Canyoneering in the San Rafael Swell

The four adventurers in Upper Black Box

While I was gone to Louisiana at the beginning of August, my husband took three of our older, but not yet married, kids on an adventure in the San Rafael Swell. My husband loves this place for the very cool rock formations and because hardly anyone goes there. They went to three different canyons and didn't see a single person the entire time. The only time they saw people was when they drove into the town of Green River to get some water. Perhaps because it was the beginning of August, people might have stayed away, thinking it was super hot but it really wasn't, especially when they were wading/swimming through the water in the slot canyons. They had a great time and a great adventure. I'm just glad they stayed alive! I did feel concerned about them especially when my sister-in-law told us how she went to the Upper Black Box Canyon some years ago and at the bottom they found a dead body. Someone had tried to do it alone and got into trouble. So it's definitely not without danger.

Upper Black Box

They did three canyons over the three days they were there: Upper Black Box, Baptist Draw, and Eardley Canyon. They had to do some swimming through some pretty murky water--fortunately they had a dry bag for their stuff that couldn't get wet. Baptist Draw had some very narrow areas that required some major effort to get through. And there were a couple of very long repels that were also a little scary--one was close to 200 feet high.

Getting ready to do Upper Black Box

Upper Black Box

Hiking out of the Upper Black Box

Baptist Draw

Hiking out of Baptist Draw

On the approach to Eardley Canyon

Eardley Canyon

Comments

Visiting Susquehanna: The Priesthood Restoration Site

On our way home from Palmyra, we decided to go a couple of hours out of our way to visit the recently opened Priesthood Restoration Site along the Susquehanna River. This is where we believe that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist which gave them the authority to baptize. This site also has the restored Isaac and Elizabeth Hale home where Joseph and Emma lived for a year as well as the home where Joseph and Emma lived on their own. We spent a couple of hours there and I wouldn't have minded a few more minutes but we had a long way to go that night. It's a beautiful setting, very much in rural Pennsylvania. However, on the day we were there, cars at a racetrack nearby were detracting from the peace and quiet. I'm guessing that's not as big of a problem on weekdays. The Hale Family was quite well-off for their day so their home was probably nicely decorated with wallpaper and carpet. ...

Book Review: Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

This is a juvenile fiction book about a young girl named Melody with severe cerebral palsy. Her body doesn't allow her to feed herself, speak, or do much at all. She's very intelligent with a photographic memory but she can't really communicate. Finally, in 5th grade, she gets a "Medi-Talker" which is a computer that speaks what she types in. Finally she has a voice. This book explores what it is like to be severely physically disabled but not mentally disabled. It seems like one of the most frustrating of all scenarios. She is completely aware of all the cruelty (subtle and otherwise) that her classmates inflict on her because they don't really want to include her in their activities. One of the saddest moments in the book comes when she realizes that every one of her special ed classmates is kind, where the "normal" ones are not. Who really has the worse disability? The book was a quick read and fairly enjoyable. Wha...

Do Dots Family System

The original post was written in January of 2015. I wrote an update at the bottom of this post in March 2021. A few months ago, a friend of mine told me about something she was doing in her family to help her family function better. Her teenage autistic son had been struggling a lot so they had been working with behavior therapists to help him and this "Do Dots Family System" had been recommended. As she described it, I was greatly intrigued since it sounded like something I wanted to implement at my own house. I looked into it and decided to purchase it right after Thanksgiving. Here is my review of how it has worked for us over the last six weeks or so. The basic idea of the chart is that children need to take care of their responsibilities before they get any privileges. It strongly reinforces the concept of "Work Before Play" . The chart helps children see in a very visual way that, until they have completed their responsibilities, they are on Le...

Search This Blog