Where I Come From

On July 2, David and I headed to another class reunion. This time we went to Blanding, Utah, which is the little town where I grew up. It was settled by my paternal ancestors who came there as part of the Hole in the Rock expedition. Growing up, I was raised on stories of my ancestors. Most of my friends were my cousins and I was babysat by my aunts and uncles. A huge part of who I am is because of this little town. Small as it is, it is amazing how often I run into someone who knows someone from Blanding. David is always surprised because he's from Austin and that hardly ever happens to him.

One of the most beautiful things about Southern Utah are the red rocks. When I start to see them all around me, I know I'm almost home. 

We got to Blanding before the reunion started so we decided to drive around a little. This church was built by the early settlers. When I was a kid, it was going to be torn down. My dad helped fight to prevent that from happening - thank goodness.  

This is the town library. This is where my parents had their wedding reception 50 years ago.

This is the house I grew up in. It looks a little different now. 

This is the junior high school where I attended 7th and 8th grade.

These are members of the San Juan High School class of 1986. I didn't graduate with them, but I went to school with them from first grade until sophomore year. I have so many fond memories with these people. I've only been back to Blanding two or three times in the past 30 years.

I went to school with as many Ute and Navajo kids as white kids. Darlene was one of my best friends in elementary school. (We could both run really fast.) We played basketball together in junior high. She lived on the White Mesa Navajo reservation.

With Darlene

Kate was my best childhood friend. She is also my second cousin (her grandad was my granny's brother). We used to play kissing tag with Kerry.

With Kate and Kerry

I had a crush on Kuhia for years. We used to compete with each other in school. We were also at BYU together. He was a great friend. Years later when I had surgery, he ended up being my anesthesiologist. 

With Kuhia

Kate ended up marrying my neighbor Gary. Gary and his siblings and me and my siblings used to play night games all the time. He is part of many of my childhood memories. (I once out shot him with a BB gun. He also says I beat him at basketball.) Kyle didn't live too far from us. He used to torment us all. We were all in the same ward.

With Kyle, Kate and Gary

I belonged to a group of seven girl friends that were pretty close. Jolene was one of those girls. When I was in first grade, we lived near each other and used to walk home from school together.

With Jolene and Kate

Rickie (now known as Rick) was always the class clown. Our dads both worked on their masters degrees at BYU during the summers so our two families would do a lot together. He has kept a hold of this spirit stick since high school!

With Rick

Kirsten and I had an off and on friendship. I wasn't always as nice to her as I should have been, but I always enjoyed the time we spent together. We later reconnected at BYU and I was grateful for that.

With Kirsten

We stayed in this cute little hotel called the Stone Lizard. When I lived in Blanding, it was called something else and it was a total dive. Now it's a fun little place.

Our room had two separate bedrooms with queen beds.

The best part about the hotel was the breakfast. It was homemade and it was delicious. The cinnamon rolls were particularly delicious.

The next morning we decided to see a few more places. This is the high school where I spent my freshman year. The junior high and high school are right next to each other and we had classes in both so really I attended three years in both schools.

This is Third Reservoir where I went fishing as a kid. Last time we came to Blanding, it was completely dried up. They've had a lot of rain this year.

Fourth Reservoir.

Sleeping Ute Mountain

I wanted David to see Natural Bridges National Monument. These are amazing rock formations. Can you see the bridge?

Sipapu Bridge

Kachina Bridge

Can you see it now?

Cool cedar tree

Cool rock formation

Owachomo Bridge is the biggest one. When I was a kid, we would climb up one side of this, walk across it and climb down the other side. My brother, Clark, would walk right up to the edge and either lay down and peer over it or sit on the edge. It used to scare the heck out of me. It's no longer permitted to climb on the bridges.

Owachomo Bridge

We decided to hike down to the bridge.

This shows how we used to access the bridge. It's also an interesting shot of the vegetation found here.

We stopped by the cemetery on our way out of town and I visited the grave of my Granny & Grandad. I plan to be buried here some day as well.

There are many interesting rock formations in this part of the country. This one is called Church Rock, but we always called it Aunt Jemima or the fat lady.

Wilson Arch. We didn't take time to hike up to the arch because we've done that before. My mom actually has a picture of her at the arch when she was a little girl.

Next we decided to take the turnoff for Dead Horse Point. I've always wanted to go there. It did not disappoint. This is such a uniquely beautiful part of the country.

"The legend of Dead Horse Point states that around the turn of the century the point was used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa top.  Cowboys herded them across the narrow neck of land and onto the point.  The neck was then fenced off with branches and brush.  One time, for some unknown reason, horses were left corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst within view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below. "

Canyonlands is beautiful. I love being from this amazing place.

Example of a saddleback mountain formation.

It was a really fun trip and it was fun to just be David and I for a day.