Seeing Southern Utah

June 2, 2017 Teressa Jackson

I'm woefully behind on blogging again, and my travels have been jam packed with fun and adventure. Hopefully I can get caught up in the next few days. First up - my adventures across southern Utah.

On Mother's Day, I fittingly picked my lovely mother up from the Las Vegas airport. After grabbing some shuteye at a Vegas Airbnb, we took off across Utah. We couldn't help but stop at nearly every scenic viewpoint on the way, turning a 6-hour drive into a 9-hour one. We finally landed in Green River, Utah for the evening, and enjoyed a delicious meal at Tamarisk Restaurant along the river that evening.

The next morning, we were up and on the road bright and early again. We popped down to Moab, Utah, where we met up with my cousin Aaron and his wife Gina to tour Arches National Park. The park has over 2,000 natural arches slowly formed by the elements. It's a gorgeous landscape and it was also so nice to catch up with my cousin, who I hadn't seen in many years. After sharing lunch in downtown Moab, mom and I hit the back roads west.

I hadn't planned to stop in Goblin Valley State Park, but couldn't resist when I saw that we were somewhat close. This hoodoo-filled landscape is part of one of my favorite memories. As we walked to the edge of the depression that these formations call home, I hoped that I wouldn't be disappointed. Thankfully, this natural wonder was just as fantastic as I remembered it from when my father had brought my sister and me there over 25 years ago. I recall our 12 and 13-year-old selves filled with wonder, running around the valley with our imaginations going wild. I think it was an especially sweet experience because it was probably one of the last times my sister and I were more little girls than young women, free of all the pressures that inevitably descend upon one's teenage years.

Our travels continued through Utah's beautiful and formation-filled back roads to Capitol Reef National Park. I don't recall if I had ever been to this park before, but regardless, I gazed upon its beautiful formations in wonder and awe. I was also amazed that pioneers had the fortitude to establish the town of Fruita in the area. They planted orchards of fruit trees, built houses, and worked to make the harsh landscape a home. We spent the following day exploring the park, including adventuring down the bumpy and rugged Capitol Gorge Road.

After the morning at Capitol Reef, we went westward and upward to the town of Tropic, located just outside Bryce Canyon National Park. We dropped our stuff at the hotel and ascended further up to the park. The lodge was a perfect place to grab a filling dinner. I had intended for us to walk to the rim and peek at the canyon afterwards. Little did I know that we would be joined by a tiny snowstorm, not uncommon at 9,000 feet of elevation, even in mid-May. Not to be deterred, we adventured out anyway and enjoyed the canyon view in the waning light and drifting flurries.

Even though we had previewed Bryce Canyon in the snow the evening before, it was a completely different landscape the next morning. The salmon-covered hoodoos shone in the morning light, and my mother was as impressed as I had anticipated. I don't know how you could not be, as it's certainly one of the most spectacular places I've ever been. We rode the shuttle around the park's stops, ate lunch at the lodge, and then we were pleased to discover that the road leading to the highest points in the park had been opened so we explored those vistas, too.

The next morning, we were westward bound again. We made our way to Kanab, Utah, which is where many western films and television shows were filmed, including Gunsmoke, one of my mother's childhood favorites. Just outside Kanab, we spent the morning on a driving tour of Johnson Canyon Road. When we turned on the route, we found ourselves in the middle of a cattle drive, and had the interesting experience of driving through a mass of cows who weren't too happy to share the road. There were many interesting stops along the trail, including some pioneer billboards on the cliffs, the old Gunsmoke set, and lots of geological formations, including Johnson Canyon itself.

After we refueled the car and our bellies (mmm, Mexican food!), we decided that we would drive the highway through Zion National Park on our way to St. George, our next nightly stop. We wound our way through petrified sand dunes and my mother gasped in awe. I gasped in awe myself at the bighorn sheep that covered the landscape, as it was my first encounter with them and they were literally everywhere you looked. After taking more photos of them than I'd care to admit, we continued through the park. Unfortunately, we soon found ourselves stopped. Falling sand and rock had closed the route for an indefinite period of time!

We rerouted ourselves to St. George, instead traveling back through Kanab, then through Fredonia and Colorado City, Arizona. The Inn on the Cliff in St. George was a welcome oasis with a gorgeous view when we finally arrived, and we were more than happy to hop in the hot tub and relax. We enjoyed a peaceful dinner with a fantastic view at the inn's restaurant before turning in for the evening.

The next day, we closed the loop on our jaunt around southern Utah and returned to Las Vegas. I showed mom around Red Rock Canyon and we enjoyed one of our favorite cuisines - Indian food! As mom boarded her plane back to Indianapolis the following day, my car headed in a northwesterly direction...

Crossing Paths and Collecting Adventures

January 22, 2017 Teressa Jackson

I had a lot of really wonderful experiences during my four weeks at Red Mountain Cottages in Bisbee, Arizona. I gazed at the sunset over the Huachuca Mountains each evening. I enjoyed visits from mule deer, roaming cattle, and flittering desert birds, and heard the sounds of coyotes singing in the night. I visited Old Bisbee, Ramsey Canyon Preserve, Chiricahua National Monument, Coronado National Memorial, Coronado National Forest, Cochise Stronghold, Kartchner Caverns State Park, the Whetstone Mountains, the wild west town of Tombstone, and the border towns of Naco and Agua Prieta in Mexico. And last but not least, I devoured ridiculous quantities of delicious Mexican food.

Mom and me at Chiricahua National Monument

My mother came to visit for my last week in Bisbee and shared in the fun, too. She was perhaps even more mesmerized by the beauty of the desert than I was - standing outside each morning in her coat and pajamas to watch the sunrise, strategically placed to see nature's fireworks to both the east and the west. The time whisked past, and it was hard to believe it was time to pack up the SUV and head to the next adventure on January 21.

I had made a couple of day trips to Tucson (about two hours from my Bisbee home) to see Saguaro National Park, and decided that my run to the airport to bid "see you later" to mom was a good reason to spend a couple more days there.

Mom and I spent her last day in Arizona visiting the Arizona - Sonoran Desert Museum, which was an interesting and expansive combination of museum, zoo, aquarium, art gallery, and botanical gardens. It was home to an amazing array of cacti, interesting desert creatures (including my favorite - the javelina!), and some informative exhibits. Our four hours there flew right by, and we took a small rest at our Airbnb before heading to El Charro Cafe to meet my second cousin Kim, a Tucson resident.

Kim, who I hadn't seen in 15 or so years and had never really known, graciously invited me to her gorgeous home for a hike after I deposited mom at the airport this morning. We journeyed six miles into the saguaro-covered mountains, watching her sweet dog Murphy busily investigate the landscape and getting to know one another. As someone who has never lived near extended family, it was fun to make that connection, especially with such a lovely person.

After three hours with Kim, I had another social date. Kalisha, a friend from home, had recently relocated to Phoenix and we had arranged to meet up in Tucson. It was nice to see another familiar face, and we talked non-stop for the next four hours. I have to admit, she made me wish a bit that my next stop was in Phoenix so we could have a few more visits, but alas, my route is set through February. Perhaps my path will encounter hers again sometime in the next few months... time will tell.

For now, I'm westward bound in the morning. Stay tuned!

On the Move & Making Art - December 2016

January 1, 2017 Teressa Jackson

My Austin apartment was above the garage on the right

On December 1, 2016, I arrived in Austin, Texas, after an exhausting 10-hour, 600+ mile drive. I settled into my little loft apartment in the North University neighborhood, where I enjoyed mostly warm weather, a lot of rain, a lovely walkable neighborhood, and treks to various sites around the region.

Austin is a very nice city, but I think I've made a discovery about myself along this journey - I don't particularly enjoy cities much anymore. I'm not really into bars or clubs, restaurants are a great way to drain your cash quickly, and why shop for things you can't haul around from place to place that you don't need anyway? After taking in the cultural attractions, I was left at a bit of a loss for things I might want to do. Plus, I just started getting antsy for some sunshine and open terrain.

Then, late in the month my Airbnb host cancelled the reservation I'd had in Tucson, Arizona for January. At that point, I wasn't able to find a new place to stay in Tucson. A lot of people had recommended Bisbee, Arizona to me, so I decided the host cancellation was my opportunity to leave Austin a bit early and check it out.

From December 25-26, I drove over 800 miles and checked in to a beautiful, serene, solar-powered house in the Mule Mountains a few miles outside of Bisbee, and my soul went "ahhhh." I can see for miles across the desert to the Huachuca Mountains, and my yard has been host to mule deer, birds, cattle, rainbows, glorious sunsets, and the sounds of goats bleating, coyotes howling, and roosters crowing. I'll get to enjoy this little oasis until the last week of January.

I wasn't quite as prolific in my artistic endeavors during December as in November, but I was also tending to some contract work, spent several days visiting Big Bend and driving to Bisbee, and maybe felt a little lethargic and uninspired. I still managed to create the following paintings inspired by my travels and informed by my original photography, as well as one very special commission a friend hired me to create for another friend as a Christmas gift. Some are already sold, but I still have a few left that could bring some beauty from across the U.S. to your home or office.

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Big Bend National Park, Texas: 12/13/16, 19:02:10

Every $25 you buy in art helps keep me rolling on my adventure across the United States for approximately 1-2 days (gas is expensive!). I'm truly grateful to all the people in my life who keep me fueled up, both literally and figuratively!

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LBJ for a Day

December 8, 2016 Teressa Jackson

I have always enjoyed history, but typically more in a "History Channel" way than a "history major" way. As such, I have to admit, I didn't know a lot about Lyndon B. Johnson before yesterday. He passed away more than three years before I was born, so I also have that excuse for my ignorance.

I have a really hard time resisting a visit to any National Park or Monument. When I saw the NPS arrowhead for the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park on my way into Austin, I knew I would likely have to return.

The drive out through Texas Hill Country was beautiful, and gave me a better idea of the scenery surrounding Austin since it was dark when I arrived a week ago. There are a tremendous number of wineries dotting the landscape all through this area, which might make for a fun future adventure (anyone want to come drive me around?).

Johnson's boyhood home and his grandparents' settlement in Johnson City were my first stop. Honestly, I had thought that was the full scope of the park until I arrived, and was informed that the LBJ Ranch and home in later years, the "Texas White House," were also located 14 miles up the road toward Fredericksburg.

I enjoyed a short walk through the Johnson settlement, including an opportunity to meet my first real Texas longhorn. I loved the crackling sound of the grasses rustling in the fields there. I made it back to Johnson's boyhood home just in time for a ranger-led tour of the home, which was modest with the exception of the fact that it contained the only telephone that had existed in Johnson City in its day. The telephone, the three porches, and the radio were the hubs of the household and influenced the way that Johnson approached his life from that point forward.

A short drive up the road, through fields of deer, sheep, goats, and cattle, and I was at the LBJ Ranch along the Pedernales River. The location might be slightly remote, but that didn't stop LBJ from having modern conveniences like his own airplane hangar and telephones and televisions everywhere you looked. There were three televisions in both the living room and the bedroom, and even a telephone mounted under the dining room table. We complain about cell phones today - can you imagine what he would have been like with the technology that now exists?

My knowledge of Johnson's legacy mostly consisted of a vague idea of his role in escalating the Vietnam War, his "Great Society" programs, and the advancement of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 1968. I was largely unaware of the litany of legislation that was passed during his time as President, during which he had Democratic control of both the House and Senate (which is the situation we are facing in January 2017). Among others, legislation included Medicare, Medicaid, the Voting Rights Act, the Open Housing Act, National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, the Truth In Lending Act, College Work Study, Food Stamps, the Clean Air Act, and the establishment of nearly 50 National Park areas.

I wrapped up my day with a trip into Fredericksburg, Texas. This town has a downtown full of beautifully preserved historic buildings that are home to shops, wineries, breweries, and restaurants. After seeing so many cute cattle through the day, I was hungry for a burger - so I finished off my day with a (VEGGIE) burger at a place called Burger! Burger!

You're welcome, cows. :-)

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