Zeghers Farm Equipment Auction

The day started out cold and cloudy with gale force north winds... A perfect day for a farm auction!  Too cold for farmers to be in the field, so they might as well go to an auction. 

Don arrived early to ensure that all the machinery was in running order and to take the combines out of the shed. The Holland United Church ladies set up the food (sandwiches, hotdogs, burgers, soup, pie, puffed wheat cake, rice crispy cake, coffee, pop and water) in the shed. 

We were lucky that Albert's yard has a lot of protection from the north wind. Later in the morning the clouds cleared and it was actually quite a nice day if you got away from the wind. 

Many people turned out for the auction. Some friends and family to support us, employees from the seed plant and lots of bidders. It seemed the auctioneer always had a difficult time to get the first bid, but once the offers started the auction song was rolling.  

Aaron captured what he hopes are some excellent moments on film. Leah took many photos on Don's camera too. Lots of fodder to add to the "Holland, Man" film. 

Critters Workshop

The Cypress River Quilt Retreat was a blast. Nine of us took Coreen Zerr's class called Critters. In this workshop we learned how to piece together a critter face and then thread paint the critter to look furry. Most of us used a pattern of a fox that Coreen created from a photo that Don took. Pat did a raccoon and he is darling. Check out the photos!!

Arches and Sego Canyon

A couple of hours north of Monument Valley is Arches National Park.  This park lies on top of an underground salt bed that is responsible for the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths of the sightseeing mecca.   Thousands of feet thick in places, this salt bed was deposited across the Colorado Plateau 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated.  Over millions of years, residue from floods, winds and the oceans that came and went blanketed the salt bed.  The debris was compressed as rock, at one time possibly a mile thick.

Salt under pressure is unstable, and the salt bed lying below Arches was no match for the weight of this thick cover of rock.  The salt layer shifted, buckled, liquefied, and repositioned itself, thrusting the rock layers upward as domes, and whole sections fell into the cavities.

Panorama shot showing many of the rock formations at the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint.

Connie is leaning on the hood of the car to be able to see up to the top of the Courthouse Towers.

Balanced Rock

Panorama view towards Balanced Rock and North and South Window arches.

Delicate Arch

After leaving Arches Nation Park we headed north on highway 191 until it met #70 where we turned east.  Near that junction is a small hamlet called Thompson Springs.  North of this almost ghost town of Thompson Springs there is a historic site of petroglyphs and pictographs.

Connie in front of one section of Sego Canyon Rock Art

Monument Valley

Connie and I explored Monument Valley today.  We took the valley drive, a 17 mile unpaved dirt road, that took us about 1 1/2 hours to complete.  

Monument Valley was created from nature's erosion.  During the Paleozoic Era (about 570 million years ago) the entire Colorado Plateau was underneath the Gulf of Mexico, which brushed against the Rocky Mountains.  Materials that eroded from the Rocky Mountains were deposited over other silt deposit layers and cemented into sandstones.  An uplift generated by ceaseless lava pressure from below the Earth's crust caused the surface to bulge and crack.  These cracks deepened and widened into rocky ravines and canyons.  

The uplift of the young Colorado Plateau started to develop about 65 million years ago after the collision of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates off the coast of California, sending shock waves eastward.  Natural forces still continue to shape the land today.  Changes occur slowly with time through thousands of years unseen by the human eye.  

Endless erosion by water, wind and ice over millions of years chiseled rock formations into the unique shapes of Monument Valley.  Mesa - Spanish word for table.  Is a rock formation that looks like a table.  A mesa is usually wide, stable and the first stage of erosion.  Butte - is a rock formation that is smaller and the second stage of erosion from a mesa.  Spire - the final stage of erosion from a butte, is a rock formation that becomes narrow and free standing.  

El Capitan
Located between Kayenta and Monument Valley, is an example of a volcano plug.

Connie in front of East and West Mittens
Look like hands; signifies spiritual being watching over us.

The Passat in front of Mitchell Mesa and the Three Sisters on the left.
The Three Sisters - a Catholic Nun facing her two pupils.

Rain Goddess Mesa
Ironic that the backdrop is a perfectly blue sky; no clouds in sight!!

Totem Pole and Yei Be Chei
The totem pole is the tall straight structure and the Yei Be Chei
are Navajo spiritual gods that are to the left of the totem pole and look like they are dancing.

View from Artists' Point.
Just imagine filming a western from this vantage point!

North Window
Overlooks the northern view of the  lower valley.

Elephant Butte
Can you picture an elephant in this rock formation?

The Thumb
A free standing spire, it also looks like a cowboy boot.

Monument Valley Tribal Park Visitor Centre
This gorgeous building blends in nicely with the landscape.

Desert View Watchtower

On the way out of the Grand Canyon Nation Park we drove east along the rim drive. Just near the east park gates is a watchtower build to mimic the native people's construction. Construction was done in the 1920s and the architect was Mary Colter who must have been a very interesting women. I will have to research her!!

Inside the tower on the main floor is a store and many windows for viewing the canyon. There is a circular staircase to go up to the four levels inside the tower, which are all filled with Native artifacts. There is also a door to an outside patio area on the second floor. 

This was a very interesting stop. It enables the visitor to see the depths of the Grand Canyon to the west and also to look east towards flat desert land.