Travels With Abs - 7/4/2009 - Kanab, Utah

We left Ruby's Inn and headed back to St. George via Kanab, Utah.

We stopped for a brief look at Red Rock Canyon, before we left the enticing colored cliffs.

Scott Richardson joined us in Kanab to explain more about the excavation and freeing of fossils from their surroundings. He also showed us some of the latest finds. What an exciting time for paleontologists!

Abs holds the "toe bone" of a dinosaur that had teeth at least 6" long.

Scott explains the fossilized impressions of dinosaur skin.

This plaster model is the only thing left of a rare find from several years ago. The original skull was stolen and probably resides now in the museum of some private collector.

Fossils are carefully collected from sites and transported in "plaster jackets." The pieces are put together like an ancient jigsaw puzzle, often without a photo to guide.

They must be carefully pieced back together to tell the story of the animal.

Sott Richardson holds the bone of a dinosaur that had a broken leg. The leg was partially healed, but probably left the creature vulnerable. Many bones show teeth marks and other trauma. Paleontologists can piece together many of the stories the bones leave behind.

We spent a little time in the museum. They had a Junior Ranger program, but Abs was the only one interested and she did not have enough time to finish.
A visit to the local rock shop was a joy for rock-loving Abs. She shops for rocks like I shop for fabric. She did end up with a small trilobite for her Aunt Kr to make into some sort of jewelry for her.
Lunch was served at Frontier Movie Town where there are many old sets from movies, many of them filmed in Kanab and surrounding areas. The sets have been brought to this central location and are fun to wander through and take photos. No charge!

Lunch was preceded by our group's acting in "How the West Was Lost." We all put on costumes and followed the set script while a man ran around frantically taking photos. The photos were available later for $10.00 each. Fortunately, they sold out to doting grandparents before I saw them. I don't imagine I was very photogenic in my Indian garb with camera, and other items I carried for a couple of children, hanging off me, but it was fun.

We had a very nice barbecue lunch. Abs only ate rolls and drank lemonade, I limited the rolls to two and gave her an apple on the bus. I should have tucked a jar of peanut butter in my purse.

It did not seem like the Fourth of July. We were visiting the museum when Kanab had their town parade, but we were headed back to St. George and were assured our hotel was a great place to see the fireworks. That was an understatement! I think the whole town gathered in front of our place and we joined in the family atmosphere. I cringed when someone pulled a pick-uo truck in front of the building, opened the door, and turned the radio up to LOUD, but when the fireworks started, I discovered they were set to the music on the radio station and we felt like we had front row seats. It was one of the best firework displays I have ever seen. A barrage would go off at the park a few blocks away, and while it was reloading, we were treated to another display on a nearby hill. The two sites kept up a constant, heavy stream of fireworks for the entire time. no downtime to wonder if that was all there would be.
Finally, I felt like the Fourth of July had arrived.

Travels With Abs - "Kanab, Utah"

Kanab, Utah, is a sweet little town that, by chance and hard work, became a favored site for the making of western movies. We stayed at the Parry Lodge in the Frank Sinatra room. All the rooms are named for movie stars but, we learned later, Sinatra never stayed in our room. He stayed at the Parry home.
One movie was filmed in Kanab in the 1920's and Parry made it his mission to spread the word. He took a lot of photos and traveled to the 4-5 movie moguls to tout the town. They bought the idea and many western movies were made there over the next few decades. One of the last ones was "Josie Wales..." Filming the people traveling in one direction, then filming them in the opposite direction made it seem that they had traveled a long way and to an entirely different area. That was part of the beauty of filming in Kanab and the surrounding areas.
The people of Kanab rose to the occasion and became extras and stunt men just doing the things that were an ordinary parts of their lives - roping, riding, wrangling, etc. The Parrys arranged entertainment, including the townspeople in the festivities. Thus was born a successful business.
So, we had an interesting and restful time in Kanab. Went swimming, did laundry, and went to a local church on Sunday mornng. The church was a mixture of Methodist, Lutheran, and, United Church of Christ (DOC). Quite friendly and informal. Recently completed, this little church was a result of people working together to make it a reality. I was told that the Mormon people helped, even though they had no vested interest. That's one of the nice things about a small town.

Saturday night, we went to a screening of one of the old movies filmed in the area and almost made it through the whole thing. It starred Tom Mix, a young Tom Mix, and had a lot of hroses, riding, and the always loaded six-shooters in it.
We were only 1 1/2 hours away from our destination, but did not need to be there until Monday.