers at Bryce Canyon seems almost endless. Yet limestone in its pure state is basically white in color. Small amounts of iron deposited with the limestone have oxidized, or rusted, to produce the yellows, oranges, reds, and browns.

Manganese oxides cause the blue and purple hues. Constantly changing weather and light conditions also add variety to the canyon's colors.

Table Cliffs and Aquarius Plateau

The High Plateaus of Utah

Stairway to the Clouds

The Paunsaugunt Plateau, where you are standing, was once connected to the Aquarius Plateau, thirty miles across the valley. When the entire Rocky Mountain region began rising 16 million years ago, north-south faults split the vast tableland into seven separate plateaus. (Though most uplift occurred in the unimaginably distant past, recent seismograph readings indicate minute but ongoing activity.) Here at the southern end of the park the Paunsaugunt Plateau is 9105 feet above sea level, almost 2000 feet lower than the Aquarius.

"Of this vast region of unexcelled scenery in Utah and Arizona, Bryce Canyon National Park is but a short, narrow strip along the southeastern rim of the Paunsaugunt Plateau and this plateau is only one of the seven great tables that dominate the landscape of southern Utah."

- Herbert E. Gregory,

A Geologic and Geographic Sketch of

Bryce Canyon National Park, 1940

Bryce Canyon is famous for its unique, rich, and complex geology. During the Cretaceous Period, from roughly 144 million years ago to 65 million years ago, the rock formations at Bryce Canyon began to develop. For 60 million years, the Cretaceous Seaway stretched from the Gulf of Mexico northward into this area of North America and opening into what is now the Arctic Ocean, basically separating North America in half into two large islands. As the seaway repeatedly invaded and retreated, sediments of varying thicknesses and compositions were deposited. As the seaway retreated to the southeast, it left sediments thousands of feet thick, which became the oldest brown and gray rocks now exposed
at the park's lowest elevations and across Paria Valley.

During the Tertiary Period, between 55-35 million years ago, rivers and streams flowing from surrounding highlands, deposited iron-rich, limy sediments in an ancient freshwater lake system. The sediments became the reddish-pink rocks that represent the Claron Formation,

or the Pink Cliffs. Sediments may start as debris eroded from land. Water carries varying sizes of debris and can dissolve this debris chemically. As water cools or slows, particles settle to the bottom, sorted by size and weight. The sediments lithify, that is, turn to rock, as the particles are cemented and bonded together.

Now before sediments can lithify, they must be trapped in a basin. To make a basin, you first need to build mountains. Backtrack 200 million years. Earth's crust was crinkling throughout Nevada and into southern Canada. A strong, dense Pacific seafloor had smashed into North America's weaker continental crust. Over 120 million years, compressional forces bent, folded, broke, and heaved earth's crust upward, giving birth to the Sevier Mountains. Over millions of years, rain and snow acted like geologic jackhammers, splitting mountains apart, From the mountains, streams and rivers carried debris eastward, pulverizing the boulders to mud in transit.

About 65 million years ago, before the dinosaurs went extinct, land in the Western United States changed dramatically. The oceanic plate pushed up the continental plate, surfing atop the mantle instead of sinking and melting. This attempt at escaping uplifted land, forming the Rocky Mountains and warping Utah and Arizona. The continued slow uplift shaped a land-locked basin between the Sevier Mountains and the younger Rocky Mountains. When the rivers wearing down the Sevier Mountains reached this basin, they deposited layers of mud and silts, and, at the lowest levels, formed ponds and lakes. Water escaped through evaporation and, with no rivers flowing out, the sediment was trapped. Between 55-30 million years ago this mammoth mud puddle, known as the Claron Basin, continued to fill with sediments rich in calcium carbonate or dissolved limestone.

The Claron Formation consists of two types of limestone - a lower pink layer and an upper white layer. In the early years of the basin, the environment was apparently more marsh-like, and plant roots helped oxidize iron to give the sediments a red color.

Bryce Canyon consists of a series of amphitheaters. The erosional force of frost-wedging and the dissolving power of rainwater have shaped the colorful limestone rock of the
Claron Formation into bizarre shapes, including slot canyons, windows, fins,

and spires called "hoodoos."

Water erodes rock both chemically and mechanically. Scouring, abrading, and gullying occur when fast-moving water scrapes its silt, gravel, and rock debris against the firmer bedrock. Slower moving or standing water enters tiny rock pores, dissolving the cements holding the rock together. Loose grains then wash away. Along the plateau's rim, conditions are ideal for erosion. Steep slopes increase the water's speed and energy. Faults and joints caused by ancient compressional forces influence erosion patterns. Freezing and thawing loosen the surfaces of slopes. Debris borne by the runoff scours softer rock and creates gullies. Harder rock remain as fins. As gullies widen into canyons, fins become exposed to more erosion at vertical cracks. As freezing water expands within cracks, it peels off layers and carves out vertical hoodoos.

Technically, Bryce is not a canyon because canyons primarily are carved by flowing water. Naturally acidic rainwater dissolves limestone, making the rounded edges of hoodoos, but the freezing and thawing of water does most of the sculpting at Bryce Canyon.

About 200 days a year, ice and snow melt during the day at Bryce and refreeze during the night. When water turns to ice, it expands to approximately 110% of its original volume, exerting tremendous pressure on the rocks and forcing them apart from inside the cracks. First attacking the fractures created during uplift and faulting, the rock is chiseled into broken remains. Hard rains remove this debris, helping to reveal fins, the first step in hoodoo creation. The second step in hoodoo formation occurs when frost-wedging cracks the fins, making holes called windows. When the windows collapse, they create the rust painted pinnacles called hoodoos.

It's merely another step in water's endless process

of destroying the rocks it created millions of years ago.

You can read here about the geologic formational process

from plateau to fins to windows to hoodoos.

The bottom right white hoodoo is called the "poodle."

Squint.

Or close one eye.
Or both.

Or have a few drinks.

One of the Park Volunteers was explaining about the "poodle"
and how there was only one vantage point from which to see it.
I never saw it until I saw the picture I took of it.

And this was after seeing another picture of the "poodle":

Water has been the major force shaping the landscape here.

Wind has had little, if any, affect.

Weathering occurs when rain, snow, and ice

break the rock into smaller pieces.

Erosion occurs when running water washes away

weathered rock debris.

Spanning millions of years,

nature's relentless forces have shaped,

and will continue to shape,

the landscape here.

Mechanical weathering is the most important type

of weathering at Bryce Canyon.

About 2/3 of the year,

the temperature rises above freezing during theday

and drops below freezing at night.

During these repeating freeze and thaw cycles,

water seeps into the cracks in the rock,

expands as it freezes, and breaks the rock.

Chemical weathering also helps break down

the rocks at Bryce Canyon.

Water picks up acids from the air and soil,

dissolving the calcium carbonate cement,

which holds the clay, silt, and sand particles together.

These particles then fall away,

helping in a small way to shape the formations.

Looks like faces.

Example of fins.

A hoodoo is a rock pinnacle left standing by the

combined forces of weathering and erosion.

Bryce Canyon has thousands of hoodoos,

in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

This hoodoo looks like a face.

These hoodoos, columns of rock,

are protected from erosion by a harder caprock

called dolomite,

a unique form of limestone reinforced by magnesium.

Alternating hard and soft layers

erode at different rates,

a process known as differential erosion,

which causes the varied hoodoo shapes.

As the softer layers continue to erode,

the hoodoos will eventually collapse.

This is Natural Bridge - a misnomer.

Technically, this "bridge" is an arch.

Bridges are carved by rushing water.

More subtle forms of water have sculpted this opening.

This formation appears solid and enduring,

but appearance gives no clue to longevity.

The weather is constantly chipping away at the opening.

This arch may last hundreds or thousands of years,

but eventually the weather will take its toll.

The arch begins as a recess in a narrow limestone fin. As moisture seeped into cracks, freezing and thawing combined with gravity and chemical weathering to erode the rock. Hollows may have developed on both sides of the wall, gradually deepening until the sky showed through.

Fins in the background.

Hoodoos in the foreground.

This is Bryce Amphitheater -

the largest natural amphitheater in the park.

I'm at the upper level now.

I'm going up to the top.

Don't know where Mr. Hawthorne is,

but I have a good idea.

Leaving Bryce Canyon.

May 18, 2012. On The Road From Vegas To Cedar City Utah.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sat, 26 May 2012 10:58:00 +0000

The Hawthornes left Las Vegas

and headed to Cedar City, Utah.

Enjoy the scenery.

See those two tiny dots in the center?

Nellis Air Force Base is near by

and we got to see a lot of jets

during our stay in Vegas.

Don't know what kind of mining is going on here,

although I do know there is rare earth mining outside of Vegas

- the only rare earth mining in the Western Hemisphere.

Middle of the desert

and here's a green green golf course.

Only a few millions of years of geologic processes

going on to produce what I'm looking at.

Storm brewing ahead.

Stay tuned for Bryce Canyon,

where you'll see some outstanding scenery

and get a geology lesson.

May 17, 2012. The Hawthornes Have Another Good Lunch In Vegas. At Brio Tuscan Grill..

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:31:00 +0000

The Happy Hawthornes are in Vegas for a couple of days.

Mr. Hawthorne asked a desk clerk
for a good restaurant and she recommend
a particular one.
When we got there,
of course, with our lunch luck,
the restaurant was closed,
even though the hours on the front door said otherwise.

So we walked around the area
and found this restaurant.

We're at Brio, a Tuscan restaurant.

The temperature in Vegas,

according to the Avalanche thermometer,

is 106 degrees.

Honest to goodness,

I'd never have guessed.

I thought it was in the 80s.

I guess it's true what they say about dry heat.

And this is about as dry as you can get.

You can't tell in the above photo,

but this is typical of many Vegas venues.

They have mists blowing outside
to cool off their patrons.

It is necessary to protect one's cameras,
phones, and other electronic devices.

Upon being seated,

we were immediately greeted

by Paul, our attentive waiter.

"Hi, I'm Paul, and I'm your waiter today."

"Hello, Paul, I'm Rosie and this is Mr. Hawthorne.

Nice to meet you!"

Once Paul and the Hawthornes became best buds,

we ordered.

The bread boy brought us a basket of beautiful bread.

A flat bread on the left, with rosemary and sesame seeds,

and a lovely just-baked loaf on the right.

Do check out their menu.

It will have your mouth watering,

plus give you a lot of ideas.

I started with an absolutely heavenly Lobster Bisque

that kicked my ass into Nirvana.

With a soupcon of sherry.

Velvet ambrosia.
$5.95 and worth every penny.

Mr. Hawthorne had the Minestrone Soup.

Loved it with Zorro snaps in Z-formation

at the 3:16 mark.
Anytime I can get in a Living Color clip, I will.

Mr. Hawthorne had a mixed greens salad,

with sliced strawberries,

goat cheese and candied pecans

(which I got to eat!),

sliced red grapes,

and grilled chicken,

with a balsamic herb vinaigrette.

He thoroughly enjoyed this.

$14.95

I ordered Brio's Brushetta Quattro

and loved it.

It was a sampling of ... well, quattro bruschettas.

$14.95.

I made two meals out of this.

This is the Tomato Caprese Bruschetta,

with Roma tomatoes, yellow cherry tomatoes,

Mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil,

basil, Reggiano, and cilantro pesto.

Bruschetta with roasted sweet red bell pepper,

julienned basil, Parmagiano-Reggiano,

and a balsamic drizzle.

Sliced Steak Bruschetta with Gorgonzola Dolce,

arugula, fennel, charred tomatoes,

Parmigiano-Reggiano,

and Tuscan Italian dressing.

And lastly, Chicken Florentine Bruschetta,

with spinach, tomatoes, bacon, sliced green onions,

and Parmeggiano-Reggiano.

This gives me lots of ideas for appetizers and meals.

The possiblities are endless.

Back when we were in Red Lodge, Montana,
I picked up the latest issue of Saveur,
which had a bunch of artisan bread recipes.
They would be perfect for making
these bruschettas.

We can't wait to get back home and cook.

May 16, 2012. Vegas. Lunch At Mesa Grill.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:42:00 +0000

We're at Mesa Grill in Caesar's Palace.
Last time we were in Vegas,
we went to Mesa Grill
and had a wonderful lunch.
I'm looking forward to going back.
It's been a while since I've had a decent meal.

Entrance to Mesa Grill.

Purty!

Views inside the restaurant.

Open kitchen.

We didn't bother with reservations.

We walked in and were seated immediately.

My only complaint here:

the tables are uncomfortably close,

and you can hear everything being said

next to you.

So the Hawthornes remained speechless

throughout the meal.

Which was fine,

since the meal was exceptional.

We were brought

a basket of freshly baked breads -

a walnut raisin bread,

jalapeno corn muffins,

and a quite good white bread.

My favorite was the corn muffin.

Close second was the walnut raisin.

Mr. Hawthorne ordered the Yucatan Style Grouper

with Succatash.

It was perfectly grilled -

sweet and moist inside with nice grill marks outside.

The succotash had sliced cherry tomatoes,

corn, and the " best butter beans" he's had.

The buttery sauce had swirls

of roasted red sweet bell pepper puree

and cilantro oil,
with a hint of heat.

I had something that was almost too pretty to eat -

a cornmeal crusted chili relleno,

sitting in a pool of roasted red bell pepper puree

with rays of a balsamic reduction

and squiggles of cilantro oil.

Microgreens topped the chile relleno,

which was stuffed with manchego and Monterey Jack cheeses.

I'll be recreating both of these when I get home,
but I think I'll add some black beans
and roasted corn to the stuffing.

I used the white bread to sop up

every last bit of sauce left on Mr. Hawthorne's plate

and the red pepper puree and cilantro oil on mine.

What a nice bathroom.

I pocketed some Mesa Grill napkins.

As did Mr. Hawthorne.

Gotta love Caesar's Palace.

Next up:

Another good lunch in Vegas!

May 16, 2012. The Hawthornes Are In Vegas.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:08:00 +0000

Welcome to Vegas.

Enjoy the pictures taken from the

confines of our vehicle.

If you look closely,

you'll see the top of Batman's head.

One more video.

Next, lunch at Mesa Grill.

May 15, 2012. The Hawthornes Visit Scotty's Castle In Death Valley.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Tue, 22 May 2012 12:30:00 +0000

After going through the most desolate place

we've ever seen on earth

- Death Valley -

the Hawthornes came upon a green world

in the middle of nowhere - Scotty's Castle.

Green!

Palm trees.

More green!

A park.

Green!

More palms.

In the desert!

This is Scotty's Castle, hidden in the green oasis of Grapevine Canyon in far northern Death Valley. The real name of this place is Death Valley Ranch, but it is more commonly known as Scotty's Castle.A wealthy Chicagoan, Albert Mussey Johnson, actually built the house as a vacation getaway for him and his wife, Bessie. It was an engineer's dream home, a wealthy matron's vacation home, and a man of mystery's getaway and hideout.

The Scotty of Scotty's Castle, was Walter E. Scott. He was born in Kentucky in 1872 and was destined to become the desert legend, Death Valley Scotty. Scotty, the youngest of six children, learned a lot about horses from his professional horse-breeding father. He traveled west to join his older brothers working as a cowboy while still a child. As a teenager, he worked various jobs, including one season as a helper on a 20-mule team hauling borax in Death Valley.

By age eighteen, Scotty's talent with horses had earned him a job as a trick rider in Buffalo Bill's wild West show. For twelve years, Scotty toured Europe and America while gaining experience as a showman.

Scotty had convinced everyone he had built the castle himself with money from his secret gold mines in Death Valley. Although Johnson built the house, Scotty was the mystery, the entertainer, the cowboy, and a friend to the Johnsons. Albert Johnson was the brains and the money behind Death Valley Ranch. The two men were different as night and day. They came from different worlds and had different visions. But they both shared a dream.

Johnson and his wife made several trips to the area and started buying up acreage.
Johnson began buying land in Grapevine Canyon in 1915, and by 1927 had amassed more than 1500 acres. One of these parcels had been settled in the 1880s by Jacob Steininger. By purchasing this titled land, the Johnsons had a place to stay during periodic vacations. From a tent camp, they built three plain, box-like buildings, and eventually their villa - Death Valley Ranch - AKA Scotty's Castle.

The Johnsons spent about $1.5 million on labor and materials on their Death Valley Ranch from 1926 to 1931. Most materials were shipped from southern California by by train to Bonnie Clare, about twenty miles from the Castle. Some supplies were available nearby, such as feed for the horses and mules, and sand and gravel to mix with cement.

A decline in nearby mining provided a variety of experienced laborers to build the Castle. About half of the construction workers were Timbisha Shoshone and Southern Paiute who were paid $3.50 per day. White laborers were generally paid more but had room and board deducted from their pay.

Skilled craftsmen and artisans were brought in from Los Angeles to do everything from setting tiles to creating wood carvings and installing decorative ironwork. The tile setters were among the highest paid employees at $11 per day.

With the impact of the Great Depression, almost everyone's wages were reduced. Because of the remoteness and harsh desert conditions, employee turnover was high, especially among skilled workers. Scotty often said it took three crews to work on the Castle - one coming, one going, and one working.

Albert Johnson himself was trained as an engineer. Fascinated with technology, he was keenly interested in the latest building techniques. This remote ranch had to be self-sufficient, but Johnson wanted it to be energy-efficient as well. Innovations included reinforced concrete, hollow building tiles, an early type of foam insulation, and adobe-like stucco exteriors.

Johnson installed innovative hot-water and electricity systems. Water from springs that flow at nearly 190 gallons per minute turned a waterwheel that generated direct current which was stored in batteries. In the commercial solar hot-water system, the sun heated spring water as it flowed through copper pipe overlaid by glass panels. the solar water heater was installed behind Scotty's Castle. The sun's energy heated water in dark pipes and glass helped trap the heat. Heated water would rise into the storage tanks behind the panels. Cooler water in the tank would sink to the panels to be heated by the son. One worker said this system worked so well, it got water "hotter than you could use it." This system was abandoned after it was rendered inoperable after a winter freeze.

Johnson originally contacted architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design his villa, but he rejected Wright's modernistic plan. A Stanford classmate of Bessie's, Mat Roy Thompson, proposed a building with arches and decorative tiles. His inspiration came from the Romanesque and California Mission style structures on the Stanford campus. Charles A, MacNeilledge was hired to create architectural designs. Thompson was hired to supervise construction. Martin de Dubovay made detailed drawings of decorations and furnishings.

MacNeilledge and de Dubovay attended to every detail of the Castle's decorations and furnishings. Each room or group of rooms was finished and furnished according to a specific stylistic theme, such as Spanish, Mexican, Italian, or Gothic. The villa, a two-story Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival style home, became the Johnsons' winter home.
Specially crafted interior details were carefully blended to create distinctively styled rooms. Before the home was completed, the stock market crashed in 1929, making it difficult for Johnson to finish construction. After losing a considerable amount of money, the Johnsons produced income by letting rooms out and giving tours.

Bessie Johnson died in an automobile accident on Death Valley's Towne Pass in 1943. With no heirs, Albert set up a charitable foundation to inherit his estate. After he died in 1948,
the property went to the Gospel Foundation of California, which continued the Johnsons' practice of providing tours, serving meals, renting rooms, and caring for Scotty. Facing rising maintenance costs, the Gospel Foundation of California sold Scotty's Castle and Johnson's other Grapevine Canyon holdings to the U.S. Government for $850,000 in 1970. That was quite a bargain for a property that cost Johnson nearly $1.5 million in the 1920s to construct and furnish. Today, Scotty's Castle is part of Death Valley National Park. The National Park Service was only authorized to buy the land and buildings at Scotty's Castle, not the contents. The Gospel Foundation then donated the original records and furnishings to the National Park Service, so nearly all the furnishings, curtains, clothing, and decorations in the Castle that today's visitors see are original to the site.

Scotty died in 1954 and was buried on the hill overlooking Scotty's castle, next to a beloved dog.

Why would anyone build a mansion in Death Valley?

The answer involves a story with three main characters,

all born in 1872:

a wealthy Chicago insurance executive,

his devoutly religious wife,

and an ex-cowboy who sold shares in a phantom gold mine.

The tale of how they met, became friends,

and turned a desert camp into a castle

starts with the cowboy -

a legendary fellow known as Death Valley Scotty.

Scotty was a master storyteller.

Even today,

it is difficult to separate fact from fiction.

In other words,

Scotty was the ultimate bull-shitter.

Scotty was also a showman,
a talent honed during his years with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

"Showman"

Read: Consummate liar.

A New York Romance

Scotty was performing in New York City in 1900

when he met and courted Ella Josephine Milius,

nee McCarthy.

Within a few months, he had married

the twenty-four year old widow and candy store clerk,

whom he called Jack.

While the couple remained married,

they were not often together.

Scotty's only child, Walter Perry Scott,

was born in 1914.

Same year as Mama Hawthorne's birth.

Young Walter saw little of his father over the years.

The Johnsons' ledger books show

that they supported Scotty's family financially.

Death Valley Gold Mine

"My mine is where the devil himself can't find it.

It's in Death Valley

in the mountains where no man can ever go -

no man but Wallie Scott ...

I'm worth $1 million to $20 million

and it's all there in the mine.

- Walter Scott

The Deception Begins

In April 1902, Julian Gerard became the

first investor in Scotty's gold mine scheme.

Gerard bought a one-third ownership of the mine

for an initial grubstake of $1500,

after he assayed ore samples Scotty provided.

Gerard didn't know the ore actually came from a Colorado mine

Scotty had been employed in

during breaks from the Wild West Show.

Wheeling and Dealing
To attract other investors, Scotty used grubstake money to promote himself. He went on spending sprees in cities from Los Angeles to New York City. He stayed at the best hotels, bought drinks for everyone, left gigantic tips, bragged about his gold mine, and then disappeared back into the desert. As newspapers repeated his wild tales, he became a folk hero known as Death Valley Scotty. As his fame grew, a mining promoter, a railroad company, and at least one reporter would help him stage publicity stunts.

The Coyote Special
Scotty gained nationwide notoriety in 1905
- the year of Daddy Hawthorne's birth-
with secret support from a Death Valley mining promoter.
Scotty hired a three-car Santa Fe Railroad train, dubbed the Coyote Special, that took him from Los Angeles to Chicago in a record 44 hours and 54 minutes. "We go there so fast," Scotty said, "nobody had time to sober up." The stunt led to a meeting with an earlier investor who would become his longtime benefactor. His name was Albert Johnson.

A Golden Friendship

Albert Johnson led a privileged life, but found real riches in his Death Valley Ranch.
Albert M. Johnson, unlike Scotty, was a quiet, religious man who did not smoke, swear, or drink. Johnson grew up in a wealthy family in Oberlin, Ohio. Upon graduating from Cornell University with an engineering degree, he joined his family's mining investment business. After injuring his back in an 1899 train accident which killed his father, he moved to Chicago and made a fortune in the insurance business. He and his wife, Bessie, devoted much of their time to church affairs.

Johnson first invested in Scotty's gold prospecting in 1904. After the record train trip, Johnson decided to increase his grubstake of Scotty. Johnson's visions of gold soon evaporated, but he continued to provide food and shelter for Scotty plus an allowance for his estranged wife. As far as anyone knows, Scotty never had a mine and never paid Johnson a dividend.

Opposites often attract. Walter Scott was a rough outdoorsman with little schooling. Albert Johnson was a strait-laced, highly educated executive. Johnson visited Scotty in 1906 and again in 1909, hoping to see his gold mine investment in the desert. Both times Scotty avoided showing him a mine. Johnson, however, enjoyed the desert's fresh air and solitude and had a good time riding horses and camping with Scotty.
In each other, this unlikely pair found friendship.

Johnson was intrigued by both the romance of the Wild West and the reality of the desert landscape. In Scotty, he found a colorful Old West character and companion. In the desert, he found relief from his back injuries and asthma. In Grapevine Canyon, he found an isolated place to build a home away from home, a castle in the desert.

Wrote Albert Johnson in 1905:
"Whether he [Scotty] has any mine or not
I shall have a delightful outing
and know I shall come out in much better health
for Scott is a prince of good fellows and a delightful companion."

In response to a law suit from Julian Gerard, a former investor in Scotty's gold mine, Albert Johnson tallied the money he had loaned Scotty over the years. The total came to $117,979.09 between 1904 and 1939. Under oath in court, Albert Johnson explained his willingness to write off Scotty's debt, saying Scotty "owes a lot of money. Why have I staked him all these years? He repays me in laughs."

Moonlight in the Desert
For Bessie Penniman Johnson, Death Valley was a haven of peace and spirituality. Bessie Morris Penniman was raised in Walnut Creek, California, at Shadelands, her family's fruit and nut ranch. Bessie left home to join the first freshman class at Stanford University. Two years later, she transferred to Cornell University, where she met Albert Johnson. They were married in 1896. Like Albert, she found Death Valley to be a peaceful retreat, but she wanted a few amenities. She ended up with a castle.

In 1932, Bessie Johnson wrote:
"Moonlight anywhere is a delight. But there's no moonlight in the world that can compare with the moonlight in Grapevine Canyon, our desert canyon, where the Castle stands."

... the white rays of the silver moon soften the great chasms round about, and the evening star glows like a blue-white diamond... Our movies are the moving of the breezes through the pinion trees; our dances are the dances of the stars in their courses; and our stories are Scotty's romantic reminiscences of lingering memories."

Defending Scotty
Over the years, Bessie developed a friendship with Scotty. Bessie said he had a heart of gold and defended him from attacks. He called her Mabel. In her book, "Death Valley Scotty by Mabel," published posthumously, she described their desert adventures and sang his praises.

Born into an upper class family, Bessie Johnson experienced many things for the first time in Death Valley. She wrote, "The night at Granite Ridge was the first night I had ever slept out-of-doors in the Desert. I was a sure-enough tenderfoot and little did I sleep; although Al made me a fine bed and dug hip and shoulder holes, for me, in the sand. But O! How lonely and desolate it all seemed."

Scotty's Retreat

First in 1912, then again in the late 1930s and early 1940s, tax investigation and a series of law suits forced Scotty to admit the truth: he never had a gold mine and all his money (and his Castle) came from his investors.

In spite of being exposed as a liar, Scotty and Scotty's Castle continued to captivate the public's imagination.

Lower Vine Ranch

Albert Johnson purchased another piece of land near his Death Valley Ranch. The 1200 acre Lower Vine Ranch included springs that Johnson wanted to maintain rights to. Partly to establish water rights, Johnson constructed a relatively modest 3-room cabin out of redwood for Scotty to live in.

Lower Vine was Scotty's real home, but he made regular appearances at the Castle, telling stories. Scotty discouraged visitors at his cabin, so it seems he might have relished the opportunity to escape public scrutiny occasionally.

Hard Times and Unfinished Dreams

Castle construction came to a halt in 1931 and left the Johnsons' plans frozen in time.

A land survey associated with the proposed Death Valley National Monument found that the land Johnson actually owned was one mile north and west of the Castle. The ranch was officially closed to visitors during the early 1930s while Johnson resolved property ownership with the Federal Government. Albert Johnson traveled to Washington, DC, to negotiate for property rights to Scotty's Castle - land he originally thought he owned. Albert Johnson purchased the land for $1.25/acre, but never finished construction of features like courtyards, the swimming pool, and two more planned buildings.

Congress passed H.R, 2476 to authorize either Walter Scott or Albert Johnson to buy the land from the National Park Service, an agency not generally allowed to sell lands under its protection. The transaction was finalized in 1937; however, construction at Scotty's Castle never resumed.

Tourists Provide the Gold

The Great Depression depleted a large part of the Johnsons' fortune. After reopening the ranch, the Johnsons offset some costs by providing tours, curios, meals, and lodging. In the tourists, Scotty soon found an audience for his wild tales. By the late 1930s, there was a steady stream of curious strangers. The Johnsons hired employees to take care of the property, cook, and even to conduct tours.

I took a few pictures of the outside areas
before our tour began.

Our guide summoned our tour party

by ringing the bell.

Here's the never-finished swimming pool.

The bell tower.

Talented artisans came to the site to work on the Castle's unusual architectural and decorative features. They spent countless hours refining a layered stucco technique to give the exterior an aged adobe appearance.

The Hawthornes are taking the guided living history tour

of Scotty's castle.

Our guide is Mindy, dressed in period clothing.

Death Valley Ranch.

The living room.

Talented artisans and craftsmen pieced together intricately tiled turrets and floors, created antiqued iron railings and fixtures, and carved designs in redwood beams, wall panels, and doorways. Hand-wrought iron fixtures appear throughout the Castle. Master craftsmen made hinges, handles, balcony and stair railings, gates, latches for doors and windows, plus intricate wall sconces and chandeliers.

No.

My picture is not upside down.

The guns are.

This is Scotty's bedroom in the Castle.

A mountain lion, barrel cacti, and a bighorn sheep

are carved into the headboard.

Actually, Scotty never slept here.

When bored with his guests at the castle,

he would retreat to this room,

and then sneak out the back door to his own place.

There was a huge picture of Buffalo Bill,

the man who had fired Scotty from his show.

No wonder Scotty wouldn't sleep here.

This is outside Scotty's "bedroom."

Notice the device on the wall.

This was put here by Johnson to humor Scotty.

Scotty's imagination came up with grand stories

about people trying to rob him in the middle of the night,

to steal all the gold he had.

He would imagine a pair of men outside his bedroom,

one at the door and one at the window,

ready to enter his bedroom and steal his gold.

On the inside of the room,

behind this device,

was a hole.

The device served as a "shot-splitter"
for Scotty's shotgun.

With one shot,

he could take out both of his "robbers."

Scotty had quite the imagination,

and Johnson humored him by installing the "shot-splitter."

The sun room.

Tiled water features were installed throughout

for cooling the interiors.

Rugged redwood beams, ceiling planks, and wall panels were burned, brushed, and stained to give them an aged appearance. In some rooms, floral and abstract designs reflecting different themes were carved in the wood.

Scotty even had a story for the design of the plate.

It was left outside in the hot sun -

sun so hot, it curled up the edge of the plate.

This also served a function-

to keep a gentleman's tie from falling into the plate.

The dinnerware was specially designed
with a "J" and "S"
for Johnson and Scott,
"D.V. R." for Death Valley Ranch,
and a Latin phrase, "suis viribus polens,"
meaning "by our perseverance we will succeed."

I don't know about you,

but my GAYDAR is pinging of the charts.

Most tables, chairs, and other furnishings were designed and built in a Los Angeles workshop that Johnson created to outfit the Castle. Some of the antiques were purchased in Spain, Italy, and Mexico.

Ceramic tile was a prominent feature in the Castle -

so much so that the Castle has been called a monument to the tile industry. A few tiles came from Spain but most were made in Glendale near Los Angeles. Some tiles were specifically designed for the Castle.

These wall sconces demonstrate the craftsmanship

and unique custom features

which appear throughout the Castle.

Bessie's bedroom,

where she could read and write.

This is one of the rooms that would later be rented out.

For $24 in 1952-1953,

one could stay overnight in the Johson suite,

get breakfast, and be entertained by Scotty.

Portuguese chest.

15th century.

Colorful tile patterns in the bathroom

in the Johnsons' bedroom suite.

Stained glass in the second floor music room.

This is the large music room
on the second floor.
This is the entertainment center
of the entire castle.
It features a rare theater organ
with more than 1000 pipes concealed behind the screen.

Notice how the tile patterns, ironwork,
and carved wood complement each other.

The Hawthornes bid adieu to Scotty's castle

and head to Vegas.

Dust devil in the desert.

I don't know where these girls or the patrons come from

since there's nothing around for MILES.

The Benefits Of Home Cooking.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:45:00 +0000

My good friend and fellow food blogger, Mar,

of Foodies Untie blogdom,

just emailed me this article:

Home Cooking Increases Longevity.

God knows the corollary is true:

Road food is going to kill me.

May 15, 2012. The Hawthornes Drive To And Through Death Valley.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sun, 20 May 2012 10:27:00 +0000

Join the Hawthornes as we drive through Death Valley,
a below-sea-level basin with record summer high temperatures.
It is one of the hottest, driest spots in the world,
experiencing a record temperature of 134 degrees.
Summer temperatures in the 110s and 120s are the norm.
The average yearly rainfall is less than 2 inches;
in some years there has been no measurable rainfall at all.

Photo from National Park Service.

Even though the annual rainfall is less than 2 inches,

summer thunderstorms sometimes send
flash floods tearing down narrow canyons.

This is a land of extremes.
Elevations in the park range from
282 feet below sea level near Badwater
to 11,049 feet above sea level at Telescope Peak.

It has badlands, sand dunes, isolated valleys,
sculpted rocks, volcanic craters, and rugged canyons.

Death Valley comprises 3,373,063 acres,
the largest national park in the lower 48 states.
The valley itself ranges from less than 10 miles
to about 61 miles in width,
and is about 140 miles long.

Death Valley's formation began about 3 million years ago
when forces within the Earth broke the crust into blocks.
Some of these blocks tilted and rotated,
creating the alternating mountain and valley pattern.
During the ice ages,
large lakes intermittently occupied the basin.
Their evaporation left alternating layers of mud
and large salt deposits that are still visible.

American Indians have occupied the area during the
past 9000 years, but the valley gained its
forbidding name and reputation relatively recently.

In the fall of 1849, a group of pioneers and prospectors
left Salt Lake City for California, following the Old Spanish Trail
In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California
and people from all over the United States
packed their belongings and began to travel
by wagon to what they hoped would be a new and better life.

Salt Lake City was the major supply point along the trail,
where the pioneers prepared for the long, arduous journey
across the Great Basin desert before climbing over
the Sierra Nevada into the gold fields of California.

It was important to leave Salt Lake City
and cross the desert before the snow
began to fall on the Sierra Nevada,
making them impassable.

A few years earlier, a group of pioneers
called the Donner Party was trapped by a storm.
This event was one of the greatest human disasters
of that day and age and stories of the Donner Party
were still fresh on everyone's mind.

When a group of pioneers began their journey
from Salt Lake City in October of 1849,
it was much to late to try to cross the Sierra Nevada safely.
It was then that they heard about the Old Spanish Trail,
a route that went around the south end of the Sierra Nevada
and was safe to travel in the winter.
The problems were that no pioneer wagon trains
had traversed this trail before
and they could only find one person in town
who knew the route
and would agree to lead them.
This wagon train - the San Joaquin Company -
would become part of a story of human suffering
in a place they named Death Valley.

The going was slower than most of the travelers wanted,
but their guide, Captain Jefferson Hunt,
would go only as fast as the slowest wagon.
Just as the people were about to voice their dissent,
a young man rode into camp
and showed them a hand-sketched map
showing a fictitious "short cut"
across the desert.
A splinter group (most of the 107 wagons)
decided to take this route
across the desert which would cut 500 miles off their journey,
and the rest continued along the Old Spanish Trail with Captain Hunt.
Many wagons in the splinter group,
upon finding themselves confronted with an obstacle -
a gaping canyon -
became discouraged and turned back to join Captain Hunt.

Twenty wagons decided to continue on.
Despite the fact that the group didn't have a reliable map,
they continued, thinking all they had to do was go west
and they would eventually find the pass.
The splinter group eventually split and went their separated ways.

After seeing Death Valley myself,
this sounds like a really stupid idea.
But wait.
It gets worse.

Early on, the man with the map of the route
abandoned the travelers,
who were left to just head west.
What a bat rastard!

After a month of traveling the shortcut,
the band again split into groups taking different routes.
The groups did share two things in common:
they were saved from dying of thirst by a snow storm
and they ended up in Death Valley.

More than three months later,
their journey ended,
with only one human death occurring in the valley.
Death Valley was given its name
by this group of pioneers;
they all assumed that this valley would be their grave.
The pioneers were rescued by two men,
John Rogers and William Lewis Manly,
who had learned to be scouts.
Rogers and Manly had been dispatched to go over the mountain
to get supplies.
The two men walked more than 300 miles to Mission San Fernando
to get supplies at a ranch.
They returned with three horses and a one-eyed mule.
Along the way, one of the horses was ridden to death
and the other two had to be abandoned.
Rogers and Manly finally arrived to one of the camps
and found many of the group had left to find
their own way out of the valley.
Two families with children had patiently remained,
trusting the men to save them.
As the party climbed out of the valley over the Panamint Mountains,
one of the men turned, looked back,
and said "Goodbye, Death Valley,"
giving the valley its morbid name.
This name and the story of the Lost 49ers
have become part of our western history.

Although miners later found precious metals in the area,
the discovery of another mineral - borax-
initiated the exploitation of the valley.
The borax company built the roads
over which the famous 20-mule teams
drew wagon loads weighing as much as 40 tons.

This is the sunrise on the mountains

outside our hotel door in Lone Pine, California.

Same mountains

a few hours later.

This is the site of the Owens Lake Silver-Lead Furnace.

The Owens Lake silver-lead furnace and mill

was built here by Col. Sherman Stevens in 1869

and used until March 1874.

James Brady assumed its operation in 1870

for the Silver-Lead Company

and built the town of Swansea.

During the next few years the output of this furnace

and another at Cerro Gordo was around

150 bars of silver every 24 hours, each weighing 83 pounds.

Beauty in this harsh landscape.

Padre Crowley Point

In memory of

The Padre of the Desert.

1891 - 1940

Father John Crowley

From the snowy heights of the Sierras

beyond the deep shadows of Death Valley,

beloved and trusted by people

of all faiths.

He led them toward life's wider horizons.

He passed this way.

Father Crowley devoted his life to the
spiritual and economic welfare of
the people of Owens Valley,
and is remembered for healing long-standing
division and bitterness towards the
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Father Crowley died in a car accident.
He fell asleep at the wheel
after spending the night at the home
of a sick parishioner.

Cool van parked next to the Hawthornes.

After traveling Pacific Coast Highway 1

and the highway through Death Valley,

Mr. Hawthorne has exercised
his sphincter muscles to within an inch of their life.

Here are the videos from Death Valley.

Next up, Scotty's Castle.

In Death Valley.

May 14, 2012. Driving Through The Desert. From Bakersville To Lone Pine, California.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:58:00 +0000

Love the poetry.
And the thought.

Enjoy the scenery through California
as the Hawthornes travel from Bakersfield, California,
to Lone Pine, California.

Road ahead,

as far as the eye can see.

In the middle of nowhere,

there's Robber's Roost Ghost Town.

I like how everything is labeled.

The hanging tree.

Mr. Hawthorne was more than happy
to put the noose around Rosie's neck.

House and picket fence.

Cowboy Tower.

A lot of volcanic rock out here.

Reservoir.

When we got into Lone Pine, California,

I asked about all the white out here.

I was told this is a dried up mineral lake

and the white is potash.

Lone Pine was named after a solitary pine tree that once stood at the mouth of Lone Pine Canyon. This small town's roots stretch back into the Old West and Hollywood's Wild West.

The town of Lone Pine was founded in the mid-1800s to provide local miners with provisions. Farmers and ranchers soon followed, then the Carson Colorado Railroad pulled into town.

Lone Pine, located in the Owens Valley, near the Alabama hills,

is one of the smallest towns in the United States,

but it's one of the most famous movie locations on earth.

All major Hollywood studios produced films here.

As the days of the Wild West were coming to an end, the Hollywood western was just beginning. Since the 1920s, the unique scenery of Lone Pine has been the backdrop of many films. The first "Lone Ranger" ambush was shot here,

and it was here that Roy Rogers found Trigger.

This is Peter, a cute little bunny at the hotel in Lone Pine.

This is the view from our hotel in Lone Pine, California.

Lone Pine's history is as dramatic and violent
as the magnificent landscape in which the town is located.
Long before the first white settlers arrived
during the Gold Rush,
small groups of Piute-Shoshone Indians lived in the area.
With the discovery of gold and silver,
miners and ranchers supplying food for the mines
came into violent conflict with the native inhabitants
between 1860 and 1865.
In the 1870s, the Cerro Gordo mines
(the largest silver strike in the state)
buoyed the growth of Los Angeles.
At the turn of the century,
the city of Los Angeles clandestinely bought up
land and water rights and initiated a
period of conflict with the Owens Valley.
In the 1920s, Hollywood discovered the Sierra Nevada Mountains
and high deserts of the area.
Over 500 films and countless commercials
have been filmed in Lone Pine,
featuring such stars as John Wayne, Gene Autry,
Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power, Rita Hayworth,
Barbara Stanwick, and Brad Pitt.

The walls of our hotel were filled with pictures
of actors and actresses who had made films in Lone Pine.

It didn't take long after the invention of moving pictures for Hollywood to discover a spectacular location within a few hours' drive. The first feature film shot entirely on location at Lone Pine was "The Round-up," a 1920 silent Western starring Fatty Arbuckle in his first feature film. The director made good use of the incredible scenery near Lone Pine, with the weirdly eroded, jumbled rocks of the Alabama Hills (name for a Civil War battleship) backed by the snowcapped Sierra Nevada.

The Alabama Hills appeared in over 300 movies in the 1920s to 1950s, mostly Westerns - although they also served as northern India, the Gobi Desert, various parts of Arabia, and even Africa in two Tarzan films.

The pace of movie making slowed only slightly here as the Western genre became less wildly popular. Several stories featuring the distant past or sci-fi future have found a setting here, including Star Trek V and VII, Tremors, Gladiator, and Dinosaur.

Most parts of the Alabama Hills are public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM Bishop Field Office issues about 30-40 film permits a year for movies, TV shows, commercials, and still photo shoots in the Alabamas. Permittees agree to be fire-safe and not to disturb wildlife, vegetation or artifacts, and to take every bit of trash away when they finished. BLM representatives meet with the director or scouts beforehand and monitor during and after filming, to make sure this fantastic place stays as wild and beautiful as ever.

Movies & Television Series Made in Lone Pine.

List from On Location in Lone Pine
by David Holland
— with updates

Movies
5 Million Footsteps - 2004
A Star Is Born - 1937 - Fredrick March, Janet Gaynor
A Demon for Trouble - 1934 - Bob Steele
Across The Plains - 1939 - Jack Randall
Adventures in Wild California (in IMAX) - 2000
Adventures of Hajff Baba - 1955 - John Derek
Adventures of Marco Polo - 1938 - Gary Cooper, Basil Rathbone
Along the Great Divide - 1951 - Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar, Walter Brennan
And I Alone Survived - 1978 - Blair Brown (Made for Television)
Arizona Rangers - 1948 - Tim Holt, Jack Holt
Army Girl - 1938 - Madge Evans, Preston Foster, (Yakima Canutt - Stunts)
Army Of One - 1994 - Dolph Lungren, George Segal (sold to HBO, working title was Joshua Tree)
Around the World - 1943 - Kay Kyser (2nd Unit)
Around the World in 80 Days - 1956 (one balloon shot over the Alabamas and valley doubling as the Pyrenees)
Back Trails - 1924 - Jack Hoxie, Eugenia Gilbert, Claude Payton
Bad Day at Black Rock - 1955 - Spencer Tracy, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Robert Ryan
Bagdad - Maureen O'Hara
Bamboo Saucer - 1968
Bar 20 - 1943 - William Boyd
Bar 20 Rides Again - 1935 - William Boyd
Between Men - 1935 - Johnny Mack Brown, Beth Marion, William Farnum
Beyond the Purple Hills - 1950 - Gene Autry
Beyond the Rockies - 1932 - Tom Keene, Rochelle Hudson, Marie Wells
Black Midnight - 1949 - Roddy MacDowell, Lyn Thomas, Rand Brooks
Blackjack Ketchum, Desperado - 1956 - Howard Duff
Blazing Days - 1927 - Blue Streak Western; William Wyler, Ena Gregory, Fred Humes
Blazing Sun (The) - 1950 - Gene Autry, Pat Buttram, Lynne Roberts
Blue Steel - 1934 - John Wayne
Boots and Saddles - 1937 - Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette
Border Vigilantes - 1941 - William Boyd
Border Treasure - 1950 - Tim Holt
Born to the Saddle - 1953 - Chuck Courtney
Born to the West - 1937 - John Wayne, Marsha Hunt, Johnny Mack Brown
Borrowed Trouble - 1948 - William Boyd
Bounty - 2002
Bridger - 1972 (73?) - Sally Ann Fidds, Ben Murphy
Brigham Young - 1940 - Tyrone Power, Brian Donlevy, John Carradine, Mary Astor, Jane Darwell
Brimstone - 1949 - Rod Cameron
Broken Arrow - 1950 - (Last Shot) James Stewart
Caged Fury - 1989 - Eric Estrada
Cattle Empire - 1958 - Jod McCrea, Gloria Talbot, Paul Brinegar
Cattle Thief (The) - 1936 - Ken Maynard
Chaplin - 1993 - 2nd unit; Richard Attenborough (director)
Charge of the Light Brigade - 1936 - Errol Flynn, David Niven, Olivia de Havilland
Cisco Kid and the Lady - 1940 - Cesar Romero
Code of the West - 1954
Colt Comrades - 1943 - William Boyd
Comanche Station - 1960 - Randolph Scott, Nancy Gates, Claude Akins, Skip Homeier
Comin' Round the Mountain - 1936 - Gene Autry
Coral Reef Adventure - 2003
Counting Sheep - 2004
Courageous Avenger - 1935 - Johnny Mack Brown, Helen Ericson, Warner Richmond
Cow Town - 1950 - Gene Autry, Pat Buttram
Cowboy Holiday - 1935 - "Big Boy" Guinn Williams
Crash and Burn - 1990 - Ralph Waite, Paul Ganus, Megan Ward
Crossworlds - 1995 - Rutger Hauer
Danger Trails - 1935 - "Big Boy" Guinn Williams
Dangerous Venture - 1947 - William Boyd
Daredevils of the West - 1943 - Allan "Rocky" Lane, Kay Aldridge
Dead Don't Dream - 1948 - William Boyd
Demon (The) - 1926 - Jack Hoxie
Desert Legion - 1953 - Alan Ladd (brief sand dunes at Olancha; Terry Frost)
Desert Pursuit - 1952 - Wayne Morris, Virginia Grey, George Tobias
Desert Hawk (The) - 1950 - Yvonne De Carlo, Richard Greene, Jackie Gleason, Rock Hudson
Devil's Playground - 1946 - William Boyd, Rand Books
Digital Man - 1995
Dinosaur - 2000
Everyman's Law - 1936 - Johnny Mack Brown
Doolins of Oklahoma (The) - 1949 - Randolph Scott, George Macready, John Ireland
Down Mexico Way - 1941 - Gene Autry
Dudes are Pretty People - 1942 - Jimmy Rogers, Noah Berry, Jr., Margaret Woodworth
Durand of the Badlands - 1925 - Buck Jones, Marion Nixon, Malcome Waite
Dynamite Pass - 1950 - Tim Holt
Escape in the Desert - 1945 - Philip Dorn, Helmut Dantine, Jean Sullivan (no obvious Lone Pine locations, but discussion of "going to Lone Pine" by 2 characters. Sign identifying Lone Pine as 64 miles. Lone Pine rarely mentioned in films)
Eye for an Eye - 1966 - Robert Lansing, Pat Wayne
False Colors - 1943 - William Boyd
Farewell to Manzanar- 19?? - Frank Abe, Gretchen Corbett, Lou Frizzels
Fiddlin' Buckaroo - 1932 - Ken Maynard
Fighting Legfon (The) - 1930 - Ken Maynard
Firefly (The) - 1937 - Allan Jones & Jeanette MacDonald (sang "Donkey Serenade" here)
Flame of Araby - 1952 - Maureen O'Hara
Flaming Guns- 1932
Flying Horsemen (The) - 192? - Buck Jones
Freighters of Destiny - 1931 - Tom Keene
From Hell to Texas - 1958 - Don Murray, Diane Varsie, Dennis Hopper, Chill Wills
Frontier Days - 1934 - Bill Cody
Frontier Marshall - 1939 - Randolph Scott
G.I. Jane - 1997
Gaucho Serenade - 19?? (known as "Keep Rollin'") Gene Autry, Smiley Birnette, June Storey
Gay Caballero - 1940 - Cesar Romero
Gladiator - 2000
Gold Trap (The) - 1925 - Universal Director William Crinley, Cast: Fred Humes
Golden Princess - 1925 - Betty Bronson, Dir: Clarence Badger
Goldtown Ghost Riders - 1953 - Gene Autry
Gone in 60 Seconds - 2000
Good Bye, Guy Guy - 2002
Grail (The) - 19?? - Dustin Farnum
Great Race (The) - 1965 - Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon, Peter Falk
Greed -1925
Gun Smugglers - 1948 - Tim Holt
Gun Law - 1938 - George O'Brien, Rita Oehman, Ray Whitley, Ward Bond
Gunfight at Indian Gap - 1957 - Vera Ralston, Anthony George, George Macrea
Gunfighter (The) - 1950 - Gregory Peck
Gunga Din - 1939 - Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Victor McLaglen
Guns of Hate - 1948 - Tim Holt
Gunsmoke Ranch - 1937 - Three Musquiteers - (Robert Livingston, Ray "Crash" Corrigan and Max Terhune)
Hallelujah Trail (The) - 1965 - Burt Lancaster, Lee Remick
Hands Across the Border - 1943 - Roy Rogers
Hangman's Knot - 1952 - Randolph Scott
Heart of Arizona - 1938 - William Boyd
Hell Town (See "Born to the West")
Hell Bent for Leather- 1960 - Audie Murphy, Felicia Farr, Stephen MacNally
Hellfire Austin - 1932 - Ken Maynard, Ivy Merton, Nat Wendleton
Hell's Highway (Released as "The Violent Road")
Hidden Valley - 1932 - Bob Steele
High Sierra - 1941 - Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino
Highway 395 - 2000
Hills of Utah - 1951 - Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette
Hired Gun (The) - Rory Calhoun
Hitchhiker (The) - 1953 - Edmund O'Brien, William Tallman, Frank Lovejoy
Hollywood Cowboy (see "Wings Over Wyoming")
Homer and Eddie - 1989 - Whoopi Goldberg, Jim Belushi
Hopalong Cassidy - 1935 - William Boyd
Hopalong Rides Again - 1937 - William Boyd
Horse Trader (The) - 1927 - Director William Wyler; Cast - Fred Gilman
How the West Was Won - 1962 - Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, Robert Preston
How the West was Lost - (in Lone Pine 1991, as yet unreleased)
I Cover The War - 1937 - John Wayne
I Died A Thousand Times - 1955 - Shelley Winters, Jack Palance
In Old Colorado - 1941 - William Boyd
In Old Monterey - 1939 - Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette
Indian Agent - 1948 - Tim Holt, Noah Berry Jr., Iron Eyes Cody
Infinite Shades of Gray - 2001
Jack Armstrong- 1947 - John Hart
Joe Kidd - 1972 - Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall
Jungle Raiders - 1945 - Serial with Kane Richmond
Just Tony - 1922 - Tom Mix
Kalifornia - 1993 - Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis
Kfm - 1950 - Errol Flynn, Dean Stockwell
King of the Khyber Rifles - 1953 - Tyrone Power, Terry Moore, Michael Rennie
King of the Pecos - 1936 - John Wayne
Knights of the Range - 1940 - Russell Hayden, Victor Jory, Jean Parker
Last Place on Earth, The - 2002
Last Posse (The) - 1953 - John Derek, Broderick Crawford, Charles Bickford, Skip Homeier.
Last of the Duanes - 1941 - George Montgomery, Lynne Roberts, Eve Arden, Francis Ford
Law and Jako Wade (The) - 1958 - Robert Taylor, Richard Widmark
Law of the Pampas - 1939 - William Boyd
Law and Lead - 1936 - Rex Bell, Harley Wood, Wally Wales
Lawless Riders (The) - 1935 - Ken Maynard
Lawless (The) - 1956 - Clayton Moore
Leather Burners (The) - 1943 - William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jay Kirby, Victor Jory
Letters from Moab - 1991 - Corinne Bohrer, Priscilla Barnes, Rob Youngblood (35 minute short)
Life in the Raw - 1932 - George O'Brien, Claire Trevor, Greta Nissen, Francis Ford
Light of Western Stars - 1940 - Victor Jory, JoAnn Layers, Russell Hayden
Lives of a Bengal Lancer (The) - 1935 - Gary Cooper, Franchot Tone
Llano Kid (The)- 1939
Loaded Pistols - 1949 - Gene Autry; 2nd unit - Barbara Britten, Chill Wills, Jack Holt
Lone Star Ranger - 1942 - John Kimbrough, Sheila Ryan
Lone Ranger (The) - 1938 Serial - Lee Powell, Herman Brix (Bruce Bennett), George Montgomery
Lonely Man (The) - 1957 - Tony Perkins, Elaine Alken, Jack Palance
Long, Long Trailer (The) - 1954 - Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz
Loves of Carmen (The) - 1948 - Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, Joseph Buloff, Luther Adler
Lucky Terror - 1936 - Hoot Gibson
Man from Utah (The) - 1934 - John Wayne, Polly Ann Young, Anita Campille
Man in the Saddle - 1951 - Randolph Scott, Joan Leslie, Ellen Drew
Man's Country- 1938 - Jack Randall
Master of the World - 1961 - Vincent Price, Charles Bronson, Henry Hull
Maverick - 1994 - Mel Gibson, Jodi Foster, James Garner
Melody Ranch - 1940 - Gene Autry
Men of the Timberline - Richard Arlen, Linda Hayes
Monolith Monsters (The) - 1957 - Grant Williams, Lola Albright, Les Tremayne, Trevor Bardette, Phil Harvey, Steve Darrell
Moonlight on the Prairie - 1935 - Dick Foran, Dickie Jones, Sheila Manners
Mrs. Sundance - 1973 - Elizabeth Montgomery, Robert Foxworth, L.Q Jones (made for TV)
Mule Train - 1950 - Gene Autry, Pat Buttram
Mysterious Desperado - 1949 - Tim Holt
Mystery Man - 1944 - William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Jimmy Rogers
Nevada Smith - 1966 - Steve McQueen, Brian Keith, Karl Malden, Suzanne Pleshette, Arthur Kennedy, Martin Laundau
North to Alaska - 1960 - John Wayne, Stewart Granger, Ernie Kovaks, Fabian
Nevada- 1944 - Robert Mitchum
Nevadan (The) - 1951 - Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone, Forest Tucker
New Age (The) - 1994 - Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Adam West
New Frontier (The) - 1935 - John Wayne
Oh Susanna - 1936 - Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Clara Kimball Young
Oil for the Lamps of China - 1935 - Pat O'Brien
Old Barn Dance - 1938 - Gene Autry
Old Oklahoma Plains - 19?? - Rex Allen
One Foot in Hell - 1960 - Alan Ladd (contains footage in titles only)
Oregon Trail - 1936 - John Wayne
Outlaws of the Desert - 1941 - William Boyd
Ox-Bow Incident (The) - 1942 - Henry Fonda
Panhandle - 1948 - Rod Cameron, Cathy Downs, Blake Edwards
Perfect - 1985 - John Travolta, Jaime Lee Curtis
Phantasm 4 a.k.a Oblivion - 1998
Phantom of the Range - 1934 - Tom Tyler, Beth Marion, Sammy Cohen
Pirates on Horseback - 1941 - William Boyd
Plainsman and the Lady (The) - 1946 - William Elliott
Points West - 1929 - Hoot Gibson
Pollyanna - 1920 - Mary Pickford, J. Walton James, Katherine Griffith
Posse From Hell - 1961 - Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Zohra Lampert, Vic Morrow
Postman, The - 1998
Range War - 1939 - William Boyd
Rat Race - 2001
Rawhide - 1951 - Susan Hayward, Tyrone Power, Jack Elam
Renegade Trail - 1939 - William Boyd
Rhythm on the Range - 1936 - Bing Crosby
Ride Lonesome - 1959 - Randolph Scott
Rider from Tucson - 1950 - Tim Holt
Riders of the Dawn - 1937 - Jack Randall
Riders of the Purple Sage - 1925 - Tom Mix
Riders of the Purple Sage - 1941 - George Montgomery
Ridin' Kid from Powder River - 1924 - Hoot Gibson
Rip Roaring Buckaroo - 193? - Tom Tyler
Roaring West - 1935 - Serial with Buck Jones
Romance of the Rio Grande - 1941 - Cesar Romero
Rootin' Tootin' Rhythm - 1937 - Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Armida, Monte Blue
Roundup (The) - 1940 - Richard Dix, Preston Foster, Patricia Morrison, Don Wilson
Roundup (The)- 1920 - Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle
Running On The Sun - 2000
Rustler's Roundup - 1933 - Tom Mix, Diana Sinclair, Noah Berry Jr.
Saboteur - 1942 - Robert Cummings, Priscilla Lane, Otto Kruger (Doubles used in Lone Pine with 2nd unit)
Saga of Death Valley - 1940 - Roy Rogers
Samson and Delilah - 1949 - Hedy Larnarr, Victor Mature
Sand - 1949 - Re-released as "Will James' Sand (20th Century Fox) - Mark Stevens, Rory Calhoun, Coleen Gray
Sand Trap - 1998
Sandflow - 1937 - Buck Jones, Lila Cherret, Bob Kortrnan
Savage Dawn - 1984 - George Kennedy, Richard Lynch, Karen Black
Secret Valley - 1936 - Virginia Grey, Richard Arlen, Norman Willis
Secrets of the Wasteland - 1941 - William Boyd
Senior Daredevil - 1926 - Ken Maynard
Seven Men from Now - 1956 - Randolph Scott, Gail Russell, Lee Marvin
Shadow (The) - 1994 - Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Winters
Shootin' Irons- 1927
Showdown - 1960 - Audie Murphy, Kathleen Crowley, Charles Drake
Silent Conflict - 1947 - William Boyd, Rand Brooks
Slow Burn - 1998
Somewhere in Sonora - 1933 - John Wayne
Song of Texas - 1943 - Roy Rogers
Song of the West - 1930 - John Boles, Vivian Segal
Springfield Rifle - 1952 - Gary Cooper
Spurs - 1930 - Hoot Gibson
Square Shooter (The) - 1927 - Director William Wyler; Cast Fred Gilman
Stage to Tucson - 1951 - Rod Cameron, Wayne Morris, Kay Buckly
Stagecoach Kid - 1949 - Tim Holt
Stand Up for Justice - 2004
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - 1988 - William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
Star Trek VII: Generations - 1995 - William Shatner, Patrick Stewart
Starlight Canyon - (Working title of "Stage to Tucson"?) 1951
Stolen Ranch (The) - 1926 - a.k. a. "True Blue" - Director William Wyler; Cast Fred Humes, William Norton Bailey
Storm Over Bengal - 1938 - Richard Cromwell
Strange Gamble - 1948 - William Boyd, Andy Clyde, Rand Brooks, Elaine Riley, Director: George Archainbaud
Stranger Wore A Gun (The) - 1953 - Randolph Scott
Sunset Pass- 1946
Superman - 1948 - Kirk Alyn, Noel Neill, Tommy Bond
Sweet Poison - 1991
Taking Chances - 1925 - Universal Director William Crinley; Cast Fred Humes
Tall T (The) - 1957 - Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Henry Silva, Arthur Hunnicutt, Maureen O'Sullivan
Tall Timber - (Released as "Big Timber") 1950 - Roddy MacDowell, Lyn Thomas
Taming Power of the Small - 1995
Tarzan's Desert Mystery - 1943 - Johnny Weismuller
Terminal Velocity - 2nd unit in Lone Pine Nov. 1993 - Released 1994 - Charlie Scheen, Natasha Kinsky
Terror Trail - 1933 - Tom Mix
Texas Legionnaire - 194? - (Released as " Man From Music Mountain") - Roy Rogers, Ruth Terry
Three Godfathers - 1948 - John Wayne, Pedro Armendariz, Harry Carey Jr.
Three Men from Texas - 1940 - William Boyd
Three Faces West - 1940 - John Wayne
Three on the Trail - 1936
Thunder Mountain - 1947 - Tim Holt, Richard Martin, Steve Brodie
Thunder Riders - 1927 - Universal Director William Wyler; Cast- Ted Wells, Charlotte Stevens
Thunder in the Sun - 1959 - Susan Hayward, Jeff Chandler
Thundering Herd- ("Buffalo Stampede") - 1933 - Randolph Scott, Judith Allen, Buster Crabbe
Tombstone - Their Town Too Tough To Die - 1942 - Richard Daly, Kent Taylor, Edgar Buchanan
Trail of the Vigilantes - 1940 - Franchot Tone, Andy Devine; D. Crawford
Trail to San Antone - 1946 - Gene Autry, Peggy Stewart
Trailing Trouble - 1930 - Hoot Gibson
Tremors - 1989 - Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Reba Mclntyre, Michael Gross
Trial and Error - 1997
Tycoon - 1947 - John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Sir Cedrick Hardwick, Laraine Day
Under Mexicali Stars - 1950 - Rex Allen
Under Western Stars - 1938 - Roy Rogers
Unexpected Guest - 1947 - William Boyd
Untamed Breed - 1948 - Sonny Tufts
Utah - 1945 - Roy Rogers
Valley of Fire - 1952 - Gene Autry
Violent Men (The) - 1954 - Glenn Ford, Brian Keith, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson, Dianne Foster
Violent Road (The) - 1958 - Brian Keith, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Dick Foran
Virginian (The) - 1925 - Vesta Bell reports husband Russell speaking of being extra when filmed on location
Viva Cisco Kid - 1940 - Cesar Romero
Wagons Westward - 1940 - Chester Morris, Buck Jones
Walking Hills (The)- Randolph Scott
Wanderer of the Wasteland - 1945 - James Warren
Water, Water Everywhere - 1919 - Will Rogers
Water Rustlers - 1939 - Dorothy Page, Dave O'Brien (contains short sequence of biplane herding cattle)
Waterhole No. 3 - 1967 - James Coburn
West of the Pocos - 1945 - Robert Mitchum, Barbara Hale
West of Nevada - 1936 - Rex Bell
Western Heritage - 1948 - Tim Holt
Western Frontier- 1935 - Ken Maynard
Western Gold - 1937 - Smith Dallow
Westward Ho - 1935 - John Wayne
Wheels of Destiny - 1934 - Ken Maynard
Where the Buffalo Roam - 1938 - Tex Ritter, Louise Massey, Dorothy Short
White Outlaw (The) - 1926? - Jack Hoxie
Wide Open Town - 1944 - William Boyd
Wild Westerners (The) - 1962 - James Philbrook, Bob Steele, Peirce Leyden
Wild Horse Mesa - 1947 - Tim Holt
Wild Horse Rodeo - 1937 - The Three Musquiteers
Wings Over Wyoming - a.k.a."Hollywood Cowboy" - 1937 - George O'Brien, Cecilla Parker, Maude Eburne
Yellow Sky - 1948 - Gregory Peck, Anne Baxter, Richard Widmark, Harry Morgan

Television Series

Adventures of Champion
Annie Oakley - "The Dude Stagecoach" - Gail Davis
Bonanza - "The Pursued" - Lorne Green, Dan Blocker, Michael Landon, (William Witney-Director)
Buffalo Bill, Jr. - Mick Jones
Cimarron Strip - Stuart Whitman
Death Valley Days
Have Gun, Will Travel - Richard Boone
The Lone Ranger- First 2 color Episodes - Clayton Moore, John Hart, Jay Silverheels
The Rockford Files - James Garner
Star Trek Voyager - 1996
Time Tunnel- "The Might of the Long Knives"
The Twilight Zone - The Rip Van Winkle Caper - John Mitchum & One Hundred Yards Over the Rim - Cliff Robertson
The Virginian- James Drury, Sara Lane
Wagon Train - Ward Bond, John McIntire, Charlie Wooster
Wild Bill Hickok - Guy Madison, Andy Devine, Bill Hickman

Sunrise on the mountains.

Tomorrow, the Hawthornes travel through Death Valley.

May 13, 2012. The Hawthornes Drive From Sunnyvale To Bakersfield, California. And We Get Treated To A Parade In Gilroy.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Fri, 18 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Today is a travel/on-the-road day for the Hawthornes.

We left Sunnyvale this morning

and were driving through Gilroy, California,

the Garlic Capital of the World,

when we had to take a detour because a PARADE

was just beginning.

Now, Rosie HATES a PARADE,

but she made Mr. Hawthorne pull over on the side street

so she could shoot pictures for her readers.

What I do for you -

all in the name of LOVE.

I have NO idea what this parade is about.

But it looks like it's a PRINCESS PARADE.

I just thought the parade was in honor of the Hawthornes.

Mr. Hawthorne asked around

and a disgruntled storefront owner

explained to him that it was the

annual one-day Portuguese Parade

that inconvenienced him every year

since his customers couldn't get to his store.

First marching band.

Rosie wants to be a princess

and wear a gown.

Rosie wants to be the MIDDLE PRINCESS

so she can have a TRAIN.

Rosie wants to wear a tiara.

NAY!

She wants to wear a CROWN!!

Rosie wants a faboo TRAIN.

Second marching band.

After the parade,
the Hawthornes continued on their merry way
to Bakersfield, California.

Pretty rolling countryside.

I love the splashes of yellow.

Shot through Mr. Hawthorne's window,

on the fly.

This is the San Luis Reservoir.

Constructed as a storage reservoir,

it stores runoff water that would otherwise flow into the ocean.

Long before the dams and canals were built,

this land was the home of the Northern Valley Yokuts,

Native Americans who harvested seeds, acorns,

and the roots of tules, a large bulrush that grew in the marshes.

There were also fish, geese, and ducks,

as well as large herds of antelope and elk on the plains.

With the coming of the Spanish,

this way of life disappeared.

Many of the valley people were taken to missions around 1805,

and an epidemic, possibly malaria,

decimated the human population of this area in 1833.

In the 1850s, the survivors

were killed or driven off by American settlers.

You GO, Manifest Destiny!

Wind surfers!

May 12-13, 2012. Rosie Is Reposting. Since She's Going In Chronological Order.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:14:00 +0000

See here.

May 11, 2012. A Quick Blow Through San Francisco. And When I Say Blow I Mean It.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Mr. Hawthorne wanted to go over the Golden Gate Bridge,

so we're in San Francisco.

San Francisco, I tell you.

And Mr. Hawthorne NEVER stopped.

This is a man who has found every damn China Mac Buffet

in every freakin' Bumpkinville town

across the United States

and we're in SAN FRIGGINCISCO.

Do I get decent Chinese?

Hell, NOOOOOOO!

Just let me show you my

exciting pictures of San Francisco.
All shot from the comfort of our vehicle.

Here's a blimp.

Here's a big ship.

Here's the bridge from Oakland to San Francisco.

Here's another blimp.
Two blimps in one day.
Be still my heart!

Here's a big cruise ship with the blimp in the background.

Oh look!

Here's a big-ass bow and arrow.

I guess it's art.

Here's the bridge from Oakland to San Francisco.

Yup, I got a picture of this bridge

but not the Golden Gate Bridge.

But as Mr. Hawthorne said,

"Everybody's seen pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge."

More exciting pictures from San Freakinciso:

Here's a blurred blimp

since my autofocus was focusing on the fence.

We're going through town

and as he passes these little side streets,

I was able to snap off a picture of Alcatraz.

Just barely.

More of my titillating photographs of San Francisco:

The Beautiful People exercising in a park.

Bitch in the background doing leg lifts.

I'm sure she has a callipygian rear.

Callipygian.

That's my word of the day.

Mr. Hawthorne wanted me to use it in a sentence.

Not a problem, Mr. Hawthorne:

"We're in San Friggincisco,

and you can kiss my callipygian ass!"

Hrrrrmph!

More photographs of San Francisco.

Here's an expensive yacht.

Oh look.

It's the Golden Gate Bridge!

Taken through the windshield.

There are pull-offs - Vista Points - at either end of the bridge,

so one can ... well, pull off,

and admire the vista and shoot pictures of the bridge.

Does Mr. Hawthorne pull off?

Noooooo.

Might as well give you some facts about the bridge.

You're certainly not going to get any proper photographs of it.

I'm sure everyone wants to know

how the bridge got its name.

The Golden Gate Strait is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay

from the Pacific Ocean.

It is generally accepted that the strait

was named "Chrysopylae,"

or "Golden Gate," by Captain John C. Fremont,

topographical Engineer of the U. S. Army circa 1846,

because it reminded him of a harbor in Istanbul

named Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn.

The Golden Gate Bridge has always been painted

orange vermilion, deemed "International Orange."

Architect Irving Morrow selected the distinctive color

because it blends well with the span's natural setting

and the warm colors of the land masses,

it is distinct from the cool blue colors of the sea and sky,

and it provides enhanced visibility for passing ships.

Just in case you want to replicate this color at home,

paint stores can mix it with this formula:

Cyan: 0%

Magenta: 69%

Yellow: 100%

Black: 6%

Currently, the paint is supplied by Sherwin Williams,

and is made to match the International Orange color formula.

The closest color available off-the-shelf

from Sherwin Williams is "Fireweed,"

color code 6328.

More photographs:

An island.

A hill dotted with homes.

I had to listen to Mr. Hawthorne

complaining the entire time about how he could never

live in a place like this, the traffic is horrible,

there's nowhere to park, how do people live like this,

blahblahblahyadayadayada.

Nobody's asking you to live here.

Just stop the damn car so I can shoot some pictures

and maybe go to ... I don't know ...

a CHINESE restaurant?????
Maybe CHINATOWN,
only the largest Chinatown outside of Asia??!!!!??

What the hell is this man NOT thinking?

That could be Alcatraz.

We don't need to go there

since he's seen it in movies.

This could be any bridge in Anytown, USA.

Sheesh.

We crossed the bridge into Sausalito.
Sausalito is Spanish for "little willow."
It is described in my AAA Tourbook as a
"charming bayside town in Marin County,
across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
Upscale boutiques, art galleries, gift shops,
and open-air cafes line Bridgeway, the main street,
encouraging visitors to linger for a while to shop
or possibly stop for lunch or a glass of wine.
The town resembles a Mediterranean village,
with residential areas climbing the hillsides ..."

I immediately hate this place.

And you do NOT want to be driving an Avalanche

through this place.

Thankfully, there was no oncoming traffic,

since I don't know what we would have done.

The streets are that narrow.

And it's nothing but hairpin curves on steep hills.
On some turns,
Mr. Hawthorne actually had to back up the truck
to maneuver some of the curves.

Mr. Hawthorne decides to eat here.

In Sausalito.

HUH???????

WHY??????

Somebody shoot me now.

Oh wait a minute.
This is Marin County
and it's been in the news lately.
Marin County is the fifth wealthiest county
in the United States,
with an average income per person of $91,483.
It is also the home of George Lucas,
creator of Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Mr. Lucas has long wanted to build
a massive 270,000 square foot
state-of-the-art studio complex
on his Marin County property for the past 25 years,
but has been foiled by his neighbors.
The movie studio would have a day care center,
restaurant, gym, and a 200-car garage,
and would create 600 new jobs.
Lucas had planned to hide the attractive building
in a valley, preserving 95% of the natural land,
and spend over $50 million dollars to restore
a stream to its natural state.
Lucas has been thwarted by his neighbors
every step of the way.

Here's an artist's rendering of the proposed cutting-edge
digital media production facility.
Plans include 51,000 square feet of film stages,
27,918 square feet of screening rooms,
a 4381-square-foot cafe,
a 1151-square-foot kitchen
19 units providing 11,228 square feet of guest quarters,
a general store, and a gym.
Outside, excavated material would be used to build a knoll
hiding the project from neighbors,
and plans included nine bridges spanning creeks,
as well as a cave to age casks of wine from Lucas' vineyards.
The building would be on top of underground parking
for over 200 cars.
The entire project would be largely hidden from view,
especially as landscaping matures.
Lucas' neighbors have rejected this project
every step of the way.
While most municipalities in America
would roll out the red carpet for a development
expected to generate six-figure salaries
and bring in $300 million worth of economic activity,
the resistance of homeowners in Marin County
is a vivid reminder that some people are not struggling
in this economy.

The local homeowners association
has been such a thorn in Lucas' side
that he's finally decided
to abandon the studio construction project entirely,
issuing this statement:
"The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners
in Lucas Valley has convinced us that,
even if we were to spend more time
and acquire the necessary approvals,
we would not be able to maintain
a constructive relationship
with our neighbors."

That said, what is George Lucas going to do
with his property now that he's tired of his
rich neighbors and their NIMBY
(Not In My Back Yard) stink?
Mr. Lucas skillfully outmaneuvered the stubborness
of his wealthy neighbors by striking back in a show of
Ju-Jitsu, the ancient Japanese art of using an
attacker's force to defeat that opponent.
Lucas now wants to transform the property
into low-income housing, offering this official statement:
“We love working and living in Marin, but the residents of Lucas Valley have fought this project for 25 years, and enough is enough. Marin is a bedroom community that is committed to building subdivisions, not business…. We plan to sell the Grady property expecting that the land will revert back to its original use for residential housing. We hope to find a developer who will be interested in low income housing since it is scarce in Marin. If everyone feels that housing is less impactful on the land, then we are hoping that people who need it the most will benefit.”

So Lucas is working with the Marin Community Foundation
to construct affordable housing for either
low-income families or seniors living on small, fixed incomes.

Kudos, Mr. Lucas!

"If there's one thing rich people
will hate more than having movie magic
made in their backyard, it's poor people moving in."

Well played, Mr. Lucas.
Now if you could only build a Church of the First Jedi Order ...

I'm all for anything that pisses off a homeowner's association.
May the force be with you.

Oh my.
I've run on, haven't I?

Back to Sausalito.

Mr. Hawthorne pulls into the first place he sees.
And it's on Bridgeway.
It advertises crabs and prime ribs.

Nice flowers outside the restaurant.

Warning

Chemicals known to the state of California

to cause cancer or birth defects

or other reproductive harm

may be present in foods or beverages sold

or served here.

Well, crap.

Just serve me up a heapin' plate o' carcinogens, please.

Nice view of the harbor.

First off, this is not my kind of place.

Too chi chi for me.

Mr. Hawthorne saw this place

and, for some reason, decided to pull in.
Do not ask me why.

Everybody is drinking either wine or champagne

or cocktails in the middle of the day.

Most of the women had on huge floppy hats,
oversized sunglasses,
and long flowy and billowy dresses,

and looked like they'd just blown in from the Kentucky Derby.

I was wearing my florescent pink

Piggly Wiggly T-shirt,

a treasured gift from XKT,

so I fit right in.

The restaurant is Salito's crab house and prime rib

and here's the menu.

You could smell the money here.

I must say, the bread was delicious.

I ate on this for several days.

Mr. Hawthorne had the butter lettuce salad

with cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds

and a bleu cheese vinaigrette,

with undercooked, still slightly translucent, shrimp
for $15.00.
The dressing emulsion separated within minutes
after being in the hot sun.

I decided against the "lite" cut of Prime Rib

for $29.95,

and instead ordered a cup of crab chowder

and a small salad for $12.95.

I could taste a fish stock base,
but there wasn't much crab.
Just the teaspoon on top.
I've had much better.

I'm hating California prices.

Salad was tiny.
Bleu cheese dressing was mediocre.

The tea was horrible.

Worst tea I've ever tasted.

There was some flavor in it

that I just couldn't place.

It's an artificial flavoring I've tasted before and abhored.

And forget about getting my five pieces of lemons, please.

Ain't gonna happen.
Waiter apparently couldn't count above two.

Color me ripped off and under-impressed.

The bread was very good though.

And THAT, my friends,

concludes my "visit" to San Francisco.

Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne,
for my whirlwind tour of San Francisco
and what could have been culinary nirvana.

Instead, it SUCKED!

Pffffft.

May 10, 2012. Driving Down Pacific Coast Highway 1. From Fort Bragg, CA., to Santa Rosa, CA.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:34:00 +0000

The Hawthornes are driving, driving, driving today.

Enjoy the views down
Pacific Coast Highway 1.

Mr. Hawthorne stops once in a while

for Rosie to shoot pictures.

Enjoy the pretty.

Only in Cowlifornia do the cows enjoy ocean front dining.

I need to do some pruning

when I get back home.

Point Arena lighthouse.

I found these wild irises.

Stuck my hand in there so you can see the size.

They're tiny!

I tried to get the pelicans in flight.

Talk about your contented cows.

The woman driver ahead of us

is using both hands to fix her hair.

Scary.

We're on a horrible road.

California roads are the worst!

There's a straight drop down.

About 1500 feet down.

At least.

I kept telling Mr. Hawthorne to keep his eyes on the road.

Do NOT look down.

It's back and forth

and cutbacks and hairpin turns.

Most of the time there were no guard rails,
like that little piece of metal is going to stop a 2-ton Avalanche.

It's beautiful,

but it's scary.

We're approaching Santa Rosa now.

This is Rosie Territory.

WINE!

The Joy Of Strawberries.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:26:00 +0000

Please check out my latest column

in the Outer Banks Voice.

STRAWBERRIES!

Hotel Rooms Are Never Perfect.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Spending as much time as we have in hotel rooms,

the Hawthornes have come to the conclusion
that there is no perfect room.

Mr. Hawthorne always complains about the TVs.

He misses his gazillion inch flat screen digital TV

with a remote control that a NASA engineer

would have a hard time using.

I prefer for the sink to be in the bathroom,

not in an alcove outside.

Whenever the sink is outside,

I will inevitably get in the shower first,

then remember that the soap, shampoo, and conditioner

are always on the sink outside.

I do not understand why the light switches

for the bathroom are placed outside the bathroom.

I do not understand why one switch

controls both the fan and the light,

since sometimes I need to go in the bathroom

to make a phone call and I can't hear with
the fan blowing at jet engine decibels.

I have never understood bathrooms with two sinks in them.

(BTW, that remains me of a woman I knew years ago.

She was building a new house and proudly

showing it off to me.

Her bathroom had two toilets in it.

His and hers.

I could never wrap my brain around that one,

but I digress.)

Don't get me started on the lack of electrical outlets.

We have a lot of things that need to be

plugged in and run and/or charged,

and the dearth of outlets is a big problem for us.

And when they do have outlets,

they're not in the right places.

Lighting is another problem area.

Or rather, I should say, lack of lighting.

One place had a broken bulb

with filaments exposed -

the only light in the room.

I asked for that to be fixed but it never was.

I also hate it when they have two lights on

the bedside table and one switch works both lights.

There should be two switches -

one for each light.

And generally, 5- 10 watt bulbs are the norm.

The occasional family of elephants in the room above

can also be a problem.

And we've also had our share of stopped-up sinks

and broken toilets.

I'm sure there are more.

But my favorite "inconvenience"

was this one:

Mr. Hawthorne's bed was 2 feet next to the sign.

I was waiting for him to spontaneously combust at any time.

May 10, 2012. Lunch In Point Arena, California.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:30:00 +0000

The Hawthornes arrived in Point Arena around lunchtime

and after consulting the Garmin for restaurant choices,

with no luck,

I found a cop on the main drag.

Here's some good advice:

When in doubt,

ask a cop for a place to eat.

Unless, of course, you've been drinking

or have illegal drugs on your person.

However, the Hawthornes were good to go ask,
since we were both sober and drugless.

The kind occifer directed us to the
Pier Chowder House and Tap Room.
Good choice.

Their chowder was quite good.
Smooth and clammy, with bacon, celery, carrots, potatoes,
and a hint of thyme.

Mr. Hawthorne had a perfunctory Caesar salad.

Really not much to say about that.

I got his croutons.

And he had grilled cod,
which was probably as tasteless as it looks.
As I've said before,
cod is not a fish one wants to eat on its own.
Put it in a chowder and it's fine
since it takes on the flavor of whatever it's cooked with.
If you want a plain white fish,
try the snapper,
but that wasn't on the menu.
If I were back on the East Coast,
I'd order grouper or mahi mahi.
Now that's some good eats.
Cod ... meh.

I ordered the shrimp taco
with cabbage and not enough lemon aioli
and a pico de gallo.

This was not something one could pick up in a taco
and eat without it spilling everywhere,
so I took fork and knife to it.
My salad wasn't bad at all.
At least it had mixed greens in it.
Bleu cheese dressing was good.

Now, if you're going to offer shrimp,
at least de-vein it.
Couldn't have been that much of an effort
since there were only four shrimp served here.

This was not bad.
But I miss my East Coast shrimp.
They have so much more flavor and they're sweeter.

I used to bitch about beach prices.
California prices are outrageous.
My taco was around $15.

I have to say,

the views were lovely.

Surfers were out in the water

so it was fun to watch them,

although not one caught a wave.

I had to go back to the truck

and get my camera.

As I walked through the parking lot,

the cannabial aroma was overpowering.

Gotta love California, dude.

May 8-9, 2012. Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California.

noreply@blogger.com (Rosie Hawthorne) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:15:00 +0000

We arrived in Fort Bragg, California,

for the night.

I finally got my sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

Just barely.

I had run the quarter mile from the hotel

to the beach to try to get the sunset.

The wind was howling

and it was cold as a witch's titty,

but Rosie soldiered on.

At one point,

I looked around to find the non-existent Mr. Hawthorne.
He was supposed to have my back.

Naturally, he'd turned back due to the harsh weather conditions.

Meow.

The next morning,

I ventured up to the hotel lobby

to check out the "continental" breakfast.

There was coffee and orange juice,

no toast of any kind,

and no fruit.

Just an impressive variety of cellophane-packaged sweets

- Little Padma Cakes -

which I don't eat.

We actually went out for a REAL breakfast.

First time on this trip.

Mr. Hawthorne had an omelet with ham.

I got to eat his delicious potatoes.

These were perfectly cooked - nice and crisp.

Excellent potatoes.

I decided to be daring and ordered the Eggs Benedict.

The Hollandaise was not bad.

But you know it's nothing like Eggs Hawthorne.

The eggs were overcooked

and the muffin was not toasted at all

so it was soggy mush.

The hash browns were excellent.

This is along the pathway to Glass Beach.

Wild blackberries!

Again, the iceplant is everywhere.

Fort Bragg was established in 1857

to oversee the Mendocino Indian Reservation.

When the reservation moved,

the fort was abandoned and Fort Bragg

subsequently became a lumber and port town.

Fort Bragg is home to Glass Beach, one of the most

unique beaches in the world.

Beginning in 1949, the area now known as Glass Beach

was a public dump.

The residents discarded all types of refuse

by dumping it over the cliffs into the ocean.

Household garbage, including lots of glass,

appliances, and even automobiles

were dumped into the ocean here.

In 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board

and city leaders closed the area

and various cleanup programs were undertaken

throughout the years to try and correct the damage.

Glass Beach is unique, not because nature made it that way,

but because time and relentless wave action

have corrected one of man's mistakes.

Mother Nature has reclaimed this beach.

Years of pounding surf have deposited tons of polished glass

onto the beach.

There is also an interesting array of tidal pools to explore,

in which crabs, mollusks, and many aquatic plant make their homes.

It is a misdemeanor to confiscate any artifacts

from the beach, which is now State Park property,

so Rosie has no glass to show you. ; )

This is my little friend, Ramone.

He came within two feet of me

and begged to have his picture taken.

Of course, I obliged.

I love this garden and this plant.

A magnificent plant.

And Rosie has the SEEDS!

Artichoke.

Allysum growing through crack in sidewalk.

I had to stop and chat with the gardener.

He was out weeding.

I wanted to know what the purple spires were.

It's Echium and he told me where his weed/plant pile

was and I now have seeds!

He said this was the "Crazy Lazy Man's Garden"

and he was going for a "wild look."

I think he succeeded.

The garden is beautiful.