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Washington D.C.: Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality NM

Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument
Saturday, August 10, 2019, Washington, D.C.

On my last trip to Washington D.C. in 2019, I visited the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.  This National Monument is interesting for two reasons, obviously one is its connection to the National Women’s Party, a group in the United States that fought for women’s suffrage and other issues of women’s equality.  Second, the history and architecture of this building is so interesting!

The home was built between 1799 and 1800, and it was probably designed by Leonard Harbaugh at the beginning of his career.  He also designed many notable buildings in the early days of Washington D.C.  In 1814, the British partially burned the home during the War of 1812; the stories go that there was gunfire at the home directed at British soldiers.  The home was owned and occupied by the Sewall family until 1912.

Vermont Senator Porter Dale purchased the home in 1922, and renovated it.  Meanwhile, the National Women’s Party had purchased a different property nearby, which was seized by eminent domain to build the Federal Triangle complex.  On the hunt for a new headquarters property, organization co-founder Alva Vanderbilt Belmont purchased an option for the Sewall House.  They purchased the property in 1929.  In the 1950s there was a proposal to condemn the building and demolish it to build underground security vaults for the Senate building.  Thankfully, citizen opposition saved the building.

What was going on inside the walls was equally fascinating!

The fight for women’s suffrage in the United States is largely considered to have begun at the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1840.  I have visited that site as well, if you want to read more about it!  It took 80 more years of lobbying and protesting before white women finally universally gained the right to vote in the United States.  Of course, this all happened before the National Women’s Party owned the Belmont-Paul House, but since that time, the party has lobbied for other issues of women’s rights and eliminating sex discrimination, notably, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).

The ERA was passed by Congress in 1972, and was ratified by some of the states, but it was not passed by enough states to become an amendment to the Constitution.  Since the deadline passed, a few more states have ratified the amendment, but of course, those are not legally binding.  Some detractors argue that after so many other laws have passed, notably the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, that the amendment is no longer needed.

The tour of the house included some of the artifacts of the party, like writing desks and clothing, as well as exhibits on the attempt to pass the suffrage legislation.  There were also banners that the women carried during their two and a half year picket of the White House.  You read that correctly!  Women involved in the National Women’s Party stood outside the White House from January 10, 1917, to June 1919.  They were there in all sorts of weather, and were arrested, beaten, and went on hunger strikes to protest their treatment in jail.  In response, prison guards forced feeding tubes down their throats, causing injuries that never healed.  The attempt to gain women’s suffrage was not always a peaceful undertaking.   

In 2021, the National Women’s Party ceased operations, and donated its papers and artifacts to the Library of Congress.  The legacy of this movement lives on in the education provided by the National Monument at the Belmont-Paul House.  It was an interesting place to visit! 

 

 

 

A Quick Visit to Washington, D.C.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019 to Sunday, August 11, 2019
Washington, D.C.

Back in 2019, when I was working for the water and sewer district, I had a chance to go to Washington, D.C. for a conference.  The conference was scheduled for Wednesday through Friday, but I was able to  pay for a couple of days on my own and fly home Sunday instead.  I always love when that is an option!

I was in conference sessions for full days when I was there, so I really only had the evening hours to explore during the week.  But I made the most of my time! The conference hotel (the Hyatt Regency Capitol) was right downtown near the Capitol, so I was able to get to several nearby places by walking!  When my flight arrived, I took the subway to Union Station, which was about a half mile from the hotel, and then I walked from there.  The first evening that I was there, I had dinner at the hotel, and enjoyed a glass of wine.

Union Station

Union Station

 

Me

Me

Wednesday at the conference I met a friend, a lady who was there from Kansas City.  We decided to get dinner afterwards and do a little wandering.  We found The Ministry Wine Bar down the street and had a delicious tasting of sparkling wines, along with my wonderful beet salad.  It was so good!  After dinner we walked over to the Capitol building and checked out the outside of the building, as well as the Supreme Court Building.  No matter how you feel about politics in our country, it is humbling to see where the work of our government occurs, and the site where men and women come together to interpret our laws and our Constitution.

Thursday after my conference, I walked over to the National Portrait Gallery to see some of the artwork.  It is open until 7 pm, so I had some time.  They have many portraits of former Presidents, including my man Abraham Lincoln!  They also have portraits of fictional characters, like Barbie!  It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours that evening, and it was less than a mile walk from my hotel.

Friday was the last day of my conference, and that evening, I met up with Alexis, a girlfriend that I went to high school and did 4-H with.  She had another friend visiting too, so it was a party!  We met at the Hill Country BBQ market, a delicious BBQ restaurant about 3/4s of a mile from my hotel.  It was a fun evening and a nice walk to and from the restaurant.

Sliders at Hill Country BBQ

Sliders at Hill Country BBQ

Saturday I went to the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument.  This home has an incredible history, but notably, was owned by the National Women’s Party beginning in 1929.  The Party was integral in the fight for women’s suffrage, and the Equal Rights Amendment.  I toured the home; so I will share more about it in a separate post.

The Capitol during the day

The Capitol during the day

That afternoon, I met up again with Alexis and her friend for lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill.  Old Ebbitt began in 1856 as a saloon and boarding house, and become one of the iconic political hotspots in Washington, D.C.  It has moved several times, but has been at its current location since the 1920s.  If you hang out there, you are likely to see some politicians!  Of course, we were there on a Saturday, and there were no politicians to be found, as far as I knew.  We did have a fabulous lunch, and I had the shrimp and grits off their brunch menu with a glass of white wine.  So delicious!

Old Ebbitt Grill

Old Ebbitt Grill

 

Shrimp and Grits - Old Ebbitt Grill

Shrimp and Grits – Old Ebbitt Grill

After lunch, we walked over the W Hotel and went up to their rooftop bar.  It is nice to have a local friend to show you around!  The hotel is kitty corner from the White House and has incredible views!  The cocktails there are quite spendy, so it isn’t something I could afford to do all the time, but it was fun to check out how the other half lives, and look out over the White House!

The White House from the W Hotel

The White House from the W Hotel

 

Me at the White House

Me at the White House

From there Alexis, her friend and I parted ways, and I went to go check out the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art.  It was fun to spend a few hours checking out the exhibits.  Of course, there is so much to see there that a repeat visit will definitely be in order!  That evening I had dinner at the hotel bar, and had a delicious chicken Chop salad, and spent the evening relaxing before my flight the next morning.

Sunday I flew home and it was once again back to the daily grind of work.  I had such a fun trip to Washington, D.C.  The conference was interesting, and I learned a lot, and I was able to fit in a lot of sightseeing into my free time!  I hope I’ll be able to get back there again soon.

 

 

2024 Retirement Diaries: Back from Michigan

My Mom and I got home from our trip to Michigan on Sunday evening.  We were away for about ten days, and had a wonderful balance of doing some sightseeing, antiquing and thrift shopping, and relaxing.

We headed out the Thursday before last, heading out from Minnesota at about 7:30 in the morning, and made the 10 hour drive in one day.  Fortunately, the weather was pretty decent for the Midwest mid-winter, with some rain, no snow and periods of sun.  Traffic through Chicago was light; way better than what I generally experience going through Seattle in the mid-afternoon!  Other than rest areas, gas and a drive-through for lunch, we basically just cruised all day and arrived in Michigan around 7 pm, in time for a delicious chili dinner at my aunt, uncle and cousin’s house!

The next week we kept busy, but not busy at my usual travel pace.  We checked out some antique stores, some thrift stores, and a new rock shop in town.  The rock shop was huge and had so many cool rocks!  It was hard to control myself. 

My cousin and I went to breakfast with her coworker and went to the beach at Lake Michigan to look for rocks.  We were there for about an hour before we were completely freezing, but it was a worthwhile trip.  I found an amazing agate!

We had lunch and dinner with another aunt, uncle and cousin.  I took some walks out in the neighborhood, and one day it was even too warm for my coat.  It is unheard of to be wandering around in the winter in just a fleece!

One afternoon we went to a local high school play and that evening we ate seven layer dip with tortilla chips and watched the Superbowl.  Wow!  The game was mostly boring with a lot of spice thrown in right at the end!  I thought the half-time show was rather meh…

We checked out a local museum in Kalamazoo, which had a small exhibit on the history of the mental asylum in the area.  It originally opened in 1859, and was known as the Michigan Asylum for the Insane.  The hospital is still in operation, celebrating 165 years this year.  Malcolm X’s mother and the inventor of the Gibson guitar were both institutionalized there.  It was an interesting exhibit, and they showed several books that have been written about the asylum and the asylum system.  Unfortunately, the museum doesn’t have a gift shop!

I got lots of reading done, and some writing, and it was nice to spend time with family.  One evening, we watched Oppenheimer.  I know it got mixed reviews even though it has been nominated for 13 Oscars.  For sure, it’s long, and it’s hard to sit for that much time without your butt falling asleep.  Plus it is a complicated story, so you have to pay attention, and it helps if you know at least some of the background for the development of the atom bomb.  But I thought it was a really good movie!  Better than Killers of the Flower Moon, which I saw a few months ago.

On the way home, mom and I did a two day drive and diverted to Galena, Illinois.  Galena is one of the most historic cities in the Midwest, with white settlement going back to the 1820s.  Plus, the Civil War General and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant lived there for a time!  In fact, nine Civil War Generals are from Galena.  There is too much there for Galena to not get its own post, so watch for that in the future!  It was also frigidly cold while we were there, and some things were closed for the winter, so this is certainly a little town I will want to visit again.

We drove a bit of the historic Route 20 (the longest road in the United States), and the Great River Road (which goes along the Mississippi River) on the way home as well.  We were able to travel through small towns and farmland, and get off the main highways.  Most of the attractions were closed, as we headed through on a winter Sunday morning, but it was a beautiful scenic route!

All in all, it was a fun family visit, with a bit of sightseeing, and well worth the trip.  Hopefully next time I’ll be able to see my family on the other side of the state as well!

 

 

Circus Trip 2018: Yosemite NP

Day 90, Saturday, October 13, 2018
Yosemite National Park, Mariposa, California

I’ll say right up front that I need to see more of Yosemite.  My visit was too short, and too emotional to really do justice to it.

That morning I woke up in Bridgeport, California at my campsite at the little marina there.  It was cold (about 17 degrees or so), so I decided to get breakfast out, and went to the Bridgeport Inn for corned beef hash and coffee.  I’m not ordinarily a coffee drinker but I needed a warmup that day!  The Inn was built in 1877 as the Leavitt House, and has a hotel, restaurant and bar.  Mark Twain stayed here at some point.  The food was good, and warmed me up, but soon it was time to get on my way.

I headed west over Tioga Pass and soon was in the line to enter Yosemite Park.  I was so excited to see it!  This is one of the National Parks that has been on my bucket list for a while.

Sadly, when I headed into the park, I started to feel a heavy weight in my heart.  I had long wanted to visit Yosemite, but it had been a dream I had with my ex-husband when we were married.  In fact, when we separated, we had a trip planned to Yosemite, and I ended up canceling.  He went with his dad, and I didn’t go, because we were having so many problems.  We ended our marriage shortly after that.  I always thought it would feel amazing to finally visit, but it was quite the opposite.  It was like all the grief I had been holding in for a few years at that point finally came tumbling out.

I parked at a lake on the pass and sat next to the beautiful water.  People were all around, but no one really noticed me.  I sobbed.  I thought maybe once I had it out of my system, I could go on, but I kept starting to cry again after that first time.  I finally decided I wasn’t ready for Yosemite that day.  I didn’t go into the valley, or do much more than just drive through the park, sitting in my sadness.

I did get a stamp and a few postcards to commemorate the parts of the park that I did see, but I definitely need a do over.  It has now been almost 7 years since my divorce was final, which will be longer than I was married.  I think I’m ready now.

So after leaving Yosemite that day, I headed up to northern California to see the man I was dating at the time.  That relationship didn’t work out either, but for reasons unrelated to Yosemite.  That’s a long, sad story for another time, if I’m ever ready to tell it. 

I suppose I could call this day the last day of my big road trip, even though I spent close to a month in Northern California before I finally headed home to Washington.  But I wasn’t traveling all the time anymore, so it seemed the trip was at an end.  I saw parts of Northern California that I had never been to, but I also just relaxed.

All in all, I spent several months on the road that summer and fall.  If you remember back, I left home on July 16, and got back home on November 12, 2018.  It was the trip of a lifetime, and one that I would love to do again with a different itinerary.  It was exhilarating and fun, and sometimes sad and lonely.  I learned so much about bravery and courage, and feeling comfortable in my own skin.  I healed, and learned how to be alone.  It was everything I needed at the time. 

Now, 5 years later, I’m at at different place.  I’m retired, with the ability to pack up and take a trip when the mood strikes me.  And I do.  Life isn’t perfect, and I still have stories of sadness and hardship that I’m not quite ready to tell.  But life for the most part is good.  I have other tales to tell, and other road trips to take, and memories to make.  I hope you will continue to follow along.

 

Circus Trip 2018: Mono Lake

Day 89, Friday, October 12, 2018
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, Lee Vining, California

After I visited Bodie, I wanted to see the tufa formations at Mono Lake.  If you have never heard of tufa towers, you are in for a treat!

In Mono Lake, there are freshwater springs beneath the surface of the lake that are rich in calcium.  This calcium rich spring water mixes with the lake water, which contains carbonates.  When the two combine, a chemical reaction creates calcium carbonate, otherwise known as limestone.  Around the springs, the calcium carbonate becomes a solid, and over decades, forms a tower of limestone under the water.  So how are they visible at Mono Lake?

In 1941, water diversions began by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, and the water levels in the lake fell dramatically.  The tufa towers have been exposed since that time; they no longer grow, and are now slowly eroding away.  Mono Lake is one of the unique places where these tufa towers can be seen!

The South Tufa Trail is about a mile long; it gave me a close up, spectacular view of these tufa towers.  They were so cool to see!  I stayed as the sun lowered in the sky, and captured some nice photos.  I also got to see big flocks of Yellow Headed Blackbirds and a few ducks.

 

On my way to camp for the night, I stopped to see the Mono Lake Historical Society Musuem, which is housed in the old Mono Lake Schoolhouse, and the Upside Down House, which was built by Nellie Bly O’Bryan.  Nellie Bly O’Bryan, not to be confused with the journalist Nellie Bly, was a silent film actress in the 1920s and 1930s.  After retiring from film in 1934, she moved to the Mono Lake area and became a State of California licensed mountain guide.  She also owned and operated a resort on Lundy Lake, near the east entrance of Yosemite National Park.  She built the Upside Down House by hand as a tourist attraction, where everything in the house is just that – upside down. 

Unfortunately, both the museum and house were both closed for the day (and probably season?), so I had to be content with taking photos outside in the fading light.  I would like to visit when they are open someday! 

That night I camped at a little marina that also had campsites.  It was $20 for the night, and had a beautiful view of the water in Bridgeport, California.  The only drawback was that it was COLD!  It got down to about 17 degrees that night!  But I was snug as a bug once I was layered up under all my blankets in the car bed.  That was the coldest night of my entire trip!

 

Circus Trip 2018: Bodie State Historic Park

Day 89, Friday, October 12, 2018
Bodie State Historic Site, Bridgeport, California

The night before I had stayed in Bishop, California, at a fun family owned campground that was very busy for early fall.  It got a bit cold that night, but I was snug in my car bed.

In the morning, I got on the road and drove up to Bridgeport, California.  I had been interested in going to Devil’s Postpile National Monument, but unfortunately it was closed for the season.  I had read online that it was generally open through the end of October, so that was disappointing; I will have to go back!

I stopped at the Visitor’s Center for Mono Lake, which had information on Bodie, Mono Lake and Yosemite.  I was excited to visit all three! I decided to start with Bodie, and was happy that it was a beautiful sunny, day.  Bodie is 11 miles off the main highway; the last three miles are gravel and some of it was very rough.  I bounced along and took it all in stride as all the California drivers passed me.  But soon enough, I was there, and I was in for a real treat!

I paid the $8 admission and bought the information book for $2 (prices have gone up since then I’m sure), and they set me loose on the park.

Bodie started out as a mining camp in 1859 when gold was discovered there; it became a boom town in 1876.  Within three years there were about 8,000 people and 2,000 buildings, with many of the residents mining both gold and silver, and the rest providing goods and services to the miners.  Sadly, the boom was short-lived and the town began to decline as early as 1880; I think this might have been because of the climate. 

Bodie is a harsh place; at almost 8,400 feet in elevation, and little protection from the elements, Bodie gets extremely cold and the wind can blow up to 100 miles per hour.  In fact, Bodie experiences an average of 303 days per year where nights are below freezing, and only two days per year on average where the low temperature stays above 50 degrees.  It is considered a subarctic climate; not something you really think about in California.  Wow.

Bodie was basically a ghost town by 1915, although the last remaining mine closed in 1942 and there were residents there until the mid-1940s.  Now the town is in a state of arrested decay; the park preserves the buildings as best it can, but does not restore them.  That said, time and a couple of fires have reduced the 3,000 buildings that were there at its peak, to about 150 now.  Even still, it is one of the most complete ghost towns that exists in the United States, and it is so cool to explore!

I spent several hours wandering the site, peeking in windows, walking the streets, and imagining what it would have been like to live there.  It was such an interesting place!  I was there until about 3 in the afternoon, but I still wanted to see Mono Lake, so I got back on the road.  On the way, I found this big herd of sheep, so I had to get a photo!  I’ll share about the lake next – it isn’t just any old lake!

 

 

Circus Trip 2018: Valley of Fire State Park

Day 87, Wednesday, October 10, 2018
Valley of Fire State Park, Overton, Nevada

On October 10, 2018, I was in four different states!  I woke up near Zion National Park in Nevada, crossed into Arizona for a hot minute, saw Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, and then ended my day in California!  What a whirlwind!  I headed out from my campground about 8:30 after packing up my tent and taking a shower.  My destination that day was Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.  I got there a little after 9 am, thanks to gaining an hour in a time zone change.

 

Once I arrived, I did the Elephant Rock hike.  It is 1.2 miles through some really cool rock formations, and it was surprisingly empty, I only passed a few other people on the entire hike.  The feature here is obviously Elephant Rock, which I found to be difficult to identify unless you were standing at the perfect angle.  Not all of them can be easy I guess.  Luckily there was a sign! Hint: The first photo below is NOT it!

I drove through parts of the park, checking out the viewpoints along the way.  I saw petrified logs, and a Memorial to a man who died while traveling through the area.  Sergeant John J. Clark was born in 1844 and enlisted in the NY Infantry and served in the U.S. Civil War until he was shot in the hand and contracted typhoid fever.  After he was honorably discharged he moved to Southern California.  In 1915, he was traveling from California to Salt Lake City with a horse and a buckboard wagon, when he apparently got into trouble.  He tied his horse to the back of the wagon, wandered around, then crawled underneath his wagon where he died.  His body was found several days later on June 30, 1915.  It was a reminder to always be prepared for the harsh conditions of the desert.

The cabins were stone buildings built for tourists in the 1930s; there were approximately 9000 tourists annually at that time!  They are neat stone buildings, and there is a beautiful petroglyph panel on the stone face behind the cabins.

Next I went to the Visitor’s Center.  I checked out the exhibits, got some postcards, and planned where I was headed next.  They had a few native snakes and a chuckwalla in their exhibit there; they were neat to see, especially since I didn’t see any while I was out hiking.  Outside, there is a Balanced Rock, so of course I snagged a photo with it.  And guess who I ran into on the way out!?  Carol!  If you remember, I met Carol at Mesa Verde National Park, and spent an evening chatting with her when we both camped at Hovenweep!  Now we met up again purely by accident! 

We decided to go for a hike together, so we drove out the White Dome Road to the Fire Wave trailhead.  The Fire Wave hike was incredible – the colors were amazing!  The hike went out and back to a rock formation with sedimentary layers that looks like of like an ocean wave.  It is only 1.3 miles, so it is a popular hike, but for good reason!  Carol and I enjoyed ourselves chatting and taking pictures of each other.  It was a fun hike!  On the way back we were greeted by a herd of Bighorn Sheep too – I got some good pictures of them. 

 

When we got back from the hike, Carol and I said our goodbyes for a third time, and went our respective ways.  It is always fun to meet new friends when traveling! 

My time in Valley of Fire was far too short – one day I’ll return and do more of the hikes in the park.  It was a really cool place!  But I was heading to Death Valley National Park in California, so it was time to get on my way!

 

Circus Trip 2018: Capitol Reef NP

Day 84, Sunday, October 7, 2018
Capitol Reef National Park, Torrey, Utah

I was really excited to see Capitol Reef National Park.  It had been on my bucket list for years, and it was one of the Big 5 National Parks in Utah!  The photos I had seen were beautiful, so I definitely wanted to check it out for myself.

Of course, when I got there the first order of business was to get my National Parks Passport stamp and some postcards!  I also happened to get there in time for a Ranger talk on Geology, so I joined in.

Capitol Reef used in be an inland ocean, and the landscape today formed over millions of years.  There are different sedimentary layers, and fossils, and some of the oldest fossils in the world, Giant Stromatolites, are found here!  Unfortunately for me, it started to rain again and the thick clay soil made a mud that wasn’t very pleasant to hike in.  It was cold too.  Like the kind of cold where I was wearing long sleeve shirt, hoodie, jacket, winter hat and gloves!

I drove the scenic drive, which at 7.9 miles seemed a bit short for a National Park.  It is an out and back drive, with beautiful cliffs and colors all around, and the rain made the colors pop even more.  After the scenic drive, I went to the historic settlement section of the park, the Fruita Historic District.  Fruita is located at the confluence of the Fremont River and Sulphur Creek.  It was established by Mormon settlers in 1880, and extensive fruit orchards were planted. The community had homes and a school.

In 1955 Fruita was purchased by the Park Service to be included into Capitol Reef National Park.  The orchards are maintained, and the fruit from about 1,900 trees is used to make delicious pies that are sold from the bakery there.  The Gifford Homestead home sells a variety of pies from the apricot, cherry, pear, peach, plum and apple trees.  I was lucky enough to be there when they had pies, and my apple pie was delicious!

There are also some remaining buildings in the Fruita district, including an 1896 one-room schoolhouse, a few cabins, the Gifford Homestead house and a barn.  The last residents to live here sold their property to the Park Service and moved away in 1969, so there was a long history of habitation in the area.  I always find it so interesting to imagine what life would have been like in such a harsh, isolated climate, without modern amenities.  The Gifford house didn’t have electricity until 1948! 

Sadly the rain wasn’t really letting up, and I still didn’t feel like hiking in the thick mud, so I said goodbye and “see you later” to Capitol Reef.  I went into Torrey, Utah and found the Chuckwagon Deli, where I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with chips and a pickle.

While I ate, I perused their eclectic book collection!

After lunch, I headed out on Highway 12 – a gorgeous Scenic Byway!  You drive along a ridge for part of the way, with stunning views of the rocky desert landscape.  It was so incredible!  And still cold.  It was actually snowing for part of the drive, although it wasn’t really sticking to the road.  I went through Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument, but I didn’t stop.  That is a place I dream of going back to!  Unfortunately, I passed by just after the closing time of the Visitor’s Center.  Next time!

I also passed Bryce Canyon, which was my destination for the following day.  Since it was so cold, I got a room for $50 at the Adobe Sands Motel in Panguitch.  It wasn’t very nice but it was cheap, and warm!  I ventured out for Subway for dinner, because there wasn’t much open on a Sunday night…  And, I ate part of my pie! 

As I look back, I know that not every day traveling is going to be great.  And my day at Capitol Reef was an example of that.  It was raining and muddy and just not a fine day for hiking and touristing.  I was cold, and frustrated by the rain drops on the camera lens, which made spots on most of my pictures.  And most of the views were tempered by the fact that I spent them sitting inside the car or near the road, instead of a few miles up a trail where I like to be…  But, that was just one day, and I’m not ready to rule out Capitol Reef.  I’ll go back and hope for better weather.  So, as I sat in that little 50s motel room that night, eating my Subway sandwich and pie, I got excited about visiting Bryce Canyon the next day!

 

Retirement Diaries 2023: Getaway

Mom’s house listed last Wednesday, and there were open houses Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Now it is mostly a waiting game (although we still have plenty to purge).  Her neighbors had generously offered us the use of their vacation home on Whidbey Island, so we took them up on the offer and are having a lovely little getaway.

The first day we were here it rained all day long, so mostly we just hung out at the house and read, and napped.  I did take a short walk out to the neighborhood beach and found a few shells.  The picture is from the next morning when it wasn’t raining.

Since the weather broke, I have been visiting all of the local beaches and collecting cool rocks, shells, and agates when I can find them.  So far, I have found three agates.  They definitely are not as plentiful in Washington as they are in Oregon or Minnesota.

Yesterday I went to Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve, parked up on the bluff and hiked down to the beach.  It was a sunny, beautiful day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I also checked out the exterior of the Jacob Ebey house (it doesn’t open for the season until Memorial Day weekend).  Jacob Ebey was one of the first white settlers on Whidbey Island, after he and his wife Sarah followed their son Isaac out in 1854.  This home was built in 1856.  Isaac Ebey was murdered in 1857 by one of the tribes in retaliation for the murder of 27 tribal members the year before by the U.S. Army.  He was basically in the wrong place at the wrong time.  It is an interesting and tragic story if you want to explore further.

The Ebey’s had a land claim on what is probably the most beautiful and fertile land on Whidbey Island.  This land has been preserved since the original 1850s, and many of the farms have never been subdivided, so the views are incredible and the history is so interesting!  There are also two blockhouses (built in 1857) and a pioneer cemetery with graves of many of the original settlers up on the bluff.  I have visited here before, but it had been a while, and usually I park down below to go to the beach.  It was worth the hike!

I have also had several afternoon naps, and finished the book I started right before I left Minnesota three and a half weeks ago.  The Monuments Men was such a good book!  I found a Little Free Library just up the street from the vacation home which has a good selection, and I picked two books as my next reads.  There is never a shortage of books in my life.

We were originally going to come home on Monday afternoon, but with the encouragement of our hosts, we finally convinced mom to stay and relax a bit longer.  I think tomorrow we are going to check out another one of the little tourist towns down here, and I’m going to make a stop at the beach where I found two agates a few days ago.

We head home Wednesday morning and then it will be back to the grind of cleaning out the pole barn.  There is never a dull day when you are moving.  Meanwhile, I have one more day to enjoy!

Capitol Reef National Park History

Capitol Reef is one of the Utah National Parks, known in tourist circles as the Mighty 5, because there are five National Parks in Utah.

It was established as a National Park on December 18, 1971 by President Richard Nixon, after having been a monument since 1937.  It is one of the smaller national parks, being 60 miles long but only 6 miles wide on average.  It preserves the majority of the Waterpocket Fold, a 100 mile long up-thrust formation that extends from Lake Powell to Thousand Lake Mountain.  This warp in the earth’s crust is about 65 million years old.

Capitol Reef gets its name from the Navajo Sandstone cliffs with dome formations.  They reminded early white travelers of the domes on capitol buildings.  A “reef” is a rock barrier to land travel, much the same way an ocean reef impedes ships.

Native Americans from the Fremont Culture lived near the Fremont River in what is now the northern part of the park, around the year 1000.  They did not have the same massive building tradition as other nearby settlements, but they did build stone granaries, which are still present today.  They abandoned these settlements in the 13th century, likely due to a prolonged drought.

Mormon missionaries moved into the area beginning in 1866, and three settlements were established in the 1880s.  Of these three, Junction, which is now named Fruita, is the only one that prospered.  Fruita still exists within the National Park and contains historic buildings, a horse barn, and a small shop known for its delicious pies, made from the fruit trees planted by the settlers.  In addition to farming, lime was produced from the local limestone and in the early 1900s, uranium mining began.

Even though the park was designated as a monument in 1937, funding was almost non-existent due to the Great Depression, and there were no park rangers or infrastructure there for years.  The area remained remote until Highway 24 was completed in 1962, replacing an old wagon road that had regularly washed out and was only suitable for foot traffic for several years.  Visitation to the monument increased dramatically at that point.

Today visitors can drive the scenic drive, hike or backpack, camp, and canyoneering is also popular at the park.  It is a harsh climate though, so visitors should be aware of the weather and be prepared for flash flooding during the rainy season.  You can also visit the historic Fruita district, see the historic buildings, and hopefully score a pie!  More on my visit to Capitol Reef in an upcoming post!