Vacation, Part 2

I'm going to skip over the drive from Denver to Utah because Magi has all those pictures on her computer. I was driving, and she's got all the cool pictures right here.

The drive was nothing short of spectacular. After endless hours of cornfields we got to see some amazing scenery.

Once we got there, my dad showed us around. He and Dee have a great little ranch just on the south side of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. Dad had to show me his shop, which was the first thing they built. Here, he shows off his car and tractor collection. He's owned a lot of these cars and tractors in his lifetime, but not the 1950s Batmobile in the lower right corner:

He builds and trades guns, too:

Lots and lots of guns...oh, and knives too:

Here, he shows the medicine bag he had made for my late grandmother, whose great grandmother was Mohawk. Yes, I'm 1/64 Native American:

You might have guessed correctly that my father is into Westerns. Here is some of his memorabilia, including a signed photo of Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger that my brother and I got him some years ago:

And that IS a Cylon helmet containing the Battlestar Galactica series DVD set I gave him for Christmas. Hey, it's good to have varied tastes!

My dad often uses this getaway spot to sleep in the middle of the night. He suffers from spinal arthritis that the strongest painkillers can't touch sometimes, and the only way he can sleep is in a chair. He was in a car accident when my mother was pregnant with me, that is responsible. His breastbone was broken by the steering column and he broke every one of his ribs...from the back. He also broke both legs. He almost died and still bears the tracheotomy scar on his throat. I'm just grateful he gets to spend his twilight years surrounded by the things that he loves.

Next time: The trip to Cedar City! With pictures!