The White Whale!

Listen! do you hear that? The sound of drip irrigation watering thirsty cacti and gray cloud sage? After about 2 weeks of work, mostly spent on changing sprinklers over to drip irrigation, but also including digging of holes and trenches, the front yard is finished. Jo and I spent an hour and a half shoveling rock on to the yard last night to add the finishing touches. In true Nevada style, all the neighbors came out, not because we were working, but because the sun was down and it was cool enough to come out. Common consensus is the neighborhood is happy to see someone own this house that cares enough to work in the yard and make it look nice. One of our neighbors even came over and helped us shovel for a while. So, because I know you all have little to no frame of reference for the front yard I present the following:

This is the front yard after digging the holes for new plants. The lack of grass has nothing to do with our yard work, there was no grass in the first place.

Now here is the yard, finished, with Cacti in the foreground and small sage plants in the background. Mucho better no?

We still have a bit of rock left to fill in the bald spots and then line the back wall of the back yard. Speaking of the back yard, look for an update sooner or later (probably later).

The Dirt Between My Toes

My fingernails are translucent. My hair has lost its built-up grease. I smell like body wash and lotion. I know the time by hours and minutes again.

Ahhh...the joys of camping. I love the fact that nothing is perfect when we pitch a tent. It's okay to look unkempt, smell unclean, wear unmatched clothing and do what we want when we want. In nature, the only thing that matters is...well...how we enjoy it. Cory and I both agree that we are constantly in awe with the world that surrounds us and the wonders that nature has created. Our church is the towering trees and desolate deserts, the cool breeze and hot wind, the widest oceans and the highest mountains. Our visit to the Grand Canyon was the first for both of us, and it's true what they say. Nothing can prepare a person for the enormity of this huge, awe-inspiring hole in the ground. Throughout the weekend we looked across the canyon, into the canyon and around the canyon from several points along the North Rim, and every single one of those moments truly blew me away. Talk about putting a person in her place. I felt small and insignificant. In the "grand" scheme of things, we aren't that big after all.

Camping for the two of us is the equivalent of lots and lots of hiking. We took a few shorter hikes with interpretive stops with our roomie Mike on Friday where we learned about the cliff rose, the Kaibab squirrel (which only lives on the North Rim and nowhere else in the world), lightning storms, controlled fires, Ponderosa Pine and other assorted nature-related things. We drove the North Rim stopping frequently to gawk at the canyon below us. On several occasions we scanned the bottom with the binoculars trying to make out the outlines of people who were hiking rim to rim. All day I thought I had my eye on the trail, but at the last stop I found out I'd been looking at a dried up creek bed the entire time. Guess those weren't people after all.

On Saturday Cory and I hit the Widfross trail - a five-mile trail that led us through pines and meadows to a fabulous lookout point. This part of the North Rim can only be seen from this point. There's something particularly satisfying about working to see or experience something. This was no exception. Not only was the view fantastic, but the trail was wonderful as well. It rolled through a startling array of wildflowers and we saw three mule deer and a male Western tanager which was beautiful. We were drizzled on a bit in the morning, but by the afternoon the sun had come out in full force.

We drank coffee from the North Rim Lodge as the sun pulled the colors from the rocks and we basked in the silence as it fell on the Western edge in the evening. Is there anything greater than this? Is there?

One of my favorite things about the National Park Service is the abundance of learning opportunities it offers. We went to three ranger programs while visiting the Grand Canyon. I was never one to boast mad skills in science class, and I think that's because everything I learned was stuck in the classroom. But when the rangers talked about the cycle of life in the canyon, everything made sense because I'd walked through the trees, seen the animals and observed the wake of a wildfire.

Life makes so much more sense when you live it.

It's for this reason that I like the dirt between my toes and smoky smell on my skin. I enjoy the heat of the sun and taste of unfiltered potable water. Time is not hours and minutes - it is moments in life when we cherish the details.

Wishing you Grand Canyon-sized cheers ~
JoAnna

The Introduction

In a somewhat valiant effort to keep everyone aware of what Jo and I are up to, we decided to start a joint blog. So, without further ado... Welcome to Kaleidoscopic Wanderings! We'll go back and forth posting separately and together so check often.

For my inaugural entry I thought I might cover our Independence weekend trip to the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park( the pictures for the blog are both from the trip as well as those that follow). Now, GCNP is one of the busiest parks in the states; if you go to the South Rim. The North Rim sees only 10% of all visitors to the park; it is a drastically different experience than visiting the commercialized South Rim.

We (Jo, Mike and I) left Vegas Thursday around noon and made the 4 1/2 hour trek to the park. A majority of the drive is on dry, straight, two lane highways (think Othello to Vantage for those of you that have made the drive to Pullman). You have to want to get to the North Rim to get to the North Rim. The canyon is rimmed by the Kaibab National Forest. The forest is made up mostly of huge Ponderosa pine trees; it was odd to see evergreens in the top corner of the desert. Once we arrived we pitched the tents, ate dinner and went to get our first glimpse of the canyon from one of the lookouts on the Transept Trail (the trail that goes between the campground and the Lodge).

Friday was spent doing small hikes along the North Rim's scenic drive. We started off by visiting the visitors' center and the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim. There is a small trail behind the lodge that leads to Bright Angel Point. The point was a bit crowded, but it was a great view. We stopped to get a drink of water and have a seat on the back porch of the lodge and enjoy that view as well. Two of the highlights (f0r me at least) of the drive were the small sink hole lake we stopped to look at and the Angel's Window (The only place on the North Rim you can see the Colorado River). We got back to the campsite just in time to see a Kaibab squirrel, found only on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We also managed to catch the tail end of the Fourth of July parade, which ended with Jo and Mike getting soaked and me running away...to protect my camera?

On Saturday we split up. Mike went to the lodge to pick up chicks...er...read a book and Jo and I went to the Widforss Trail. The Widforss is described by Lonely Planet as "arguably the best hike in Grand Canyon National Park." I would have to say it was one of the best hikes Jo and I have ever done. On our way to the trail parking lot we saw two Merriam Turkeys with four chicks! It was drizzling when we started the hike, but still plenty warm. The first 2 1/2 miles followed the rim of the canyon and were interspersed with informational posts. Each time we got to a numbered post, we stopped and read from the brochure. We learned all about the different plants and rock formations we were looking at. The second 2 1/2 miles took us through a Ponderosa Pine forest and small meadows filled with purple flowers. Once we reached the end of the trail we sat down and had a light lunch overlooking the Canyon. Once lunch was finished it was 5 miles back to the car. The return trip was very eventful. With about a mile and a half left we saw Kaibab deer cross the trial right in front of us. The deer stopped and ate just up the slope from us and even let me get a picture. We all met up, had dinner and spent the rest of the night at the lodge listening to a ranger talk on taking pictures of the sky and watching the sun set.

Sunday we struck camp and went to the lodge for a cup of coffee and one last look at the canyon before heading home. On the way back to Vegas we stopped at the Pipe Springs National Monument and took a tour of the "mansion" located on the spring.

Overall it was an amazing weekend. Here is the link for the entire webshots photo album.

Until next time!

-Cory