Blog Archives - Jon of All Trades

Of Dinosaurs and Troll Bodies

10/28/2012

me as a set dresser way back when in the jaws of the Croc from Hook

Greenland and Iceland

My first blog was called "Where in the World is Jon?"
I thought I I would be traveling more.

When I started Jon-of-All-Trades, I thought it would be in part to supplement my income.

Now" Where in the World is Jon?" is a question that I am asking myself more often than not, and as far as "trades" go, well, those supplemental plans are a little lagging behind and the travels are full steam ahead. And my "career" has certainly taken the back seat for the last decade or so.

It would seem that I certainly got things backwards, kind of like the naming of Greenland and Iceland.

Lately though my working, specifically in the "trade" I fell into as a set dresser, has come full circle, except now I'm working less in Hollywood and more in the "New Hollywood of the South", Atlanta, Georgia.

I've got a Georgia driver's license after having a California one for the last 28 years and I am a member of Atlanta's IATSE local. FYI, I still have my local 44 card, wouldn't give that up, being vested and all. Just another 20 years until retirement.

Yikes.

Now I find myself working as a lead person again, after having decided I would never lead again. I became a decorator and sold all my equipment. I burned the ships. That was around 15 years ago.

I have identified with this clip in the past, but perhaps now more than ever.

the moon through one of the trains used in Fast 5

Oh The Places You'll Go

When I look back at my "career", I feel incredibly fortunate and quite lucky.

Many, many, wonderful stories and experiences.

It has been a journey to say the least.

When I was working on "GI Jane", one of my co-workers told his friend, who didn't know me, that we were working together.

"You're working with Jon Danniells? He's a dinosaur, he's been doing this forever."

My friend laughed, "Dude, he's younger than you are." I was probably 32 at the time and had already been doing it for around 14 years.

And lo and behold here I am still moving furniture.

I joked once that it was "functional fitness"

"Yeah but it gives you a troll body."

He then went on about how furniture moving gave you hunched shoulders and limited range of movement in the shoulders, along with thick hips and thighs.

That did explain some things.....

inside the Georgia State Capitol

Talking About a Revolution

The first project I did in Atlanta was practically a fluke and I almost didn't do it.

But I did end up decorating the pilot for the TV show "Revolution", I ended up seeing all parts of the city that I never would have been able to if I wasn't working in film.

Where in the World is Jon?

Jon-of-All-Trades

They both work.

Passing Through Time and Texas

10/25/2012

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

The Interstate 20 en route to Dallas, but stopping just shy and heading down a notch to drop into Stephenville, Texas, is a route I remember as far back as I can remember.

Once you hit Indio, just outside of Los Angeles the landscape doesn't change much for a few long days of driving, amazing mesas and plateaus and desert for as far as the eye can see.

My family made this pilgrimage year after year because that's where the lion's share of our family lived.
I drove the route on my own when I was 16 years old and a summer with my grandparents was the best option for all involved.

I have since driven across this country many times, taking several different routes.

The I-20 across Texas being my least favorite. And yet I found us taking that leg for a short span on our last tour because we were meeting up with one of our favorite home school families who had just recently transplanted to Plano.

Timing Is Everything

That was the theme of the camp I was part of at Burning Man and it continues to be a theme for us on our latest adventures and travels.

We went to great lengths and expense to share the incredible experience of the Albuquerque Balloon Festival with Cindy and as a family that Skye and I had a couple of years before.

Unfortunately the morning we went, after waking up before 5 am and then sitting in traffic for a couple of hours, the wind was too strong for the balloons to take off.

We checked out of our hotel and went back to the fairgrounds. Only to hear a lot of varying opinions and forecasts as to whether the "Night Glow" would happen latter in the evening. And the predictions for the balloons going up the next morning were even less optimistic.

We decided to cut bait and head east, because we were now on a schedule.

20/20 Hindsight

We did get a few hours and a few hundred miles taken off our next days journey.

But we ended up in Amarillo and the worst motel we'd stayed in to date on this particular road trip, only to find out that the Glow and the Accession both ended up happening.

After deciding to opt out on a far less than par "continental breakfast" we back-tracked to check out the famous Cadillac Ranch, a Route 66 American Icon must see, that I have blasted past for years.

It wasn't much too see and given what we had missed to gain a few hours, well, like they say hindsight is 20/20......

We continued on, of course and before too long we were in the Fort Worth/ Dallas super-suburb landscape.

We passed the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum.

I have been told that one of my great uncles has a plaque there or something of the sort. But I have never taken the time to find out, even though I've passed by it several times in the last decade.

When we finally go to our hotel in Plano, I had a few minutes before we went over to our friends house for dinner. So I decided to check up on my uncle.

It turns out he had passed away just about a year before.

Cindy had met him around 15 years back. He was in his late seventies but up at 5 am to do farm duties and then still out dancing up a storm past midnight. He whirled Cindy around with a Texas two-step at City Limits.

I didn't get to spend much time with Whit Keeney, but the time I did was magical and quite amazing.

A Cowboy's Cowboy

Whit R. Keeney, 94, of Stephenville, passed away Thursday, October 13, 2011 in Stephenville.

Whit was born on February 14, 1917 in Erath County to the late James F. and Fannie Martin Keeney. He married Mary Purdom and she preceded him in death in 2002. Whit served in the U.S. Army Airbourne during WWII.

Whit started rodeoing in 1932, and joined the Rodeo Cowboy’s Association in 1944. He won the doggin’ in Baton Rouge, LA, Little Rock, Ark, and Memphis, Tenn. Everett Colborn hired him in 1947-48 to travel with the Lighting C Stock Company owned by Everett Colborn and Gene Autry to produce rodeos in New York at Madison Square Garden for 32 performances. He worked their rodeos at Ardmore, OK, Fort Madison, Iowa, and Boston, MA. Whit, also worked for rodeo producer, Homer Todd of Fort Smith, Ark.

He has won 37 trophy saddles most of them for winning all-around cowboy honors. He won his first saddle in 1957 when he was 40 years old. Eight saddles were won in the National Organizations of Rodeo Cowboys Association for competitors over 45 years of age. In his younger years at Baton Rouge, LA, he set a record for the fastest time ever in bull dogging at 2.4 seconds.

He owned and trained “Whit” the 1987 P.R.C.A. Horse of the Year. “Betty Crocker” and “Cooper” are two well known winning doggin horses he trained. They became famous for their keen athletic skills. Much like their owner they gave their all to win and be champions.

Whit has trained the finest cow dogs in the country. His border collies are much in demand for their keen, fine tuned athletic abilities to work cattle.

He received his PRCA Gold Card Membership in 1967, and continued to rodeo thru his 81st birthday. Whit Keeney is a cowboy’s cowboy.

from the Stephenville Funeral Home website.

Shock and Awe and Moving On

I was stunned when I read about his passing; that we were so close to his home on the 1st anniversary of his death; that I hadn't heard about it, even with all of our cyber-connectedness.

And yet I shouldn't have been.

He was from such a different time and I hadn't been in touch with that part of the family, well since cell phones have been around. And yet again, it was the internet that enabled me to find out about death and a lot about his life that was fuzzy at best in a manner of minutes.

In the few minutes I had before our dinner engagement.

And that is another story.

A Cat's Landing

10/19/2012

What Happens When They Don't Land on Their Feet?

Cat's really do land on their feet. In very not politically correct ways I have tested this theory. That might be an exaggeration, but I have held my cat or rather my wife's cat upside down and dropped it from a couple feet and watched in amazement as it swiveled its feet around and landed like it was nothing. I lowered it and tried again, until it was maybe three inches from the surface. Then and only then did it not manage to land on all four paws.

Not all cats are created equal.

I dropped another cat from around a foot above our bed and it landed on its side and looked at me like I was crazy. What in God's name had moved me to drop her? The betrayal.

So much for cats always landing on their feet.

We Aren't Cats, But We Do Land On Our Feet

We've had some great adventures and wonderful travels, but to be honest and quite frank, this nomadic lifestyle can become taxing. Skye and I left Atlanta around the beginning of June. Since then we haven't been in any one place for more than three weeks with many one-night-stays thrown in for good measure.

We're back in Atlanta, familiar territory.

But in a new neighborhood, Grant Park which has been welcoming beyond our best hopes and expectations.

We couldn't even begin to unload the car before our new neighbors were welcoming us. In fact just a few houses up is a family that home-schools and one of them is a unicyclist enthusiastic(albeit the daughter who is now grown and no longer resides there, but still....)

We walked to the Grant Park farmer's market, which we'd only been to on one other occasion. But there were a few vendors that we knew from other markets, so it was still like coming home.

And then of course there's Circus Arts Institute. So good to be back with family, hand-balancing with Steve at the helm and flying on the trapeze, Spanish Web and silks.

Time Will Fly

I haven't been able to make it over to X-3 Sports, which is a shame, because I really, really need to get in there. But I've been fighting a cold and pressed for time.

I started working yesterday. We will be working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day, at the very least.

It will be nose to the grindstone until Turkey time.

And then who knows where we'll end up .

Tomorrow, I'll venture over to Little Five Points for the Halloween Parade. Cindy and Skye are up north visiting family, so I'm solo but will surely run into old friends.

It's been an interesting experiment and "community" has definitely taken on a new meaning.

And with that I bid you good ni

Blog Block

10/15/2012

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Or explanations and reasons....

Right now they're feeling more like excuses. The primary reason I started blogging was to get into the habit of writing daily. It has evolved and mutated into other things, but it still was supposed to be a daily log or journal of sorts. And I still want that to be the case, but sometimes these posts can take hours to put together, especially when I am editing or rather trying to edit video footage.

Or I'm loading lots of photos or trying to include links.

In those cases I know I should just write something, anything, like I am now, but then I feel like I'm not giving it my all, that I'm phoning it in as it were. My last couple of posts were like that.
And I didn't like it.

But the flip side is not writing and posting and I end up going a week without a peep, which is what happened last week.
I didn't like that either.

A Compromise

I'm writing this on Cindy's computer, because for some reason mine decided back in New Orleans to stop connecting to the Internet. And try as I might, I can't figure out why. The time I spent trying to fix the problem, was time I could have/ would have spent writing/blogging.

This Thursday I start a new job. I will be working as a lead-person on a low-budget feature, in Atlanta as a local. The last time I worked in this capacity on a similar sized project was over twenty years ago in Los Angeles before I joined the union.

I will be making just a little bit more than I did way back then, although it will be union, so at least I'll be getting hours towards my benefits.

It's a little shocking and definitely eye-opening and of course, I need to wonder if the road we've decided to take is the right one. I feel fairly certain this is a one-time deal and that if I were to try actively pursue my "career", the results would be very different. As it is, this job practically fell in my lap as Cindy's jobs were slipping away and the timing was ideal for us.

For these reasons, I can set my ego aside and put my nose to the grindstone for a few weeks and take one for the team.

But talk about situations that can stir up a mid-life crisis.

Why Weight?

To add insult to injury, I am feeling more out of shape than I have in years.

Around 4 1/2 months ago Skye and I headed out of Atlanta for LA where we no longer live and therefore had no place of our own to stay. We ended up bouncing around between friends houses and hotels, camping for a week when she did Shakespeare, and house-sitting for a friend for a few weeks. When Cindy flew out and joined us we all headed up to stay at a friends condo up in Mammoth Lakes for a little of 3 weeks.

Then I went off to Burning Man for a week and then back to join them for a little house sitting in LA for a couple of weeks. And then back on the road, taking around a month to meander across the US, again hotels and friends extra rooms and couches.

The point being, I have been living out of a car and suitcases for quite some time now and getting into a routine is impossible.

At some point as my girth was expanding and my physical fitness was declining, I just threw up my arms and gave into a "we're on vacation" mentality and really let myself go, knowing that this wasn't really a vacation, it was our new semi-nomadic lifestyle and that the longer I put off getting back in shape, the harder it would be.

And that's exactly what happened and where I am now.

The last hurrah being a few days of absolute gluttony down in New Orleans, a city particularly well-suited for such an indulgence.

It's Not a Crisis, It's a Lifestyle

So here I am borrowing my wife's laptop because my old junker just ain't getting it done, sitting in the kitchen of the house that we found to rent for a few weeks, surrounded by lots of furniture and things that aren't mine, knowing that all of our stuff is sitting in a warehouse in Los Angeles.

In Atlanta, a city I've grown found of but is far from the Ocean and tall mountains, things I had taken for granted living in LA, but realized I dearly missed when away from them for too long.

And feeling like I'm starting my career over again from scratch.

Now intellectually, I can go through all the hows and whys as to why we're at where we're at. And like ol' Blue Eyes says, "regrets, I've had a few" and most certainly "I(we) did it my(our) way" and I now what a great adventure its been but honestly, right now is one of those, "pick yourself up, dust off and march right back into the fray"

With that I'm off to sort things out with the local Union, get my bike fixed from the damage suffered when the bike rack on the back of the Rav snapped and dragged along behind us and to knuckle down and get back in shape.

More stories and adventures to follow.

Couch Crashing Nomads-2

10/8/2012

Memory by Facebook

As all over the map and hectic as many of my days and weeks have been recently, this last one is up in the ranks. This kind of madness is very familiar to me from years in the film business. But when it's your life and there is no turning it off, or weekend to look forward to or an entire group of people going through the same thing as you are to commiserate with, well, it's different.

For one thing, there isn't the infrastructure, the schedules and one liners, the group think that can help reconstruct the week's past. So for that I have begun to rely on Facebook posts which is one of the reasons I bother posting and "checking in" in the first place.

It works to a point.

If you're in a remote area, it don't work so good.
But here goes, my last week via Facebook posts;(from yesterdays entry and now today, one can probably surmise that I am either getting lazy, running out of time or .......

So please forgive me. I have 12 minutes to finish this post, shower, pack and pack up the car.
Currently in Plano, Texas, will be somewhere in Louisiana later today, although we might change course and stay somewhere in very south, very east Texas.
Tomorrow and the next few days in New Orleans.

This weekeend we will move into our next semi-temporary residence in Atlanta Georgia, so that I can start working on a movie on Monday.

Yikes

Jon Danniells -September 28 near Ribera, NM via mobile
Feelings all sorts of everything on the outskirts of Santa Fe, getting ready for a quick and intense trip through Atlanta

Jon Danniells -September 29
Atlanta here we come — with Skye Danniells at Albuquerque International Sunport.

Jon Danniells shared a link.September 29 http://www.jonofalltrades.net/1/post/2012/09/days-on-the-north-rim.html
catching up on writing about our latest adventures while waiting for a plane to take us to Atlanta and more adventures

Jon Danniells -September 30
Truly a home away from home, yummy — with Skye Danniells at Barcelona Inman Park

Jon Danniells-September 30
near Atlanta via mobile Headed over to Barcelona in Inman Park for brunch, would love to see friends

Jon Danniells -September 30
Twice in one day, so yummy — with Skye Danniells at Barcelona Inman Park.

Circus teacher/friend left; Burning Man friend, circus performer center; Me, Right

Jon Danniells was with Skye Danniells at Circus Arts Institute.October 1

Jon Danniells October 3 near Atlanta via mobile
Last night at a restaurant in Atlanta as I was ordering a "pirate's" flight if rum, the couple next to me asked if I was at Burning Man and had we met, I was and we had, talk about small world

Jon Danniells October 3
Creating problems at security check, they confiscated my yogurt — with Skye Danniells at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Jon Danniells October 3
Getting ready to check and fly away

Jon Danniells October 3
And just like that we're back — at Albuquerque International Sunport.

en route to recycling

Jon Danniells October 4
near Las Vegas, NM

Jon Danniells-Friday near Santa Fe, NM
Sometimes unicorn sightings are less than stellar

Jon Danniells with Cindy Carr at Apothecary Lounge at Hotel Parq Central.
Friday

Jon Danniells SaturdayGetting a few hours of sleep before the Balloon festival — at Raddison Hotel & Water Park.

Jon Danniells was at Albuquerque New Mexico's Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Jon Danniells was at Balloon Fiesta Park.Saturday Balloon Fiesta Park

Jon Danniells Actually in traffic

Jon Danniells Saturday near Albuquerque, NMAt the Alburqurque Balloon Festival
which was not cancelled although the winds prevented any balloons from going up. More than a little disappointing after waking up at 4 am and being in traffic for over two hours.

Couch Crashing Nomads

10/7/2012

Durango to Santa Fe

Nancy's House

Atlanta--city cneter unicorn inn, barcelona, circus class ortho, got a job,

pirates,pals and burning man

debates and armand, the farmer down the road

much ado about balloons

regrets, I've had a few

Durango

10/5/2012

Diamond Belle Saloon

One of the draws of the Strater Hotel is the very touristy but fun Diamond Belle Saloon. It's decked out to the nines with Victorian flair, complete with "one of the most famous original ragtime piano bars in the Wild West", costumed dance hall girls and bartenders and of course a piano man pounding out tunes one after another on an incredible old piano.

And if that weren't enough every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night there is a gunfight.

It was amazing how packed the joint gets for that. We saw the beginning of the theatrics from outside through the window, but Skye being the kid from Hollywood raised around movie sets, had a been there, done that sort of attitude and I was more than fine with skipping it.

We all got sorted and headed out to find some suitable grub.

Cosmo Baby!!!

We passed a few restaurants that I'm sure would have been more than satisfactory, but there was some sort of flame display that I spied down the way.

"Let's just go as far as that fire and then we'll come back if we don't see anything we like"

We landed in front of Cosmo.

I know I said that it deserved it's own entry and it does, but the clock is ticking and time is not on my side when it comes to blogging and
story telling.

May I present you then with our wonderful dining experience at COSMOpolitan Restaurant Durango.

We were lured in with a very diverse and wonderful sounding menu.

The service was wonderful, very helpful and informed but not overbearing. And everything was well-timed, an important but often neglected aspect of a good dining experience.

So many good things to choose from but ultimately we had:

Lobster Corn Dogs

Remoulade sauce, truffle oil

Organic Quinoa and Vegetables Roasted local veggies, local beets, arugula salad with smoked tomato vinaigrette, sauteed wild mushrooms

We were torn between Salmon and their Marlin special, mostly because I was concerned about the environmental impact of our decision. I assumed that Marlin being a big ocean going fish was a definite no-no, which is why I was surprised that they were serving it in the first place. The restaruant was definitely eco-minded, "The Cosmo is dedicated to using all natural & organic ingredients when ever possible. We give preference to local farms & use product that is made in our community. We recycle our fryer oil, glass, cardboard & plastic."

Out came the Iphone and the Seafood Watch App and "There's uncertainty about the health and abundance of blue marlin populations; however, Seafood Watch recommends blue marlin from Hawaii as a "Good Alternative", due to minimal bycatch by the U.S. fleet."

So with a nod to Hemingway we ordered the Marlin.

Being a chocoholic desert was a no-brainer.

Chocolate Trio

Rotating selections

Everything was delicious.

Thumbs up and highly recommended from Jon-of-all-trades by Jon the Reviewer

Bikes, Beers and Magazines-My Kind of Town

Just across the street from the Strater is an amazing newstand with so many, many magazines and ones that I really like. I was finally able to find Communities: Life in Cooperative Culture, a magazine I've been hunting for quite some time now.

Needless to say, I spent too much time and money and walked out with an armful of magazines. Including some free local ones which lead me to Ska Brewery.

There were a couple of breweries right there on Main Street, but Ska was calling me even though it was pretty far of the beaten path. In fact we got lost on the way there even with the help of my Iphone.

High Flights

I was drawn to Ska Brewing Company because I read that it was 100% wind powered.

"Are you sure they have food?" Cindy asked with a tone that meant business.

"Of course they do", I said with a tone that meant I was full of it and was hoping that I would get lucky.

Lucky for me, Zia Taqueria had a little airstream trailer parked out front serving up fresh and tasty Mexican food.

The beers were all very nice and unique, especially the Ole Mole, a brew with a bite, which went perfectly with my fish tacos.

I picked up a mixed 12 pack, as well as some other nice swag, like a Ska luggage tag for my upcoming trip, which got pinched somewhere between Albuquerque and Atlanta, dang TSA, and something I hope to be able to use in the future, The Beer Drinker's Guide to Colorado.

Unbelievable blue sky, perfect for a road trip

Cortez to Durango- A Day of Misnomers

10/4/2012

Signs of the Times

We rattled into Cortez well after the sunset.
Cindy was quite pleased with herself having found a vacancy after several hotels she called were all booked up.

As we rolled through town we saw vacancy after vacancy. The following day with perfect 20/20 hindsight I would find out that there were plenty of vacancies at the Mesa Verde National Park hotel and the rooms all had amazing views.

Oh well….

Landing in Cortez still ended up being a much better idea than driving on to Durango and either missing Mesa Verde or having to backtrack.

And the hotel Cindy booked us at was next to a really nice Mexican restaurant that ended up being quite delicious. So sometimes things do end up working out better than one’s original plans.

And we did end up seeing a slew of incredible old signs in near perfect condition.

I snapped a pic of my favorite the following morning.

Falling Forwards and Upwards

It's only 45 miles from Cortez to Durango around an hour's drive and we had only two points of interest to hit in between.

It should be no problem....

Mesa Verde, our main goal from the night before. The reason we landed in Cortez to begin with.

Off we headed, climbing up and up the mesa to the cliff dwellings of the Anaasází or should I say the Ancestral Pueblo.

When we visited years ago Anaasazi was the term used, we even bought a beautiful coffee table pictorial book of the Anaasazi people and their cliff dwellings. Only problem is the word Anaasází is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy" which I suppose the Hopi and the descendants of the Ancestral Pueblo took offense to.

Meanwhile.....

Please Don’t Misconstrue or Take This The Wrong Way

Earlier in this blog I mentioned how sometimes one's plans don't go as intended and it actually works out better.

We were very excited to show Skye Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park, actually in all of North America, the one that awed us so many years ago, long before Skye came into our lives.

We had tickets to the 1:30 tour but we landed in our parking space a few minutes before 1:00, which meant if we raced over we could probably make the earlier tour and end up saving some valuable time, better spent in Durango than hanging around waiting for a tour to start.

I decided the stress wasn't worth it, which is very uncharacteristic of me.

We took our time getting sorted, knowing we had plenty of time before the 1:30 group.

So when we got to the entrance at 1:10ish and a crowd of people were exiting, we were more than a little confused.

Turns out some guy had a heart attack and they were clearing out the Cliff Palace. Also turns out the guy having the heart attack died.

That definitely changed our plans, although not nearly as much as his.

See, I don't mean to be callous, really I don't but....

Seriously, I felt horrible that someone just died.

And of a heart attack, that's rather random. You've got to understand that while at the Grand Canyon, I found a book about all, and I'm sure its not really all, so "most" ,of the fatalities that have occurred in the park.

Cindy ate it up and horrified Skye and myself reading to us all sorts of tales of deaths, accidental and other.

In a way, our stumbling upon this misfortune seemed somewhat fitting.

That said, in the next couple of days I would hear of a couple friends' family members passing unexpectedly, thanks to Facebook and our plugged in world.

Cut to the Chase, Get to the Point

All of a sudden our well planned excursion was on the rocks and in need of new direction.

We ended up in a stand-by line for a tour of the Balcony House, also known amount the park rangers as the "Indiana Jones" tour.

“Balcony House, with its well-preserved rooms, kivas, and plazas, stands as a tribute to those who built and occupied the site in the thirteenth century, the ancestors of the Pueblo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. Balcony House is also a tribute to the men who excavated and stabilized the site in the early part of the twentieth century…”

Chutes and Ladders

Or rather ladders and crawl spaces;

What the Balcony House lacks in size and grandeur, especially when compared to the Palace House, it makes up for with its hands-on, interactive quality.

Also due to the nature of the tour, the group is smaller and more intimate.

One certainly gets a different perspective after climbing up a 30 foot ladder and crawling through the same tunnels that the Ancestral Pueblo did hundreds of years before.

Looking out from the Balcony House high above the canyon floor makes one really wonder why these people chose to go to such great lengths to live in these cave dwellings.

There are many theories but not definite answers.

Very awe-inspiring and thought provoking.

What's In A Name

The city Cortez was probably named after the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortez who helped topple the Aztec Empire, but was never anywhere near Colorado or New Mexico.

That said, the other place we wanted to see on our way to Durango were the Aztec Ruins.

I had no idea there were Aztec ruins in Colorado.

That's because there aren't.

The site called the Aztec ruins, that I was so excited about seeing, were mistakenly thought by early white explorers to be relics of the Aztec civilization but were actually more dwellings of the Ancestral Pueblo.

Given how far behind schedule we were running we decided not to see Aztec ruins and continue on towards Durango, which by the way derives its name from Durango Mexico, which takes its name from Durango Spain. I would imagine it had more to do with both New World Durangos originally being mining towns, but that's just a guess.

The More Things Change...

Cindy and I were in Durango many years before and really loved its quaint Main Street which looked just like we remember without the snow that is.

In fact we think we may have stayed at the same hotel, the Historic Strater Hotel, built in 1887 and renovated several times, very much the cornerstone of the Downtown Main Street.

Cindy and I would end up in the Saloon later that night after a wonderful dinner, but the evening's adventures will be for another entry.

Promises, promises

Sunrise to Sunset

10/2/2012

Good Morning World I didn’t sleep well.

Not a big shock, I don’t that often. I was nervous about not waking up in time, I pretty much always do.

Skye rambled out of bed like a champ, much to Cindy’s surprise. Skye can and will sleep till noon on a regular basis, but when we’re on a mission, she can jump right up and make it happen.

Today’s sunrise adventure was no exception. By the time we got to the Grand Canyon Lodge after avoiding several deer-too-close-to-the-highway incursions, she was racing to Bright Angel’s Point like it was mid-day.

We were jogging to keep up with her.

She had her new camera and was determined to get some class-A shots.

And that she did .

Best Laid Plans

So we had planned on catching the sunrise, which we did. And then getting some sort of cheaper-ish breakfast at the deli next to the Grand Canyon Lodge, which was already in full swing buffet mode before the sun even crested.

And then it dawned on us, pun sort of intended; why wait to eat a mediocre breakfast on the run when we could head back to the Inn and have a wonderful meal and be that much closer to being on the road.

And so that is exactly what we did and it worked out perfectly.

One more wonderful meal at the Jacob Inn Lodge and that much closer to our next destination, which at this point we still didn't know.

Designated Driver ? & Incongruities

What are those three smoke stacks belching out who-knows-what?

Who knows? Right ?

Cindy was going to take the lion’s share of this day for a number of reasons. However, it wasn’t too long into the day that I realized once again that the root word of endurance is endure, and while Cindy is a champ and more often than not is there with the best of them , at the end of the day, I’m the stupid Energizer bunny that just keeps on going and going and….

Until I hit that wall and Cindy scrapes me up.

Luckily today no scraping was needed.

I motored on, inspired by the amazing scenery.

That’s Not a Detour, That’s a Destination

Sometimes, no often times, it is really hard to tell whether a “tourist” destination is really worth the time.

I’d traveled across the Southwest so many times, and somehow Monument Valley never made it into the itinerary.

We were much too close this time not go and at least give it a shot.

Monument Valley is on Indian land, meaning our recently purchased National Park Pass was worth nothing. I must admit I was a bit leery, after our Crazy Horse experience years ago(long story). So waved off the tours and aimed the Rav towards the self-guided 14 mile tour.

Oops.

We were all of 25 yards into our adventure, when I realized that our little SUV and more importantly the 4-bike rig we had on the back were not made for off-roading.

We turned around after less than 3 miles but still what we saw....

Monumental indeed.

Shaken Not Stirred

Slowly and only somewhat surely, we managed to make it out of Monument Valley intact.

We still had a long road ahead of us. We were aiming for Durango Colorado and we were determined to make sure we hit Four Corners on the way.

How Does One Miss Four States?

It's actually not that hard, particularly when the sign is Four Corner's Market and then goes on to tell all the souvenirs available.

It certainly seemed like a tourist trap to me.

It was.

It was also the only place in the United States where you can be in four states at the same time.

Seriously.

Racing to the Dawn
I saw the sun setting in my mirror and I knew it was going to be a beautiful sunset.

I hit 80 mph plus trying to get to a high point in the road to snap of a photo before it was too late.

I made it just in time.

Skye and I were racing across the highway to get to the top of a little hill to get in the last looks to end of a long day.

We didn't make it to Durango, which ended up being a good thing, but more on that to come.

Below the Rim

10/1/2012

view from the bridge

What Goes Down,
Must Go Up

Today was our big hike, the North Kaibab Trail. It was shorter than the one we did the day before but the elevation loss and gain was significant.

The guide book said that it should take 3-4 hours, which is why it was good that we got an early start.

from the NPS website:

"The North Kaibab Trail is the least visited but most difficult of the three maintained trails at Grand Canyon National Park. Almost a thousand feet higher at the trailhead than South Rim trails, hikers on the North Kaibab Trail pass through every ecosystem to be found between Canada and Mexico. At the rim, hikers will glimpse the vast maw of Bright Angel Canyon through fir trees and aspen, ferns and wildflowers. The trail as it descends through the Redwall Limestone is blasted directly into the cliff, "literally hewn from solid rock in half-tunnel sections." Farther down, the ecology progresses so that hikers look up at the surrounding canyon walls through a blend of riparian and desert vegetation. Along the way, Roaring Springs and Ribbon Falls both offer rewarding side trips that are wonderfully juxtaposed to the often hot conditions of the main trail.
Built throughout the 1920s to match the quality and grade of the South Kaibab Trail, the present-day North Kaibab Trail replaced an older route infamous for crossing Bright Angel Creek 94 times (the present-day trail crosses only 6 times). Even though it is masterfully constructed and is a maintained trail, don't be deceived by the apparent ease and convenience of hiking it; from beginning to end, the North Kaibab Trail has its challenges.
Locations/Elevations
Mileages

North Kaibab trailhead (8241 ft / 2512 m) to Supai Tunnel (6800 ft / 2073 m):
1.7 mi ( 2.5 km)
Supai Tunnel (6800 ft / 2073 m) to Roaring Springs (5220 ft / 1591 m):
3.0 mi (4.8 km)

Roaring Springs (5220 ft / 1591 m) to Pumphouse Residence (4600 ft / 1402 m):
Pumphouse Residence (4600 ft / 1402 m) to Cottonwood Campground (4080 ft / 1244 m):
North Kaibab trailhead (8241 ft / 2512 m) to Cottonwood Campground (4080 ft / 1244 m):
Cottonwood Campground (4080 ft / 1244 m) to Ribbon Falls (3720 ft / 1134 m):
Cottonwood Campground (4080 ft / 1244 m) to Bright Angel Campground (2480 ft / 756 m):
North Kaibab trailhead (8241 ft / 2512 m) to Bright Angel Campground (2480 ft / 756 m):

0.7 mi (1.1 km)
1.4 mi (2.3 km)
6.8 mi (10.9 km)
1.6 mi (2.6 km)
7.2 mi (11.6 km)
14 mi (22.5 km)"

Making a Run For It

We made it to the Supai Tunnel, around 1.7 miles that felt like it was straight downhill regardless of the number of switchbacks.

We were all feeling pretty good. Our legs were a little shaky but we made it down pretty fast without any problem.

Which is why I decided to go further.

I didn't think it was a good idea for Skye to come with me because I was planning on getting down to a bridge I could see from the tunnel and then attempt to catch them before they made it back up to the trail-head.

I gave myself 30 minutes to make it down and then an hour to make it back. That seemed doable. I also decided that had 30 minutes passed and I hadn't made it down to the bridge I would turn around and head back up.

View from tunnel to bridge

That Wasn't So Hard

As I trotted away from Cindy and Skye, I started doing some calculations and realized that if I gave them an hour and a half lead, it would be practically impossible for me to catch up with them before they reached the rim.

I also didn't want to not reach the bridge in my self-imposed cut-off time.

So I started to run. Actually it was more of a jog but it wasn't walking.

I made it down to the bridge in around 15 minutes.

I snapped off a few pics and then headed back up, knowing I didn't have any time to spare, if I planned to catch up with them.

I didn't do much running on the way back up, learning long ago that if you are walking as fast as you are running uphill, you might as well save that extra effort for when it will be more useful.

So I did end up running flat areas and where there wasn't too much of an incline.

I made it back up in under 30 minutes. Less than 45 minutes round trip, half the time I allotted.

And I was dying.

I felt a slight strain in my groin and I was sucking for air. Keep in mind not only is the elevation gain/loss as significant as it is, but the trail starts off at 8250 feet to begin with so you're also dealing with being at a high altitude which I was more than a little aware of at the moment.

They had a 45 minute head start and I was already exhausted.

No rest for the weary as they say.

After an hour of thinking I might pass out or worse. An hour of trying to think which would be worse, trying to hitch a ride back up with the mule team tour, being rescued by rangers and carried up on a stretcher or getting helivaced, although looking at the terrain the last one wasn't much of an option.

I did catch them.

And then and only then did I finally catch my breath.

Winning?

I did eventually overtake Cindy and Skye.

Skye took this as a competitive throw down and raced up the mountain as soon as I rejoined them.

Teens.....

Meanwhile I was still wheezing like a 70 year old with sewing machine legs.

Finally, after many rest stops I managed to catch my wind and hike on like a normal human.

In the end we did all make it up and in a wonderful way each managed to achieve a personal milestone, as it were.

It was a tough hike and made for a good day.

One of These Things Doesn't Belong...

So the California Condor sighting the day before had me scratching my head a bit.

As did the road sign warning of "Bison on Road"

And then when we actually saw a herd of these behemoths. It got me jumping out of the car and scrambling thorough the forest to get a better view and so Skye could take some pictures, but also had me scratching my head again.

from the National Park Service:
'Visitors to the North Rim may see large herds of bison in the meadows near the Entrance
Station. Bison are not native to Grand Canyon National Park. In fact, these particular
animals were brought to the Kaibab Plateau in 1906 in an effort to breed them with cattle
and produce a hardy bison variety. It was an experiment not economically successful and
abandoned several years later. Today, this hybrid group, or “beefalo” herd, is managed by
the Arizona Game and Fish Department. The House Rock Valley Wildlife Area, located
just east of the park, was designated as a bison range in 1950 to provide them a home and
reduce conflicts with wildlife and cattle.

Since 2000, the bison hybrids have been traveling from the wildlife area to the Kaibab
Plateau and into Grand Canyon National Park. The herd now numbers more than 400 head,
with the majority staying within park boundaries year round. Unfortunately these extremely
large grazing animals are fouling sensitive and critical water sources, trampling and removing
delicate vegetation, and compacting fragile soils. Grand Canyon National Park is working
closely with federal and state managers who are determined to reduce or eliminate the
bison’s negative impacts to park resources."

Not so great for the local environment but definitely a highlight for sightseers. Hey how about some elephants?

We continued on back to the Inn, planning to return to see the sunrise over the canyon the next morning, which would mean rousing the clan from there bed around 4:30 in the morning.

Ouch and Skye is not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination.