Amazing Race 12

The only reason I have time to sit down and write this next post is because my children are all down with a virus of some sort. They are parked on the couch eating saltines, drinking ginger ale and surrounded by a CLOUD of oils that I am diffusing...I am telling you they are the calmest, quietest children I have ever seen!!

So, after dealing with nose bleeds, coyotes and Cravens :), I woke up bright and early to get in a good run throughout the Grand Canyon camp ground. I listened to a great sermon on my phone and took in all the beautiful sites, along with several elk and other early risers. I planned to do a long run but halfway through I was PUFFING and my nose was bleeding from the altitude and I called it.

Elks get thirsty too!

Cooking camp pancakes with dad!

Once everyone was up we ate breakfast and found our next clue. We headed to Grandview Point and hiked down to a really safe spot to take an awesome picture. Adam was so stinking nervous that if one of us blinked the wrong way he became the canyon rim Nazi ...I was thankful and annoyed all at the same time :). Then we headed to Navajo Point and the Tunsyan Musuem to learn about Indians, Ruins and to make a video for our grandparents about farming, indian toys and ceremonial huts. From there we hit Desert Tower which was stunning. We hiked to the top of a tower (with several other families) and took in BEAUTIFUL VIEWS...I mean you can't imagine how beautiful it is...and you can't see it in a book either. We found Hopi murals like our clue asked us too and saw some more beautiful handmade Navajo clothing and jewelry.

WOW....God made all of creation and still we are his PRIZED POSSESSION!!

The watchtower

There just aren't words in our vocabulary to describe it.

At the last few stops we started noticing that there was always a lime green van there too. The kids totally thought it was another family in the race and would encourage us to PASS THEM, saying "lets leave before them" and then they would look to see if the green van beat us to our next stop. It was quite comical and such a coincidence! Adam started playing along and would pass slow pokes while the kids cheered him on!

Climbing the watchtower stairs...REALLY NEAT

We found the Colorado River

Oh that sun was ALL UP IN OUR EYES

We had a little drive to our next stop and the kids were allowed to watch a DVD along the way. It was so stinking funny as they would LAUGH uncontrollably at the movie and then yell at one another since they had on headphones and couldn't hear their own volume. They would also GASP at the landscape around them and point to neat landforms!

Our next stop was at Tuba City where we had to find dinosaur tracks, poop and eggs. I had read that the Indians here were very pushy about giving you a tour for a donation but we weren't prepared to be waved down and we were not prepared for the lifestyle we saw. A woman ran up to the van and showed us where to park and said she would be our guide. We agreed and had cash ready. She carried around her son the whole time and when she put him down he would yell HOT because he was barefoot. We could see her baby playing in the dirt off to the side under the shade of a tin shack.

Three toed footprint

She did a good job showing us 3 and 4 toed footprints and telling us about which dinosaur made which track. She referred to them as flying dinosaurs and t-rex and then other names I had never heard of. We also saw several plant fossils that were well preserved and "dino poop" which Adam said wasn't real...the kids loved it though. We also saw what appeared to be dinosaur eggs in the ground....We aren't sure about that one but it was neat to see. The last thing we saw was a huge t-rex footprint which Adam also raised his eye brow too. We asked her about her beliefs and she went on and on about the 4 worlds (same as Grand Canyon story) and how they came from the darkness and each time they did such a bad job caring for their worlds that they had to get new ones (2nd world the animals ate everyone and 3rd world the coyote stole Mothers Earths baby) and so now they have to take care of this one (which is why archaeologist can't come dig at their sites) because they aren't garunteed another one. She also talked about a flood and two brothers who fought the coyotes with lightning bolts.  We said " that sounds similar to our creation story ...... a flood, twin brothers, etc". Then we said " do you believe everything you just told us?". She looked at us and said " NO, I go to church but my mother and grandmother believe in it very strongly. My dad took us to church though". That was very eye opening and we wanted to talk more.

See the T-Rex footprint?

BUT, we couldn't because after we paid her we saw a teenage girl stumbling up the path (we had actually seen her stumbing up the main road as we drove in). She was obviously drunk or high and her grandmother went out to meet her and carried her over to a couch under the shack. Everyone there was living in the dirt and we noticed that several of the vendors we interacted with seemed "dazed"...not all, but some. We have friends who go on mission trips every summer to these tribes out west and report back that they have turned to alcohol and drugs ..that many of them live off the gov't and have no hope. We saw it with our own eyes that day and we will never cease to pray for their salvation. We also saw a HUGE lack of professionalism every where we went that was run by the Indians.....it felt like we were always burdening them and that they still feel like they are victims of white men....once again, some of them, not all.

See those "dinosaur eggs"?

We ended up buying two necklaces from a sweet older lady selling handmade jewelry there. I couldn't say no to her and she had something that both Little Man and I loved.