Observation Point

Sun and Gravity liquify snow

Kadizzlites hiked off trail into the back country of Zion. One great hope was to see big horn sheep. Although tracks were abundant, the only one we saw was from the truck window just as we entered the Zion Tunnel on the way back to camp.

Brave Naked Girls

Girls have either been the greatest blessing for Lord Kadizzle, or his biggest bane, or should I say pain? Yesterday as Kadizzle descended from high in Zion he looked below to see two little naked girls six and nine playing in an icy mountain stream above the waterfall in the picture. The kids were on a hike with their parents. Now getting in the stream in and of itself would be more than most kids could do, but these two topped it off by getting out of the stream and rolling in the snow. To survive girls have to be tough in this world. Kadizzle admires parents who raise their girls to take on the world. Prior to seeing the kids with their parents Kadizzle had heard voices down below him. Kadizzle puzzled how small kids could even be within voice range. The climb to get that close would be very difficult for small children. After talking to the parents it became clear these young girls had already had experience doing some serious climbing. The parents told The Commander about how the girls had hiked up another difficult Zion trail. As Kadizzle came down the steep incline one of the kids scrambled up it without hesitation. (by now they had manged to get dressed). The girls reminded me of my own. Our kids were not raised to be wimps and whiners, and it was refreshing to see these kids taking on life with bravado. Girls can do anything.

Commander Compares Kisses

The Commander Kissed Kadizzle and then the dog, The Commander preferred the dog.

Cooking Kadizzle

Deep in a Canyon North of Wickenburg some Indians invited Lord Kadizzle and The Commander for dinner. The Chief suggested we might want to enjoy his hot tub prior to dinner. Everything was going fine and we offered the chief wine. As the water seemed to get hotter in the tub some of the lovely Indian women started peeling onion and potatoes. When they started tossing them in the tub and adding seasoning, we became suspicious. The chief left and said he was dressing for dinner. When he returned he had an apron on. When the Chief returned Kadizzled asked what the main dish was. The Chief said it was "Treaty Breaker Strew". "What is in it?", I asked. "A lot of white meant and some vegetables", the chief replied. When Kadizzle and The Commander asked for some shampoo they were a bit dismayed to find salt and pepper coming out of the shampoo, and conditioner bottles. It seemed like it was time to go. Kadizzle did not want to be impolite so he explained both Kadizzle and The Commander were vegetarians and had to leave for treatment to their cancerous infested bodies. With a hint of anger the chief said "You took all our good land and left us with desert, now you offer us nothing but cancer infested meat, leave, it looks like we are vegetarians too now"

The Commander captures Sunset at Zion

Hiking in Zion, Angels Landing, and Emeral Pool

Today we took a quick hike up to the Emerald Pools. With plenty of run off the falls were in full glory.

Angel's landing death spot

If you click on the picture above it will enlarge. If you examine the picture closely you will see the most deadly spot on the trail. Far ahead on the trail is a person with blue on. Behind him is another person with blue. Between them is a very narrow spot where you could fall either way to your death. Apparently a woman fell last year. After you cross that spot you have to go right up the spine of the rock in front of the first person on the trail. Everyone in our family except Erin has done it. Kadizzle has done it several times. Yesterday however that spine was covered with snow. It always amazes Kadizzle that anyone would be allowed to do it when the trail is snow covered. Far and away Kadizzle would rate this the most dangerous hike open to the general public in the United States. The fact that two people per year get killed here proves that. However, and article claims the odds are 1 in 79,000 you will get killed. So that means roughly 160,000 people make it out there and back every year, which is amazing. The most incredible thing is to see people take small children out there. To the best of my knowledge no small child has yet made the 1,000 foot plunge to their death. When that day comes things will change.

The picture above is where you go up the spine ahead of the fist person in the first picture, however yesterday it had about six inches of snow on it.

Around the Firepit at Zion

A day never goes by on the road that you don't meet more nice people. Jim and Tracy from Oregon joined as at the fire last night. Jim took the nice photo above. Tracy brought some wonderful bread. A food devil infested Lord Kadizzle and he almost ate it all by himself. The Kadizzlites made the traditional hike up Angel's Landing. Kadizzle did not make the very last part of the ascent. Although he made it half way hanging onto the chains his bad knee was not up for the whole trip. Snow on the final part made it extremely dangerous. While on Angel's landing Kadizzle got a call from the assistant park manager. That is a whole long story in itself, but he did say at least two people per year are killed falling from Angel's Landing. Today with Jim, Tracy, and the gang we made the trek to the Emerald Pools. With the amount of moisture in Zion the stream was running well and the waterfall was spectacular.

Lord Kadizzles Marriage Service

In my home town of Wheeling, West Virgina, my sister Kate checked my records at the Ohio County Court House. My sister said the country records show Lord Kadizzle is still bonded as a minister. This means Lord Kadizzle can perform marriages under three legal concepts. Kadizzle is a municipal judge, a sea captain, and a licensed minister. Each of these certifications entitles him to perform weddings. So why go to Las Vegas, if you need a quick marriage. Why not get the triple special? It is customary to tip the priest, or Judge for that matter, so Kadizzle will accept generous gratuities for placing a couple in bondage. Kadizzle originally became a bonded minister in order to perform a marriage for some friends. The ceremony never took place. Additionally his eminence Lord Kadizzle has yet to perform a marriage under his authority as a judge. It would be nice to get this on his resume, so please someone step forward and marry the one you love.

Stymied at Zion by restrooms, or The rectum rules Zion

Kadizzle is a hard core liberal, but his experience at Zion National Park today certainly gave him insight into why conservatives think the government cannot do anything right. Prior to our drive to Zion today we checked the Zion web site. The web site indicated we could stay in the Watchman campground without a reservation. However when we reached the campground we were told it was full. After visiting Zion for five years at this time of year with no problems this seemed perplexing. A little investigation indicated there where sixty unused camping spots that were closed to the public because there was no one to clean the rest rooms. Kadizzle volunteered to clean the rest rooms, but this was to no avail. Campsites at Zion are $19 a night. So if the campground was open Zion could potentially make roughly $1,200 a night. It would seem like this would be enough to clean the rest rooms. Only the government could come to the conclusion the best thing to do was close the restroom and turn away campers. Of course when people are forced to leave the park because no camping is available it hurts the little towns like Springdale that rely on tourist for income. This is all being done when we are trying to stimulate the economy.

Often when these strange management decisions are made that make absolutely no sense, there is a hidden agenda. In this case it seems the National Park Service wants to irritate the public. The net result in the eyes of the Park Service is to get irritated citizens to complain to congress that the Park Service needs more funding. In other words if you give us some money, we can clean the restrooms, and you can camp. This is how the mind of a bureaucrat works. According to various park personnel there were a variety of reasons the campground was closed. All seemed suspicious. One person said they had to close the campground to spray weeds. In past years they would just rope off a couple of spots at a time and spray the weeds. Another person said it was due to irrigation. We have been here before and the irrigation ditches were running with no problem for the campers. Now, back to the restrooms being clean. Our camper has it's own restroom, like most campers do these days, so we could camp there and not even need the restroom. They could open the campground for self contained campers only. The audacity of the Park Service to so blatantly disregard the people they are meant to serve is astounding. Kadizzle likes to have faith in his government and the people who work for it, but this experience is making the most hard core liberal into a Rush Limbaugh lunatic.

At one time Kadizzle sought a career in Park Management. To this end he was in graduate school in West Virginia. To his amazement they actually taught him in graduate school the ins and outs of carefully pissing off the public. The first instance of this tactic he ever saw was at Bear Tooth Pass in Montana. The pass is a popular tourist place. At the top of the pass is a restroom. Almost everyone stops at the top of the pass to take advantage of the view, and use the restroom. One summer when we reached the top there was a big sign on the restroom. Guess who put it there? Yup the park serviced said the restroom was closed due to lack of funding. Later we found restrooms in very remote locations being taken care of and cleaned. It was evident this was a political move. One thing they taught us in graduate school about park management was that parks revolve around restrooms. People insist they are clean and available, and apparently they are the key political weapon. The park system does not have me by the balls, but apparently they have found something nearby that works equally well.

A Narrow Escape

In order to continue the trail at the Valley of Fire Ruth and Rodger had to sqeeze through the same narrow passage The Commander and Lord Kadizzle negotiated. The Commander made it with little effort, but Kadizzle made it with only two cheeseburgers to spare. Had Kadizzle eaten two more cheeseburgers he never would have met the challenge.

Pinned Down by weather

The Kadizlites have been pinned down in the Valley of Fire waiting for weather to break at Zion. The tribe almost decided to go to Death Valley yesterday, but cooler heads prevailed. Although the weather is almost perfect here today, it will be Friday or Thursday until we move north. The amount of snow and moisture has set records in the southwest this year.

Big Horn Sheep at Valley of Fire

As many times as we have been here, this is the first time we have seen big horn sheep high in the rocks here. It is amazing to see these sheep go straight up and down. In a minute they are a place it would take us an hour to get to. Next big move will be to Zion as soon as the weather breaks.

Today's Hike Just Ten Miles from Mexico

From the top of the mountain we could easily see into Mexico. Currently we are in the thriving metropolis of Why. A little West of Why we are in a park by the sorriest casino you have ever seen. There are about twenty propane slot machines with a couple of old ladies on respirators playing them. Any Indians that were not killed by the early diseases introduced by the white men are slowly being killed by potato chips and pop. The Indians here have a terrible diabetic problem. In the rest room the biological hazard container is full of needles that needs to be emptied. Tomorrow the band will head North toward Wickenburg.

What is the difference between right and left?

This is a must read by one of the best. Paul Krugman writes in today's New York Times about how a Republican wants to make sure everyone can inherit over 7 million dollars tax free while the same senator wants to deny unemployment to working people. If you want some serious insight into why our country has stopped working read the article.

Where are the Europeans?

Most years when we travel the Kadizzles meet some Germans or other European campers. For some reason they don't seem to be about this year. Could it be the economy? The Europeans have figured out a lot of things we are slow to learn. One thing they know is life has an end. Most Europeans are assured five weeks of vacation for most of their life. This enables them to travel and become more worldly at a younger age. Europeans value knowledge of the world. Americans seem to be very self centered and think the United States is the center of the universe. One thing Kadizzle always enjoys when meeting the Europeans is getting their view on our current politics. Universally they all had no use for Bush. Kadizzle has not really had a chance to have any discourse on their view of the current administration. Yesterday Kadizzle did meet one Dutchman. Typical of many Europeans we have met he owns a motorhome which he keeps in this country. It is a good way for Europeans to return year after year and visit. Traveling always presents an opportunity to open ones mind and meet people who see the world differently. What do Canadians or the French of the Dutch really think of their healthcare or social system. Nothing works better than to ask them directly. Does everyone on the planet envy us and want to move here. No, not really. We like to go to France, but most of us don't want to move there. We think we live in Nirvana, but that view will only persist until you find out other people live in different Nirvana's. One recent phenomenon that has invaded the United States is the round-about. Americans used to come back from Europe and remark about this crazy system for handling intersections. Now, Americans have gradually come to see the benefit of round abouts. Statistics show it is actually a safer way to build an intersection. Why can't we learn about health care the same way. European health care works, the statistics show it works, but we refuse to admit they have a system of taking care of their population that is successful. Someday we will do what works even if we did not invent the solution.

San Xavier Mission

When you needed houses, schools, a sewer system ,roads, irrigation systems and a host of other things, why would you spend thirteen years building a Mission? It just seemed like the right thing to do. So here we stand admiring the result. The Spanish were always very nice about enslaving the Indians to get their assistance building the Missions. The Indians always enjoyed building these things. Once to show how much they appreciated the entertainment, they rebelled and killed most of the Spanish in the Southwest, but it did not bring happiness for long. The Spanish came back. In many cases the Spanish cut off one leg of every male Indian just to show how nice Christians could be if you did not want to help build the Mission. Now, the Indians have embraced the idea of Missions and are out front making fry bread to help pay for the maintenance. Although the homes are still not that great, the roads are poor, and the school system is in shambles there is good fry bread available to all.

Out on the plains of Narnia

The sun comes up on the mountains and The Commander cleans up from breakfast (please don't notice Kadizzle is doing nothing useful) she is reflecting on the wonderful bike ride she took yesterday. On this vast plain between two mountain ranges there are wonderful roads perfect for a nice bike ride on a sunny day. Anything that put The Commander in a good state of mind is a gift from the Lord. The roads run through shallow valleys sparsly lined with giant Oak trees with perfect shapes. The sand forms a nice road bed which makes for a pleasant ride. The peace, the quite, and the total lack of humans combine to make the problems of life disappear and let nature come to the forefront. Returning from her ride The Commander encountered Ruth and Rodger with their new neighbors. The Chukars moved in Mom, Dad and four litte Chukars were scrambling around their Earth module.

Today the Kadizzlites break camp and head for Gilbert Ray park west of Tucson.

Fun at the sewage dump

There are two magic moments for couples during the camping experience, dumping sewage, and backing the camper into a tight spot. Either almost always results in a verbal explosion. Usually the male has the wonderful job of letting sewage splash all over him while his loving spouse harasses him with every detail of how he should do it and how he is doing it wrong. Next fun game is back the camper. Turn right, Turn left, no a little more this way, What way, what in the hell do you think I am doing, damn it you get in here and try it. If a person could secretly record these great performances it would make a good reality show, it cold be called Backing and Dumping with the Bickersons.