Taylor, Arizona Vacation - part 2a

Family camps are really for kids, of course, so that is what you're most likely going to see on these pictures. You'll also see that I've included a lot of pictures on a certain activity and then none or only one on another activity. That only means I wasn't able to geet to all activities.

One of the first things we did at camp this year was set out a game of Bolo Ball to keep the kids occupied while grown-ups and parents unpacked vehicles and set up our kitchen and washing area.






This is a hand-made Bolo Ball game that rarely was played according to any rules but it certainly saw a lot of actiity. I was really surprised to see that we still had all the balls and the intact frame when it was time to go home.






It worked so well at a prior Family camp that we did it again this year. Carolyn bought about 150 heavy duty, colored, plastic tumblers that each of the campers decorated with stickers or their name with a magic marker.






The idea is to reduce the number of throw-away cups and still let the kids have a sanitary cup each time they want a drink.








Besides playing, the other thing you'll see most at family camp is cooking and eating. This year one of Leonel's boys took on the responsibility of planning the menu, buying the food, and organizing the food preparation. He did ask for assistance with food preparation and serving but each family group was more than willing to provide that much assistance.




This picture is evidence that it isn't just the old folks who sit around in the shade and just enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

Or maybe they're guarding the dessert cooler.






A big hit at camp this year was a form of finger painting. The media were shaving cream and food coloring. As you can seek, the kids are kind of timid at first.

And they're even keeping their clothes relatively clean.




The girls are starting to get into it now.


















































But the boys are still messier. The nice thing about shaving cream is that it makes things really easy to clean up.



















Then the boys start allocating their own media. They're also rolling up their sleeves and diving in to the project.

Can you imagine what this would be if we had used whipping cream instead of shaving lotion!

























The pavilion we used was such a nice one that I wondered why they were setting up a smaller shade system nearby. It turned out to be for a game the next day.




























You'll recognize the universal sign of a food line. People with plates in their hands looking forward expectantly for the plate to be filled. I didn't get the exact count buy I thought I overheard Kevin say they had planned for 125 to 150 people every meal. That's a lot of cooking.

























Although the pavilion had 4 or 6 tables chained down inside it, we found that we needed additional tables and chair to accommodate the size of our group.








Carolyn also had the little ones digging in the ground for the shear pleasure of digging.









Philip is using his mother-in-law's fancy SLR digital camera so he is assigned unofficial camp photographer. One of his duties is to take a "formal" picture of every family/household so we'll have a record of who is here at camp.

Lindsay and Dustin are guinea pigs trying out the back side of Grandma & Grandpa's 50th Anniversary quilt as a bac


We try out different poses as well.









With small households like Leonel & Carol Ann, we decide that we can augment them with other family members.








And try other poses...









Although things can get a little silly.









Another meal, another food line, another serving line.










And still another meal preparation.








And more......








lines....










Kevin, Kandy, and one of their grandchildren.








with a little help from off screen.









We were fortunate to have the use of a beautiful meadow right nest to our camping and parking area. We set up for some of the larger games such as horseshoes, volleyball, beanbag toss, and kite flying.












































































































For those who enjoyed a little more sedate activities, Tammy (Merlin's wife) was showing then caching people how to make a cute little item that looked like a lidded box. When the lid was removed, the sides of the box fell open to reveal 16 or 20 sides for photos or other scrapbook elements. Very cute.












































A pile of wood chips became a treasure hunt when small toys, candy, and coins were scattered into the pile. Smallest kids went first and everyone had a three toy limit.







It seemed to be a big hit by all. And certainly safer than a pinata.







Even Jake helped Mom with the craft project.














































The end of camp meant cleanup time. Everyone appeared to be responsible for the area around their tent. Then they pitched in to clean up the common areas.






Some kept track of the little ones so the rest of the group could do the work.
















I hope to get other pictures for Philip and anyone else that I can then add to this collection. Look for Taylor, Arizona Vacation - part 2b, 2c, etc.

Going Home Again

To me it seems that no matter how wonderful the vacation, how delightful the people you traveled with and those you met along the way, how comfortable the facilities, how fun the activities, there still comes a time when you start wanting to be home in your own bed, taking a shower in your own bathroom, preparing a meal in your own kitchen and eating it in your own dining area.

So you say good-bye to the people and places you're visiting and head back home. If you're driving, you have to watch the speedometer as your foot somehow seems heavier the closer you get to home. If you're flying, you have to watch your attitude as the security employees don't know you're going home.

Now you also start remembering the things were were going to do, the people you were going to visit with and you wonder if you really should go back for one more day. Then you remember that everyone was packing up and leaving just like you. There's no THERE to go back go.

Your mind shifts again to your home and how wonderful it will be. But then you start thinking about your plants. Did you water them enough? How stuffy will the house smell? You hope you didn't have a plumbing leak like your cousin Neil did. Insurance picked up all the costs but it was still a major inconvenience.

You stop to pick up the dogs, the mail, the newspaper. Reality is sinking in. Life hasn't stopped while you were on vacation. It was just piling up in some Postal Service cubby.

Still, you look all around you, feel the comfort that years of living bring. and hug and kiss each other with the greeting, "Welcome Home!!"

Wrap it up

The rodeo announcer said that the Fourth of July was the Christmas for the Rodeo and he then went on to explain that it was called that because of the number of Rodeos that a cowboy could be a part of in the 30 days surrounding July 4. But I think the name could also apply here in Taylor as the whole town gets involved in what has to be a grand celebration of the pioneer spirit and small town cohesiveness.

We rejoined the activities at noon when we and hundreds of others bought $6 dinner plates of "barbecue", the word they use in these parts to designate slowly cooked and lightly seasoned beef that is then pulled apart so that it can be eaten as a bread spread, stuffing in a taco or burrito, or just as a separate meat dish. They were also serving "Navajo Tacos" which consisted of fried bread dough about 8 inches in diameter. You could spread packets if honey on it, barbecue beef, beans or chili. Thinking that we'd be back for more, we skipped the tacos. We did, however, follow a local custom here of spreading several blankets on the grandstand seats we'd like to occupy, duct taping them in place for good measure.

Already (shortly after noon) you could hear the rodeo announcer announcing the preliminary contests for those events where an excess of cowboys had signed up. Our group split up - some to drive around the town seeing where it had changed so much.

An hour before the beginning of the rodeo we drove over trying to get a good parking space. Everyone else in this corner of the world had the same idea. Fortunately, they also had handicap parking and it was both close and available.

The rodeo started on time and had a good mix of events including bareback riding, saddleback riding, bull riding, calf roping, and barrel racing. There was one incident of the rodeo clown sustaining a broken leg but otherwise it was a flawless evening.

Two hours into the program the lights were turned off and the fireworks started. To the strains of 4 country-western patriotic songs, a great collection of fireworks were shot. The rodeo resumed and (I'm told) went until 2:00 am.

It was a greaet Fourth of July.

Breakfast for 30 anyone?

After being totally awoken by the band and the anvil explosions, all the kids were too wired to go back to sleep. Fortunately Keith and Sue had invited us all over for breakfast

I wondered if they realized what they were getting into by inviting 27 people for breakfast but their yard was more than equal to the task


While the adults were busy setting up tables and chairs and also cooking a backlog of pancakes, the kids were playing on Nature's playground equipment --- the trees.

Family pictures

It occurred to us in the past couple of days that all our family was here in Taylor and we likely wouldn't be together like this again in several years, if ever. So, our thought process went, we need to get a family picture. Then it's all: whose camera, who will be the photographer; where; when; etc.

The following pictures came from my camera as taken by Fawnette Baldwin.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

Picture 4

I hope to create a composite portrait of our group using the best poses of each but I have no idea when I'll get to such a project. Also, Philip has some picture of our family group taken with a much more expensive and gadget loaded camera.

Oops, crossed signals

In comparison to our family coordination success of yesterday, today was an absolute disaster. However, it turned out ok after all.

The Town of Taylor, AZ starts its Fourth of July celebration with a bang --- literally. To produce the bang, two anvils and a small thick-walled pipe.

Here's one shot of the two anvils. You can almost see the pipe in spite of the newspaper getting in the way.
Here's another shot that is slightly clearer. The stack has just be made so that it is a sort of black powder tower. Newspaper is laid on top of the bottom anvil and that is followed by a charge of so much black powder. Another sheet of paper is placed on that with the second anvil then capping the whole affair.


The proverbial 10 foot pole has a metal sponge on the end which doused with lighter fluid then lit with a lighter. The resulting flame is used to start the papers on fire. Papers burn, black powder explodes, top anvil is thrown into the sky and a quick short pressure front hits everyone in the neighborhood.

Usually, the band follows immediately witha song that has been cued up while the anvils are placed.

The goof-up this morning occurred because we misunderstood the start time for the explosions. Keith and Kyle had arranged a trailer with hay bales for our whole family to enjoy the explosions in style. As it was we caught the next to last stop and managed to get most of the group aboard the trailer for the last leg of the parade.

Bringing the family together

What a maneuver! What a work of art! How blessed as a family we are!

For all of our family to participate in the Taylor, Arizona Fourth of July celebration, we had to have 7 independent families in 7 individual cars/vans/suvs, leaving at 7 independently chosen times, traveling 7 possibly unique routes, all ending up at the same time at the same place. It boggles the mind.

Of course it helped that certain routes were suggested and that Uncle Leonel and Aunt Carol Ann had issued a rather open-ended invitation to feed any of the group that "happened" to drop in for a visit. I don't think they realized how open-ended we took that invitation to be. (Thank you, Leonel & Carol Ann!!) It also helped that we live in the age of cell phones and each car had at least one cell phone.

The net result was that Carolyn and I arrived in Joseph City early this afternoon for a nice visit with Leonel and Carol Ann. Then an hour or so later, Jon & Jessica arrived for a visit as well. Then, another car arrived, then three more at the same time. Leonel and Carol Ann honored their invitation and fed a delicious meal to everyone. And before the food was all gone, the last car showed up.

There was a little more visiting then all the cars reloaded and headed to the motel in Taylor which will be our headquarters for the next 2.5 days, The valiant hotel clerk efficiently handled the registration for 8 rooms and 27 people.

Everyone appeared to travel well and there were no accidents or sibling fights. Some heavy rainstorms threatened a delay but in the end nothing serious resulted.

Tonight's mission: get to sleep and be rested enough for a 5:00 am wake-up call so we can be part of the Taylor Fourth of July Parade.

On pins & Needles

2009 Arizona Vacation - Day 1

Carolyn & I weren't exactly on pins & needles for this vacation to begin but I was beginning to think that we were down to the last pin & needle in our house to bring with us. The trouble is that I couldn't see how we could bring with us all the necessary stuff for camp and get it all in our Highlander SUV so I suggested bringing our Dodge Ram Van. Once we had switched to the van we had all sorts of room to bring things that previously we hadn't even considered. As it was we completely filled up the back of the van (with the back row of seats stowed) one "layer" high. If we had some clever (and stowable) way to support a second layer without pressing down on the first layer, we could have doubled our cargo.

We got away exactly at 8:00 am making good time and arriving in Bakersfield for refueling and lunch at 1:30 pm. We ate at the Hungry Bear restaurant, a nice classy stake house which used to be a chain outfit but is now locally owned & operated. Good food & reasonably priced.

Carolyn drove all day long, something I wasn't complaining about. As we approached Barstow, we called Ed to find out where they were. They had left yesterday afternoon in order to visit Calico Ghost Town on the way. It turned out we were right on their heels so we decided to meet together for dinner in (you guessed it!) Needles. And the place we decided to eat was (remember we ate lunch at the Hungry Hunter) the Hungry Bear. We're all for equal opportunity, you know.

We convinced the kids to stay in the motel with us rather than trying to get to Flagstaff this evening. I just don't think they would have made it without killing each other. Now we're going to try to send them on their way tomorrow morning early so they can see a couple more tourist sites and still make Taylor by bedtime. Tomorrow will be another big day.

On the road - Fourth of July Edition

Just wanted to drop a short line today letting you all know that we'll be on the road for the next 10 days so these blog posts may come just a little less regular than usual. And when all you experience during a day is 600 miles of asphalt and a couple of audio books, coming up with something to write about is a little more difficult. I don't even know what our Internet connections will be or if we'll even have one.

I think the first of our family is already underway. They wanted to stop at Calico Ghost Town just outside of Barstow. Then tomorrow while they're enjoying the Ghost town the rest of us will catch up. Those, that is, that choose not to try to make the trip in one day.

Just in case we don't get back on -- Have a great weekend and on the Fourth remember our country's freedoms and liberties and why they are so important.