I mentioned before that Kanab is nicknamed “Little Hollywood” and a lot of westerns were filmed in and around Kanab. Tom and I had a little extra time in Kanab one day and so we visited the Little Hollywood Movie Museum. The Little Hollywood Movie Museum is located on the edge of Kanab, just west …
From July 2018
Collateral Duty at Pipe Spring National Monument
Pipe Spring National Monument treats Tom and I just like regular rangers. We get assigned the same shifts and duties as the rangers. Tom and I really like this because there isn’t a ranger vs. volunteer hierarchy. We feel valued for what we know and what we can do. Being treated as rangers means that …
Maker of My Heart, Maker of My Soul
When I was weaving and talking to a group yesterday, one of the people who was listening said, “Wow, you are really a maker!” He was referring to the maker movement, which is a return to hands-on building in response to an increasingly industrialized age. A consumer goes to Walmart and buys a rug that …
Monsoon Season Comes to the Southwest
When we think of monsoons, we tend to think of places like India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. We envision people wading through water up to their waists while they go along with their daily business. But the southwest region of the United States also has a monsoon season, and it started with a vengeance a …
Dry Heat in the Arizona Strip
Whenever we tell people how hot it is in Arizona, they respond, “Yeah, but it’s a dry heat.” In replying this way, they are usually thinking of the heat index and how humidity makes it feel hotter. I’m from Ohio and I know that it can get pretty hot in the summer. On those hot …
Toadstools Hike in Grand Staircase Escalante
The first hike we took in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument was the easiest hike. Getting to the Toadstools trailhead doesn’t require driving on any dirt roads. The parking lot for the trailhead is right of US 89 about 45 miles east of Kanab. Toadstools is one of the most popular hikes in the Grand …
Fruit Loops Schedules and Working as Rangers
Every two weeks Tom and I receive a new work schedule. We got work schedules at Death Valley and Grand Portage. But we didn’t get work schedules at Kings Mountain, Chickamauga, San Juan or Fort Frederica. The places where we don’t get work schedules we do pretty much the same thing every day. Or we …
Shade from the Heat, Shelter from the Storm
Tom and I are living in northern Arizona for the summer. We knew when we signed up that it would be hot here, and it is. In the last two months, the temperature has been over 90 almost every day. June was very hot with quite a few days over 100. Because we work most …
Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument
Grand Staircase Escalante is a National Monument administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I don’t know why some National Monuments are administered by the BLM and why some are administered by the National Park Service. As far as I can tell, they are all pretty amazing! Grand Staircase Escalante comprises most of the …
DogTown and Best Friends: Two Books
After visiting Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, I decided to read a couple of books to get more in-depth information. I started with “Best Friends: The True Story of the World’s Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary” by Samantha Glen. Then I read “DogTown: Tales of Rescue, Redemption, and Rehabilitation” by Stefan Bechtel. I started …