The Final Frontier

You thought you had heard enough about our trip? Well there's more...

On our way out of Bluff we stopped at the Hovenweep ruins.

These were the first ruins that were discovered that had multi level buildings.

Pretty darn impressive if you ask me. There are tiny sporadic holes that they believe are aligned when the equinoxes occur. And separate windows for shining light through to alert the village of news. Pretty interesting stuff.

The mountain range below is known as the Sleeping Ute Mountain. You can see his headdress starting on the left. The Utes believe that this Ute Chief will awaken some day and reclaim this land for the original tribes.

Then we hopped in the car for the drive home. We play games in the car. Some families play I spy, or the Alphabet game. Drew and I play stick your head out the sunroof and drive game. Yes every time I play this I hear my dad's voice in my head that says, just like it did when I was 16, "cars are not toys".

But when you get wind hair like this it's just too hard to not play. Yes I know he's a vision! And he's all mine!

We stopped at our next obscurity. Hole N The Rock. This couple built their home in this rock.

And of course carved Pres. FDR's face into the side. You know, just the usual!

This is their living room, 60 ft fireplace and all.

Bedroom looking into other bedrooms etc. The wife carved her own bathroom at the age of 65! Blew my mind. And thus concluded our adventures. SouthEastern Utah... Consider yourself PWND!

Don't Hassle Me I'm Local

As I said before Drew and I headed down to Bluff to help build a cabin, dedicated to the man pictured below.

So I decided to catch Drew up on our heritage before we got there. And I read him Jens' history. A brief summary of his life; Jens crossed the plains with the Willey Handcart Company. They were caught in a severe snow storm in their travels. Jena being a large man standing 6'7" tall and having large feet wore through his shoes causing him to get frostbite on his feet. He told his wife Elsie, "Leave me here to die, I cannot go any further." their oxen had died on the journey and they were pulling their own wagon. Elsie said "I will not leave you. Ride in the cart." Elsie pulled him the rest of the way. After arriving in Salt lake the Jens Nielson family was called to travel down to what is now Bluff, Utah. They were the pioneers who what is known as the 'Hole in the Rock'. And also conquered San Juan Hill. You can read the whole story in a book newly written by Gerald Lund, the title is Undaunted Courage.

These are the cabins in Cove Fort. The cabin facing you on the very Left of the picture is Jens' cabin.

This is a picture of Drew chinking the cabin, so that mortar could be placed in between the logs.

This is the side of the cabin, pre chink and mortar.

This was Drew teaching me how to mortar. It was so funny seeing people come up with their own ideas about how to get the mortar in between the logs. One couple on their cabin were literally throwing the mortar at the cracks then trying to smooth it in. Wonderful!

Looking out of the front door. Probably a pretty realistic picture of what the pioneers would see every morning.

After a good long day of work we headed off to see some Native American ruins. Drew told me when we were dating, one of his life goals was to go see the Native Americans who built their homes right in the cliff. Well Done and Done!

I learned from my Utah Obscurities book that the paintings on the walls done by the Natives are called pictographs. And the chiseled art are called petroglyphs. Lesson learned!

These ruins are so remote and hard to find, they have not been roped off yet. So we were able to delicately explore them up close. It is truly amazing to see up close.

Don't Come in We're In The Bluff!

My grandma told me that what happens in Bluff, stays in Bluff! And most of the late night jokes and story telling will remain a secret. However the adventures had to be documented.

We headed down to Bluff, Utah this weekend. To participate in the building of a cabin. Dedicated to my great great great grandpa Jens Nielson. My Utah Curiosities, book came in super handy once again. On our adventures through Utah.

We don't make it down to the four corners area of the United States as often as we should. So we had to make the most of our drive down there. First stop Utah Curiosities led us to was Ray's Tavern in Green River. A local hotspot for river runners.

The walls hold shirts from river runners all around the world.

It was a quaint little place and we had fun with the ketchup squeeze bottles. Well... I did. Next stop Arches National Park!

We did a hike up to delicate arch! Beautiful!!

Seriously more beautiful then I can describe. And it was a nice 2 hour hike to break up the driving.

Then our tour guide book told us to check out Newspaper Rock.

We tried to get a picture with the ancient petroglyphs. Too much wall...

Too much us...

Ahh just right.

We cruised through Blanding. Got a drive by picture of the local family store;)

We pulled into Bluff and grabbed a quick bite at the only open restaurant in town. Yes it was 9:30 p.m. Why would any place stay open that crazy late?

Best cups I've ever sipped out of! What a beautiful town!

Portico Update

Drew put the finishing touches on the trim for the portico. And it looks better then I could have ever imagined!

He put a belly band on the bottom of the portico, and individually cut the shingles for a more authentic look.

As Drew was ripping off the aluminum siding, we found some very nice wood trim that was original to the portico. It worked perfect for the moulding around the shingles.

This is our test patch for the paint color for the house. We got the paint sample from one of the families I work for. It is the color of the house they used to live in! I think it will be just perfect!

Drew Can Do

Drew got some major work done on Saturday.

He trimmed out both windows. I started scraping off the windows to be repainted.

And it's crazy how much they changed the look of the house.

Then he moved onto the porch. The part I was most excited for.

The door is framed, now the actual door needs to be sanded and painted. I have the prettiest color in mind.

It is all coming together so nicely.

The posts were inspired by my friends basement trim. Shout out to Texas St! I am loving drastically it is updating the look of the house. Next on the list are the shingles for the portico. Stay tuned.

Guess Where We Are!?!

Yep, our home away from home... Wanna know what we (again I mean Drew) are doing?

We are giving this sad little lady a face lift! And it's going to be amazing...

We got so excited that we have already ripped off the iron posts and the plastic shutters on the windows. Ps, I always thought those were wood, they are not. We decided that we are going to blog the whole process to keep out loyal followers up to date. Prepare to have your mind blown.

As I write right now we, Caesar, Cleo and I are sitting outside of Home Depot waiting for Drew to pick up some drill bits. I guess I have just gotten so used to our dogs that I am always surprised when people walk passed the car and say how big they are.

Everyone comments.

I know they are big, but how do they tell from so far away?

Tonight we picked up some wood, glue and brackets to get started on the framing.

Drew got right to work ripping off the exterior of the portico.

And installing the 4X4s.

Below is a mock up of how the porch will look. Very well sketched by Drew.

We will keep you updated on the progress! Hopefully the weather holds out like my iPhone weather app promises.