Monday, July 7, 2008

hoodoos and hikes

hoo-doo - noun
Geology. a pillar of rock, usually of fantastic shape, left by erosion
verb - Sweeney boys passing gas, i.e. "who hoodooed?"

Yes, we're still alive. I'm coming out of the fog of travel, holidays topped off with a sweet bladder infection and lovely pink eye.

We went on another road trip a week and a half ago (already?) to Bryce Canyon National Park and on to Las Vegas to tag along on another work trip for Kenyon.

Bryce Canyon was pretty cool - we highly recommend it. Different from Zion National Park, you start out on the upper rim of the canyon and hike down to the bottom and then up again. In Zion N.P., you start in the bottom and hike to the top and back down again.

Bryce is the top of the "grand staircase" of the Colorado Plateau. The bottom of Bryce Canyon is the top elevation of Zion N.P. and the bottom of Zion is the top of the Grand Canyon.

Our first hike was two miles and 1400 feet down into the canyon to a place called the "Hat Shop" where rocks remain balanced on top of the eroding hoodoos. Kenyon had the boys put rocks on their own heads for our own little "Sweeney Hat Shop." Well, the way down was a breeze, but the heat and exhaustion got to Rufus toward the end on the way back up.

Again, we were our own little scenic stop for many visitors. I don't think four children is particularly unusual, so it must be the gaggle of boys that draws such attention. Particularly, a group of elderly tourists straight from Italy stopped us several times to blabber in their native tongue. What we understood is "Ciao!!!" and "quattro???" Then they took pictures of us.

Here are our memories. Enjoy.

Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Goosebumps! That is what your slideshow and song did to me. Loved it. My fav pic is the first one ~ way cool.
ashley
ps you are an amazing wife and mother to a great man and 4 boys.

Anonymous said...

What an amazing Creator we serve! Wonderful pictures. Thanks for sharing.
-KB

Anonymous said...

Looks a little like the Von Trappe family. What a beautiful family on a "cultural journey" - meeting and greeting our friends from Italy.

Anonymous said...

Yeahhh!! Awesome!! I looove the picture of Andrew asleep in the carseat at the end. That totally sums up the Daugherty family vacation after 2 weeks in Indiana and a 24-hour road trip in the van! Love ya!

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