Veterans Day

This Veterans Day I am taking some time to go back and reflect on my father William (Bill) May and my son Wade Williams, Jr., both of whom voluntarily served the United States at a time of war.  My father served with the Army during the Korean Conflict (later changed to a war by congress) and earned a Purple Heart for his injuries while serving.  My son Wade continues to serve our country in the Air Force and spent a six month deployment to Iraq in 2010.  

Wade in Iraq, 2010

I was taking some time and going back through my journal for that time.  Here is the entry I posted a few days after we heard he was going to Iraq.

"Monday afternoon, I got the news I didn't want to hear. My son 21 year-old, who's in the Air Force, is deploying to Iraq. We knew he had a deployment coming up but I never thought he would end up there. I had been praying that he didn't end up in Afganistan. My first thought when he told me was "oh no, I screwed up, I should have been praying for "no war zones". This is my fault". Over the next few days, I felt like I had a rock on my head and it was driving me into the pavement. 

On Tuesday, my son called to say he needed to have "the talk" with me and his father. As you read this you are probably thinking the sex talk. That would have been easy compared to this talk.  This is the talk a military son has with his parents in case he doesn't make it back. A parent should never have to have that "talk". It transported me back through two hundred years of American military men (and women) and their parents having the same talk. There is lots of paperwork and things to do when a soldier makes his first deployment...a passport, a will, power of attorney, what to do with the body (God Forbid!), letters to get out of his lease, what to do with his stuff, etc. Wade told me that he was going to put Dad on everything because he knew that I would be too hysterical if something happened. He's so right! My son and I are buddies. He has always been the one that I went to the movies with, I used to lay on his bed after school while he was doing homework and talk, he calls me all the time. This past Christmas, I taught him how to cook because the AF was kicking him out of the dorms and into his first apartment. He was afraid he would "starve". My baby was going to war and I was feeling out of control!

By Thursday, my husband and I had had many long conversations and I was feeling better. Wade was excited to be going into the war zone. I had to respect his choices and support him for the Hero that he is. You see, I work in Washington, DC four months a year, teaching tourists and students about those men and women in our country's history that have given the last full measure so that we, Americans, can live in safety and freedom. 

I once met a "gold star" mom at Arlington and we talked for a while. She lost her 25 year old son in Iraq and was just learning to live again. This whole situation with my son made me realize that we are sisters, her and I, we Moms give up our sons to fight for the freedom of others."

As Americans, our families come from all over the world.  Our founding fathers created this country and our freedom from absolutely nothing.  They had to fight to achieve our Republic and we have continually had to fight to keep it.  In addition, our military fights for the freedom of others.  I will always have as special place in my heart for the families that support these individuals that VOLUNTEER to keep us free and safe.  I understand the worry and the have seen the pain of those who have lost their child (loved one) to the war on terror.  I thank all of those people who stand in support of our sons and daughters who keep us safe.  To God alone be the glory!  

Nothing Exciting

Well, we have been in Arizona for the past seven days and have just worked toward settling in our new environment.  It is definitely warmer here than in Kanab...low 90s and a lot dryer.

Before we left, we went to Best Friends.  It is America's largest no-kill animal sanctuary.  It is in an incredible beautiful area of Kanab.

On our way down from Kanab to AZ we stopped in Flagstaff, AZ for one night.  We got there early enough to spend a few hours in the Cindars, an area of Volcanic significance.  We took the Jimmy and went off roading.

This is all volcanic rock that has the consistency of sand.  Gordo didn't care much for it.  He had a bit of trouble getting enough of a grip to jump back into the Jimmy.

We stayed at a great KOA in Flagstaff, AZ.  We had a nice camp site with a table and an above ground fire pit.  Unfortunately, we didn't stay long enough to use them.

We finally made our way to Buckeye on November 2nd.  Wade Sr. wanted to off load the truck in the middle of the day (93 degrees out) and ended up with a mild case of heat exhaustion!  Barfed and everything.

The upside was that we got to see our son that night.  We had him over to the RV for steaks.  It is so great to get my hands on him.  I haven't seen him since Christmas last year!

This is Wade Jr. in uniform!  Go Air Force!

For the most part we have been helping Wade Jr. with finding a new rental house.  I found a great place to do kickboxing.  It's a little far but I really like the teacher and the other students.

We were also swimming a lot in the campground pool until the most recent cold snap.

Wade has been volunteering at a local gun range.  He gets free range time for his work.

Over all, we are settling into a routine and having a nice time here.

Back Roads to Bryce

Today we decided to drive from Kanab through Johnson Canyon and head up to the very scenic route 12.  We eventually went down a road that parallels Bryce Canyon.  It was so beautiful.

It's very hard to see from the road but this is actual the set for Gunsmoke.  The guy who owns the property is letting the building go to waste.  It's too bad you can't wander around and see inside the buildings.

The scenery in the morning was nice.  We went down these red clay packed roads as we attempted to find a back way into Bryce Canyon National Park.

 We happened upon this very deep canyon.  The road was a bit narrow going over the canyon and, of course, Wade had to stop and take pictures.

 This was end of the first road we tried.  It ended in a "No Trespassing"sign and a fence.

You can barely see it but this road also ended in a barbed wire fence!  Twice denied.  We ended up back tracking and heading up to Route 12.  We found a great book that gave us a scenic route through the back way to Bryce.  It was a 56 mile/three hour loop where we saw some great pink cliffs and ended up in a place called Podunk!  

Initially the road was just a level fire road but when we turned off to the pink cliffs road, it got a bit narrow and rough.  We climbed 3000 feet in about 15 minutes and then dropped down into a pretty canyon.

After making a few wrong turns we ended up back on Route 12.  The best part of the trip up into this area is Red Canyon!  I took a few pictures but they just don't portray the true beauty of the area.

t

 This view was such a nice treat after the "over the river and through the woods" trail.  We got to go where not many people have gone before...

Gordo was exhausted and slept the entire hour back to the RV!

Tomorrow we pack up and we leave on November 1st.  Onto our next adventure!

Zion Day 2

On Monday, October 28th we decided to celebrate the end of our jobs here in Kanab by going to Zion National Park again to hike some trails and ride the shuttle without Gordo.  This picture is where we enter the mile long tunnel into the park.

We jumped on the shuttle and headed to the Zion Lodge where we followed the Emerald Pools trail.  It was about two miles round trip to the upper pools and it was such a nice day in the 60s.

This is the Virgin River and runs through most of Zion Park and causes lots of problems with flooding and damage.  However, on our day there, it was a pretty distraction.

On our way up the trail, we found this big guy running around on a rock.  He was pretty small for a Tarantula!  Watch out...they jump!

The leaves were pretty!

I find it interesting that science and religion collide here.  The park is named after the area that the Mormon settlers claimed as a haven.  The settlers named the peaks in the area after fathers of the Christian faith like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The park shuttle gave a great narrative about the area.

While hiking, I walked up this small hill to get close to the rock (remember that I have this crazy rock obsession), and found Alien art!  The next picture clearly shows that Aliens plan on taking over the planet...  It is time to stock pile food and ammo in anticipation of a full Alien invasion.

The Emerald Pools were pretty surround by multi colored rocks with waterfalls at various levels.

This was one of the canyons we hiked through.  It was pretty rocky as we made our way up the hill.  I was glad we had lots of water with us.

My great husband who puts up with my madness!

The view from the top!

At one point we were riding on the shuttle and there were these French tourists with us.  The driver was commenting on the Condors in the area and how they almost became extinct.  She quickly shifted to talking about climbers who were on this rock!  The French lady came up to us and asked us to point out the condors.  I had to explain that she was talking about the climbers.  Then the driver began talking about an area called "monkey fingers" rock.  The lady looked at me and asked if we actually got to see the monkeys.  Two words...Language Barrier!

This was a great signed that explained how they carved the mile long tunnel through the mountain in the 1920s.  In the next picture you can see a small hole in the rock.  That is one of the view/vent openings in the tunnel.  Amazing!

Well, I better go and begin getting my supplies in order for the Alien invasion.  

Fun Day!

This week we went out to an old 1800s town called Paria.  It was established next to the river but abandoned 40 years later due to flooding.  I can imagine how bad the flooding must be.  Recently we have only had a few days of rain and there water in the bottom of the river bed.  Gordo enjoyed it immensely.  As soon as he saw the water, he ran for it and pulled me almost into the water.  He came out with very red muddy paws. 

Have I mentioned that Wade loves his new GoPro camera?  He has learned that he can now set it up on the hood of the Jimmy and control it with an app on his Iphone.  He took so much video yesterday that he ran the battery dry!  Check out a great video of a part of our trip on YouTube: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5YCgn26GII&feature=youtube_gdata

 The cemetery was very interesting.  There was this plaque and about 12 headstones that were not marked.  I can't even imagine how hard these people had it here in Paria.  This was a very hard life.

 Gordo enjoying the river!

 Such a pretty area with lots of red mountains and streams.  We tried to cross the stream to get to the remains of the Paria townsite but we didn't want to get our feet wet early in the morning.  I guess I need to invest in some hiking boots if were going to go out walking.

 This and the next picture are where they filmed the movie "John Carter".  I loved that movie and it was pretty cool to see how they created the look of another planet!

We did the 30 mile loop. It took us about 2 hours because we wanted to get out and hike a bit to some of the really cool sights!

 Looks a bit like the surface of the moon.

L

We found this great hiking loop and took Gordo for a walk in the canyon.  It was really cool to see the way the water washed out these areas.

Me and Gordo!

This was looking up from the bottom of that canyon.

 It's hard to see but there is an arch in the rocks behind the sign.  It is right over the "R" in the sign.

We took a detour trip through the Kodachrome Basin State Park.  The park gets its name from some National Geographic photographers who happened upon the site in 1949 and named it after their film.

 Lots of odd rock formations.  Some are not fit for PG blogs!

This was the highlight of day!  I love rock arches.  This one made us hike 1.7 miles round trip to see.  It was well worth it.  The picture does not show the Indian petroglyphs at the top.  Wade was none too happy to hike this far but he did it, all while holding Gordo's leash.

On the way out of the area...finally on asphalt!

COW!

 The people that settled this area back in the 1800s were hardy people!  Much stronger than we are today.

We sent Alyssa (our daughter) this picture of an antique motor home and told her that  we were going to purchase it as a second home for her to travel with us around the country...she didn't text me back.....

 Me and the Gordo on the way home.  He was really tuckered out and we both kept falling asleep.

Our last day at work here in Kanab is Saturday, October 27th. We are going to stay here until 10/31 so we can pack and do a couple more trails.  We will be in the Phoenix area on the first of November.  I can't wait to spend some time with our Son Wade, who is in the Air Force, and see some of my friends from high school.