Road Trippin' - Part 2; White Pocket

Day 4 White Pocket

I had a photo tour planned for White Pocket, which was going to take all day and we had to meet our guide in Utah at 8 am.  They told me it was only a half hour from Page, so we got up about 6 to shower, eat breakfast and actually find our meeting spot.  

Glen Canyon bridge & dam

Crossing into Utah meant we had to cross the Glenn Canyon bridge.  Now Hubby isn't fond of high places and I have a irrational fear of extremely high or long bridges, so crossing this bridge wasn't really something either of us wanted to do.  As we approached the bridge I could sense Hubby tense up and I held my breath, like that was going to save us should we plummet it over the side.  As much as I wanted to I couldn't close my eyes and for the life of me I couldn't help but look down and see the dam workers' tiny cars and trucks  parked on the dam.  From were we were they looked like toys.  We made it across just fine.

We got to our meeting spot a little early and I have been txting with our tour organizer, who told me our guide's name was Jim and he would be driving a white suburban.  He wasn't hard to spot because he was the only other vehicle besides ours in the parking lot.

When we first met Jim.  I wasn't sure what to think.  He was is his late 60's and looked kind of like a wild mountain man, with a long white beard.  I thought this is the guy who's going to take us out in the middle of nowhere?  What are we getting ourselves into?  Turned out he was a pretty cool guy.  We followed Jim in our car to where we would start our tour, and met Chris the tour company's owner.  After signing some release papers for liability purposes, Hubby, Jim and I climbed into the suburban and headed for White Pocket.

White Pocket isn't that far from Page, but because of the condition of the roads it takes about 2 hours to get there.  It's all dirt and clay and Jim told us they only blade it twice a year, so if you go in there when it's wet and rut it up, those ruts stay, making it hard for everybody else to drive through there.  We had arrived 2 days after it rained, the ruts were deep and there were still some wet spots that you did not want to attempt to drive through.  There was one spot where we had to pass through a gate and the wet spot was right in the middle of the gate, so we had no choice.  Jim kicked it into 4-wheel drive and was able to maneuver his way through, but he said every summer there's at least one person who gets stuck in that spot and nobody moves until they're pushed out

On the way out to White Pocket, Jim explained the geography of the area, how the mountains were formed, and showed us the trail heads that would take us to different places within the Vermilion Cliffs area. We passed by an old wagon trail called the Winter Road and Jim explained that the winter road was used by young Mormons on their honeymoon, who were on their way to be sealed in the temple, and they had to use this road because the Honeymoon Trail wasn't accessible in the winter.  Of course this was back before there were modern roads and vehicles.  We passed by a working cattle ranch out in the middle of nowhere.  Jim told us he was the real deal, rifle toting, cow chasing, living off the grid, rancher.  I would of liked to get some photos of his place but figured he lived way out there because he liked his privacy and I respected that.

When we arrived at White Pocket we had the whole place to ourselves.  We were going to be there most of the day, so Jim loaded up his backpack with water, snacks and sandwiches for lunch and off we went.  It's a fairly easy hike or would of been if I wasn't lugging around a 25 lb backpack with camera gear I thought I needed, but never used.  First we had to walk about a 1/4 of a mile from the parking lot in deep sand.  Jim said this was the worst part and it would get easier once we reached the rocky area.  We got to the top of a small hill and there it was.  White Pocket. 

Swirls and lines carved into the rocks by wind erosion

It's an interesting place.  Jim explained that Arizona was once an ancient seabed and this particular area of Arizona when the water receded the mud flats dried, leaving a white crust on top of the rock and interesting cracks in the crust that made the rocks look like brains.  Hence the name brain rock.   In the brain rock, there were also fossils of some sort of ancient sea worm.  I suppose when the mud flats dried the sea worms became trapped and turned to these weird little fossils embedded in the rock.  Where the wind had eroded away the white crust, it left red swirls and curving lines in the limestone, which made for some interesting photos.  But something in my brain stopped working and I completely forgot everything I knew about photography and I just snapped away at anything and everything, not bothering to took to for good compositions or figure out what the best settings were.  At one point I know I set the camera into aperture mode, set it to f8 or f16 and let the camera

Seaworm fossils

figure the rest out.  I'm kicking myself now for that, because I know my photos don't do the place any justice.  I was free to walk pretty much where ever I wanted to go while Jim and Hubby explored on their own or just sat and talked.  Jim was a photographer too, so he was able to point out different area I might want to look at.  It was a beautiful day, with nice blue skys and puffy clouds and no wind in the early part of the day, so I was able to get some nice reflection shots in the little pools of water that collected here and there.

Reflecting pool in the middle of the desert

We stopped to have lunch, which consited of turkey or ham sandwiches, chips and cookies.  Jim wanted to show us another part of the area, but he could see I was getting tired and the wind was starting to pick up so he decided we should head back to the truck.  It was about this time that other people started to show up too, and the peaceful quite was broken by the wind carrying their voices.


Because we were at such a high elevation, but mostly because neither one of us is in shape by any means, the walk back to the truck was a tough one.  Jim made us stop every so often to sit and  catch our breath telling us nobody was allowed to die on this trip.  Jim had no problems with the hiking, but then again he's been been living in Page since the 70's and he's used to it. 

Us at White Pocket

On the way back, we talked a little bit about photography.  He told me about the camera he shoots with, the lenses he has, and that it was his former boss who got him into photography.  We also talked about our kids, and the sod farm we run back home.  We had a great time with him and he thanked us for allowing him to come to work that day.

We got back to Page about 3:30 and I was so exhausted I just wanted to lay down until supper and then crawl in bed for the night. 

Road Trippin' - Part 1 Minnesota to Arizona
Road Trippin' - Part 3: Antelope Canyon

Road Trippin' - Part 1; Minnesota to Arizona

For our honeymoon, we took a road trip to the Grand Canyon and then on to Hoover Dam.  Because I was busy with the wedding plans, I left the trip planning to Hubby.  Little did I know at that time that we were somewhat following Route 66.  We traveled through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona along I-40, stopping at some of the small towns and attractions along the old historic road.  Ever since then I have wanted to go back and travel Route 66.   

Last winter on our way home from Florida, Hubby brought up the idea recreating the trip for our 20th anniversary which was in November.  I was so excited I immediately started planning; I wanted to hit all the things we missed the first time.  I guess you could say this trip was 20 years in the making.

The week before we left was filled with anticipation and disappointment.  My mother-in-law had recently passed away and the probate court date wasn’t until the week before we were to leave.  Hubby was waiting for a letter from the court so he could take care of some of her assets.  Each day the letter didn’t come I began to worry that we weren’t going to be able to go.  It was down to the wire and I hadn’t even started to pack or make hotel arrangements.  Two days before we were to leave, he got tied of waiting around for this letter and went to the courthouse to see if he could get it there.  Luckily he was able to get the letter and take care of what he needed to the next day and I was frantically cleaning the house, washing clothes, packing and making arrangements at the last minute.

Day 1:  Minneapolis, Mn to  Pratt, KS

We got up around 4 and were on the road by 5.   At home, we were experiencing unseasonably warm weather and heading towards a major storm that was wreaking havoc in Southern California. How this would affect us we weren’t sure.  We just crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.  We had great weather the whole day.  By the time, we hit Missouri it was in the 70’s.  I was hoping we’d make it to Kansas City by lunch so we could try some of the famous BBQ it’s so well known for but instead we ended stopping at a place in Bethany which was ok, but not great. 

Somewhere along the Kansas Turnpike

In Kansas, we traveled down I-35. If you've ever traveled through Kansas you’d know once you get on the turnpike there is absolutely nothing to look at for miles in all directions.   It’s a very long stretch of boring road with only a few places to stop for gas.  Seemed like we were driving for hours.  Once we left the Flint Hills area things got a little more interesting with a few trees on an occasional farm here and there.  My mother-in-law used to winter in Arizona and had found a "shot cut" between Wichita and Tucumcari, NM that would take us through some little towns and what seemed like back roads.  We stopped for the night in Pratt, Kansas.

Day 2:  Pratt, KS to Gallup, NM

The Temperature had dropped overnight and we woke up to fog and a chill in the air with temps in the 40’S.  Checking the weather for the day ahead, it was snowing in Flagstaff.  We thought we were going to shoot for Holbrook but it was another 12 hours of straight driving, no stops.  With the fog, we knew we wouldn’t make it.

Foggy morning on the Kansas plaines

We passed through a town called Hooker that had a Chinese massage parlor with table showers.  I’ll leave it up to you to figure out what it was. This shortcut we were talking sure didn’t seem like one as we passed through one cow town after another; some of them looking kind of sketchy.   It looked like a modern day wild west.  We thought we’d stop for lunch in Dalhart, TX, but it was Sunday and there wasn’t much open except for fast food and two Mexican restaurants.   We decided to stop at one but got ourselves turned around and were heading the wrong way.  When I saw what I thought was the restaurant we were looking for it looked busy so we stopped.   When we walked in it was pretty much empty and everything was in Spanish.  The four years of high school Spanish left me with just enough vocabulary to ask where is the bathroom, so we decided to not chance it and left.  There’s not much between Dalhart and Tucumcari but we did manage to find a bar and grill in a little town called Logan and finally got to stop for lunch around 1:30.

We joined up with I40 in Tucumcari, NM.  It was interesting to watch the landscape change.  In Kansas and Oklahoma, it was flat prairie, once we hit Texas the prairie changed to rough patchy shrub like ground cover and once we hit Tucumcari we started to see mountains.  I tried to capture the scenery as we drove by at 65-70 mph and surprisingly got some decent shots.  Nothing great but acceptable.  We stopped for the night in Gallup.  650 miles was enough driving for Hubby when he had been battling the traffic and wind all day.

Our hotel was nice but not without its issues.  The WI-FI signal for our hotel was weaker than that of the hotel next door so every time I tried to get online it either wouldn’t connect or would kick me off in a matter of minutes.   And just before bed we had to switch rooms due to a plumbing issue but overall it was clean, comfortable and quiet.

Day 3:  Gallup, NM to Page, AZ 

What a difference a day makes.  The other day I was getting snow and rain alerts on my phone as we traveled and we passed by some areas where we could see the snow or rain falling in the distance. Arizona snow storms are different from those in Minnesota.  Wait a day or so and it melts; where at home if we get dumped on it sticks around for months.

We woke up to light rain and clouds but it quickly cleared to cloudless blue skies.   On our way, out of Gallup, we drove down part of Route 66 to get the freeway.  I guess I was expecting it to look like it did in its hay day and was a little disappointed to see a mix of rundown empty buildings with the new.  It’s a shame that the interstate pretty much killed the little towns along the way.

Giant Route 66 shield, Winslow, Az

San Fransico Peaks, Flagstaff, AZ

We stopped for a quick photo op in Winslow.  The giant 66 road shield in the intersection of Old Hwy 66 and N Kinsley Ave at Standin’ on the Corner Park.  From Winslow, we got our first look at snow capped mountains.  The San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff.  Little did I know we would be driving almost right at the base off those mountains when we turned on to Hwy 89 heading for Page.  It was an awesome view, but to close to get any decent photos.

On our way to Page, we stopped at Sunset Crater National Monument.  Since it was President’s day admission was free.  We drove through the park stopping to walk through the Bonito Lava Flow and then drove up to the volcano overlook.

Hubby and I at Sunset Crater.  The volcano is the peak behind us

Sunset Crater is two parks in one.  Drive farther through the park and you come to Wupatki National Monument where you can visit ancient pueblo ruins. 

Wupatki pueblo ruins

It was after lunch when we left the park, we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and we weren’t sure if there was any place to stop before reaching Page,  which was still 2 hours away.  There really isn’t much along this stretch of highway.  It’s all reservation land with small communities here and there.  Some of them have little vendor booths you could stop at to buy local arts and jewelry.  When we came through there were only a few open and most of them looked like little shacks about to collapse.

As we got closer to Page we had our first taste of mountain driving with switchbacks, steep uphill climbed and cliffs that dropped off right next to the road. We were both nervous, Hubby was gripping the steering wheel while I was holding my breath and praying.  We made it into town about 3:30. After getting settled in to our hotel room we went looking for something to eat.  That was kind of tough since just about everything was closed for the holiday or for the season or just because it was Monday.  We did find a bar and grill open and had an early dinner.

After dinner, we were looking for something to do but since there wasn’t much open we didn’t have very many choices.   I suggested Horseshoe Bend.  It was one of the reasons we had come to Page and since it was late afternoon the sun would be setting by the time we got there.   I really wanted to get a sunset photo over Horseshoe Bend, but as I discovered this was the wrong time of year.  The sun was setting off to the side and it was cloudy so there wasn’t much of a show.  I had read about the hike to the edge; and thought ¾ of a mile would be easy;  but what I wasn't prepared for the fact that most of it was down a steep hill that you had to walk back up.  

Horseshoe Bend from the top of the hill. Look close to see the tiny people along the rim

We stood at the top of the hill and considered turning around and leaving.  Looking down at the tiny people dotted along the rim, Hubby asked where the guardrail was.  See I had neglected to tell him there wasn’t one; knowing he would refuse to go if he knew.  I told him we were already there and if he came with me that night I wouldn’t make him come back; as I had no intention of coming back when the sky was clear try for a better photo.    

Horseshoe Bend at the rim

Slowly we made our way down, watching the people coming up who looked exhausted.  We got to the rim and stood back for a bit watching people take selfies with their backs to the edge while sitting just inches away.  One wrong move could send them over the edge 1000 feet to the bottom.   This made Hubby very nervous and he couldn’t watch for very long.  I summoned up enough courage to stand about 3 feet from the edge and take a few pictures but it really made me nervous when just as I was about to snap some pictures this guy, totally oblivious to anything other then himself, comes and stands right in front of me.  One wrong move could of sent us both over the edge.  He did this a few times not just to me but to a few other people as well. 

  

We spent about a half hour at the rim.  The sun was going down and we wanted to be at the top of the hill before it was dark.  I don’t know how long it took us but right towards the end was the toughest.  I had to stop and catch my breath a few times, this other couple who was coming up behind us stopped to ask if I needed help.  I politely declined and told them I made it this far I could make it another 100 yards or so.  It was dark when we got to the top of hill and I stopped to take a picture of the city lights in the distance, but it didn't turn out because I didn't have my tripod.  We made our way back to the hotel and collapsed in bed for the night.  We had to be up early for tomorrow’s adventure.

 Road Trippin' - Part 2; White Pocket

Top 10 Photos of 2016

A photography group I belong to is doing a year in review, where we go through all of our photos from the past year and pick our top ten.  It's more difficult that I thought.  At first I thought I'd go to my Viewbug page and see what others thought were my top 10, but then I remembered it's my top 10.  The ones that I'm exceptionally proud of, or the ones that may not be technically perfect but have have a special meaning attached to them.  Most of these were chosen because there was a certain technique or skill I was trying to master and I think they best represent that particular technique/skill and some were chosen just because they make me happy when I look at them.

Here's my top 10 of 2016

Working on depth of field

Long exposure with a small aperture

This is from our Florida vacation last winter

Working on HDR

Working on HDR with long exposure

Working on post processing to make colors pop

This one just makes me happy remembering our Valentines Day cruise

Experimenting with lightpainting

Another just makes me happy.  My puppy

If you'd like to see more of my photography you can find me on Viewbug or Google+

Shadowy figure at the top of the stairs

With Halloween right around the corner the radio station I listen to was in the Halloween sprit and asking listeners to call in if they're ever seen a ghost or lived in a haunted house.  I didn't have time to call in, so I'll share my story here.

I grew up in an old house, that had been in my dad's family for 4 generations.  I always thought there was something there but never saw anything strange until one night.  My sister and I were home with a friend.  I needed something from my bedroom, but the upstairs hall light was burnt out and I was to scared to go up there alone.   The top of the stairs turns 90 degrees, so when you get to the top there's a little nook off the hallway that leads into one of the bedrooms and a window opposite the bedroom door.

My sister, our friend and I all went upstairs together, using a flash light to see.  When we got to that turn in the stairway we shined the flash light on the wall between the bedroom door and the window and very clearly saw the shadow of a man in a wide brimmed hat.  It scared the crap out of us and we ran down the stairs without killing each other in the process.

There's no explanation as to how that shadow could've been cast in that spot because the bedroom door was closed and there was nothing outside the 2nd floor window that would make such a shape.  I never saw it again after that, but it was something that stuck with me for years.

A few years ago, while doing some genealogy research, I ran across a shadowy photo of my Great Grandmother's second husband standing in the doorway of our grainery shed.  I immediately recognized the figure in the photo as the shadow figure I had seen at the top of the stairs years earlier.

Regency Beauty Institute

My daughter started at Regency on August 29, 2016.  She was only one month into her education when Regency closed their doors.  She paid the school $7000 (of her own money) for her future tuition just a week before they closed.  Now it looks like that money is gone and this has discouraged her from wanting to continue her education in this field.

I've been scouring the web looking for answers and I'm finding them few and far between, so I'm sharing every little bit of information I can get my hands on with who ever wants it.  Some of this will only pertain to Minnesota students but I'll also post any national news I can find too. If you've been affected by this school closing or know someone who was, share your story and this post.  I'd love to hear what other information people are getting.  I'll be updating as information becomes available.

10-5-2016
This is the latest from the Dept of Education
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/regency

10-4-2016
Got a phone call from the OHE stating there was only $10,000 to be divided up among the 450+ students in Minnesota.  Also if we are granted a loan discharge and then my daughter decides later to go back to cosmetology school, that loan will need to be paid off before she could receive any other financial aid.

10-4-2016
This information is from an email sent to me by the MN Office of Higher Education


"Our office has not been able to get confirmation from Regency that they will be refunding students. Our office will be submitting claims to $60,000 in bonds the state has with Regency if those refunds are not made. The only issue we anticipate is that there will be more refunds necessary than bond funds so student claims will end up getting pro-rated. This process for a refund will take several months."

9-29-2016
Press Release from the Minnesota Office of Higher Learning
http://www.ohe.state.mn.us/mPg.cfm?pageID=2215 

#regencybeautyinstitute