Thursday, September 20, 2018

Time to Get Away!

The wildfires, my bum foot and the political climate have been causing some dismay in our lives, so we decided it was time to get away. Off we went to Delta and Capitol Reef September 6-9. It was very good to get out of town for a bit.

Our first stop was Leamington. We had to stop because I saw on the side of the street an old Phillips 66 station with old cars in front of it. It was as if the people just deserted their vehicles years ago and it has remained as it was! It seemed as if it could have been some kind of old museum, but nothing had been maintained as a museum would have been and windows had been broken, etc.

 However, this old gas pump that pumped Ethyl gasoline (leaded) is gleaming! And did you see the price of gasoline per gallon? (37 cents/gallon!)

Then we headed down to Delta to visit the Topaz Museum.

Below is information quoted from a memorial found on site.

"Over 120,00 Japanese-Americans, two thirds of whom are U.S. citizens, are uprooted from their west coast homes and incarcerated by their own government. It is 1942, wartime hysteria is at a peak. They are imprisoned in ten inland concentration camps where they remain behind barbed wire, under suspicion and armed guards for up to 3 1/2 years. Topaz is one of the ten camps. Without hearings or trials, this act of injustice is based soley on the color of their skin and the country of their origin. America's fear and distrust of these citizens--precipitated by Japan's attack upon Pearl Harbor--is placated. Lost within this rush to judgment is the denial of constitutional rights, major losses of personal property and the labeling of its own citizens as enemy. Ironically, though this mas incarceration is spearheaded by thoughts of disloyalty, not a single case of espionage against the U.S. is ever discovered. Indeed, the 442nd RCT and 100th Battalion, composed entirely of young Japanese-American boys (many of who volunteer from internment camps), suffer major war casualties and go on the become the U.S. Army's most highly-decorated combat unit in its history. Topaz is closed in October of 1945. The memory of Topaz remains a tribute to a people whose faith and loyalty was steadfast--while America's had faltered."

We visited the concentration camp and the three images below show some of what we saw of the remains.





It was a sobering experience to visit this museum and the site of the concentration camp. One of the individuals who lived through this awful ordeal is quoted on the the wall of the museum.

"We had the Constitution to protect us in 1942. It didn't because the will of the people (wasn't) behind it." --Gordon Hirabayshi

Oh, that we can learn from history and be the haven of "liberty and justice for all" that we claim our country to be as we say our "Pledge of Allegiance"!


Back on the Road!!

We arrived in Torrey in the evening after a drive through some beautiful southern Utah scenery.

 Here is the view from our hotel door at the Rim Rock Hotel. It was so very peaceful. The air was clean and the scenery majestic.
 This photo was taken on the other side of the hotel. You can see the rainbow appearing. The streaks of lightening crackling through the sky were breath-taking sights, too.
 We ate at the award-winning restaurant at the hotel. Here is the view from the restaurant that we shared with this little hummingbird.
 
 This was our dinner. When it comes to meat, I don't have the most adventurous palate, and I often claim to not like fish, but here you can see trout, quail and buffalo brats along with a honey glazed squash on my plate. Roland and I split an entree, and I knew Roland would be more than happy to help me with anything I couldn't handle, but it all was delish.
Here's the centerpiece on our table. What a great dining experience. We felt we had arrived into another time and place. That's what one wants when they need to get away!
The room wasn't anything to brag about, but I love the print that was on the wall. It's by an artist, Jim Rey and entitled "The Legend Wall". I've seen several walls like this covered with petroglyphs since I've lived here in Utah. One was Newspaper Rock on the road to Canyonlands and others at Bear's Ear National Monument. I like that the artist chose to place a contemporary Indian--along with his horse--to view these petroglyphs created by Pre-Puebloan people--perhaps his very ancestors.

Now for some of the sights we saw at Capitol Reef. Capitol Reef was established as a National Park in 1971. It's name comes from a dome atop one of the formation that explorers felt resembled the domes of our capitol buildings. And "Reef" is used because the explorers who found this place were once sailors who called formations which were hard to cross "reefs".



 This is on the way to Cassidy Archway viewpoint. We went about .5 miles on this trail before I decided I need not injure my foot any more than it already was. But, oh, what a view!



Since hiking couldn't be in our plans, we were limited somewhat in what we were able to do. So the next day we traveled a car tour recommended by our host at our VRBO room.

First we traveled up to Dixie National Forest. Below are some of the views we saw there.



Then we traveled through Boulder (town) and Burr Trail through a corner of Escalante, some private lands, and back through Capitol Reef. These pictures don't really catch the majesty of the views we enjoyed. But they're all I've got! This earth has been around a long, long time and seen many changes over the course of that time.







I love this picture. The way the light hits the mountains and the ground make such a significant difference in what the viewer gets to see! The light changes continually, therefore the landscape does, too. That's one of my favorite things about living in Utah and living in the mountains. How can such big, majestic mountains be continually changing! 

It was a great trip! Roland rose early a couple of the mornings we were at Capitol Reef to go out searching for petrified wood and he found some nice pieces to decorate our garden with. We ate some good food, saw some beautiful country and even learned a few things! What a great getaway! And it's not so far that we can't go back and enjoy it all again in new and different ways.

1 comment:

Emily said...

This is a great post! Capitol Reef is beautiful. I wish I’d stopped in Topaz in my trip, too. Next time!