June 30, 2004 - Deer Lodge, MT (Arches National Park, UT)

Yeah, well, what can I say.  Time flies when you're having fun.  And we've been having fun and lots of it!

Our last evening at Capitol Reef we took the short drive and shorter hike to Sunset Point to....guess what.  That's right.  Watch the sun set.

And it was OK.  Nothing to come here just to see, but in addition to all the other things we've seen, it was great and we're glad we did it.

Yup.  Now we're at the Arches National Park, also in Utah.  And we have full hookups for a while at a private RV park because (thankfully) the sites we'd fit in at the public park campground here were all full.  That arch is called Delicate Arch for reasons that escape me.  It looked plenty sturdy to me.  This shot was taken from the parking lot overlook.  There's a hike you can take to see the arch from the other side.  That little ridge running up on the left side had people on it that we could just barely see.  This is about the only shot I took on our exploratory trip through the park.  We generally do that and then decide where we want to spend whatever time we may have.

The sign about says it all.  Ever notice how many of these signs have pictures of the things with snow on them?  And it's over 100 degrees when we're standing there looking at it?  Wonder what's with that!  Now, some of you may know of my proclivity to avoid holes in rocks, sometimes called caves, or caverns.  My skepticism was quickly overruled, however.  Barb now has friend John to help her twist my arm.  John joined us the second day we were here, and plans are to travel to Moscow, ID, together.  We're on the parking crew and John is one of the instructors for the Life on Wheels Conference.  In addition to being the webmaster for the site, he teaches three classes.  Tax stuff for RV'ers who do volunteer work, tax stuff involving the sale of your house and moving into your RV, and then the tax implications of domicile.  All important issues for us full time RV'ers and, although we've been living in an RV for over 6 years now, we're going to two of the classes.  As an Enrolled Agent (which means he can represent clients before the IRS), his experience and training are in addition to that of a CPA who tends to be more general in their approach.  Anyway, they talked me into going to see this "house" dug out of the side of the hill.

To say I was impressed with the "Jeep" would be an understatement.  More like blown away!  Not only with the concept itself, but the execution was incredible!  License plates from all over (note the Alaska one as well, on the back) including even a pet license!  And the wheels looked like they could actually be turned, they were so round and smooth.  Pretty good sized elk antler, too, wouldn't you say?  And since this was across the parking lot from the "hole," I took as much time as I could enjoying it, too.

Well, the guy was interested in FDR that's for sure.  Besides probably being a socialist and liking caves, I wondered what else might be wrong with this guy Christensen or whoever built this place.  I had to admit it wasn't unattractive from the outside, what with the nice cactus landscaping and all.

As far as we're concerned, Mr. Lyle Nichols is one of the greatest junk welding artists around.  We had to assume the "Jeep" was his creation as well, inasmuch as the theme was the same.  Find a bunch of throwaway tools and metal junk and begin welding.  The attention to detail was great, and the whimsy of the projects was wonderful.

Don't miss the arrows stuck in the trading post sign.  We wandered in there a bit, and were pleasantly surprised by the high quality of goods offered.  Barb even found a little silver chain she'd been looking for.  And of course the old tow truck had to be remembered.

Any of you out there remember when that was a real price for gas?  And it was either regular or ethyl, if memory serves.  We've seen two-story outhouses before, but not in reference to the mines.

The eclectic exhibits were great fun.  Never saw such an extensive display of barbed wire before.

The gravesites of the original owners/builders of the "Hole 'N The Wall."  Notice we've not actually been in the hole yet.  I think I'm doing quiet well, making sure Barb and John don't miss out on any of the stuff out here.

Well, if she hangs out there, she'll be well insulated I guess.  This piece of work was all steel and electrical insulators.  They also had a petting zoo of sorts.  Only you were warned not to feed the animals your fingers!

The Indian Weather Rock was real enough, but we doubted the bird eggs were.  Nobody ever paid any attention to them while we were there.

What's not to love about a face like that?  Just look into those big blue (they really were) eyes or study the wonderfully sculptured lines of the beak and nostrils.  And then just a bit of the cactus garden, but only a bit. 

And yeah, we're finally in the cave/home.  And I guess Christensen wasn't all crazy.  From what little I know of engineering things, he did an outstanding job of blasting away rock and leaving rock to act as "walls" and "room dividers."  And because the rooms all had some natural light from the large openings in front, I was never bothered by the fact I was in a cave at all.  It had a constant temperature of 65 degrees as I recall.

Apparently (according to the young lady who acted as our tour guide), it was a collaborative effort between husband and wife.  He built the fireplace and she did the "trim" work on it. 

The misses was never short of places to put little knick-knacks either.

Well, we weren't impressed with the results of his attempts at taxidermy.  That's a wild horse, there.  We were impressed with the fact that he tried it at all, though.  And a better shot of the fireplace.

Another wild horse, this one a colt, and then some of the drill bits he used, and some painting she was working on before her death.

The wiring wasn't original, it came later and John and I thought perhaps it left a bit to be desired as far as code went, if there is any such thing.  The running water, both in and out, was done at the time of "building" the place.

They lived in the cave for a while before they had phone service, and this is the original phone which they chose to leave as is.  The storage room was used by the gift shop which at one time was a small ice cream place.

Back outside again.  I'm not sure where that ladder led to, but it was up on the "roof," as was the outlet for the smoke from the fireplace.  The fireplace "chimney" was 65' high, drilled through solid rock.

Remember that miner in the bucket?  Well, the cable the bucket hangs from originated up here.  We wondered if it was just decoration or if something was really behind those doors.  We left without finding out.