Burns Boys + 1: The Grand Trip South

We started for our Arizona Trip as soon as Michael could get away from last day of school stuff. We were supposed to hike Kannaraville Canyon, but it was SOOO windy and unseasonably cold. So we headed for St. George and had dinner with Michael's parents at the Black Bear.

The next morning we headed out bright and early to go see the Mountain Meadow site where a sad event in 1857 Southern Utah and LDS church history occurred when traveling immigrants coming through the area were detained and later all 120 men, women, and children over the age of 6 were shot. I felt it was important for my kids to learn the history lesson and it's a church site I have always wanted to visit.

It was really cold and windy here, too.

Next we headed over to Pine Valley Church. Its the oldest LDS chapel still in use. The settlers of the Pine Valley logging and saw milling community wanted to build a church that would also function as a school and a community building. Ebenezer Bryce was approached to design and supervise the construction. The chapel was constructed of local pine and set on a foundation of granite and red limestone. Since Bryce's experience was as a shipbuilder, the attic of the building is essentially a ship's hull turned upside down. Each of the walls was constructed flat on the ground, then lifted up and tied at teh corners with strips of rawhide. The chapel was completed in 1868.

They painted wood grains on the paneling.

The boatlike attic

When we got back to St. George - we stopped by Judd's store for their famous breadsticks and their candy counter.

Next we headed to the Jacob Hamblin Home in Santa Clara. He was an early convert to Mormonism and was a pioneer. He is famous for being a liaison between the first white settlers and the native tribes in Utah. The house that he occupied from 1863 - 1869, has been restored and filled with pioneer arifacts.

This is the boys with cotton. They had some really neat spinning wheels that I thought I got pictures of, but apparently didn't. If you go make sure and check them out. They are upstairs.

Zion's National Park

Weeping Rock

Hiking the Narrows

Setting up camp

This is how you cook hotdogs when no campfires are allowed

After Zion's we left and headed towards the Grand Canyon. We planned a stop in Cameron for lunch. Here is a T-shirt at Cameron Trading Post

Inside the trading post - we stopped for Navajo Tacos

We made it to the Grand Canyon

Watch Tower on the east end

Grand View

We stayed in Flagstaff in the KOA Teepee that night

The Lava River Cave near Flagstaff was pretty cool.

until we got to the end and discovered cave mice - eek!

We also checked out some ancient Native American ruins.

Here are the boys at Montezuma Castle.

We also did the famous Sedona Scenic Byway Drive.

With a stop at Slide Rock State Park.

On Sunday we drove an hour east to visit the town my mom grew up in. We stopped by her house and learned a lot about Winslow thanks to the lovely people who live there today. This first picture is where the Winslow Times (that my Granddaddy ran) used to be.

Train station where my mom went every Sunday night to watch the trains come in.

The house my mom grew up in.

The original fence is still there

But the best thing was seeing my mom's 7 year old handprint in the backyard

Duncan's 7 year old hand fit just perfectly.

Here is another cool story. When the new owners leveled the shed, they went through old barrels that had been used for storage and found a teacup that my grandfather brought back from Asia during the war. She was kind enough to pass the cup and saucer on to me.

Here is the old church my mom grew up going to

Here is her highschool

She loved trains - they would go watch the trains come in every Sunday night.

We also had to go visit some other historic places in Winslow

The next day we went to the Out of Africa Wild Animal Preserve

Before we headed south -- we stopped at the coolest native american site - Walnut Canyon. You actually get to go in the dwellings. It is in a stunning canyon.

On Wednesday we had a bunch of time to kill in Tucson, before we drove down to Ft. Huachuca. We went to Saguara National Park. Good things we went when we did. It is now threatened by wild fire. It was super hot - but they had a scenic route that you could drive.