Snow Canyon State Park

In this part of southwest Utah where we have been for weeks, the scenery can be summarized by, “There is a lot of red rock” (actually, rust colored). That sounds like it might get boring after a while. but the variations on the theme are endless and amazing.

The National Parks in the area featuring the red rocks are very, very famous and as a result, very, very crowded. For example, Zion and Bryce. But there are also so many other places that are almost (if not as) wonderful, and nowhere near as crowded.

One of them is Snow Canyon State Park, near Saint George, where we spent about a week.

And just for the record, the place is named after Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, two early Mormon pioneers who helped Mormons settle in Utah in the 1860’s. Not after that cold fluffy white stuff which would not have lasted long in the over 100 degree temps we experienced when we were there.

Snow Canyon not only features the famous layers of red rock but also has a lot of black rock from old volcanic lava flows.

A lava cave

We hiked on petrified sand dunes,

Rented eBikes (1,000 foot elevation gain was too much for us on our regular bikes) and rode the road and bike trails, 

 met some of the locals,

and saw so many amazing views -

And it was so hot, that I even tried boiling water …

Keeping Up With the Parental Units - Photos of the Day Part 2

Continuing with Photos of the Day... 

Rest area, Big Bend Ranch State Park, TX Feb 21

So many of these highway views look like painted backdrops. Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Feb 22

Carlsbad Caverns. We were here 38 years ago, and I have been a cave junkie ever since. Put this on the top of your bucket list! Feb 23

After well over a month in Texas, we are moving on! Feb 24

We drive into a blizzard near Tucson, on the way to see spring wildflowers. Feb 26.

Picacho Peak State Park AZ Superbloom - from a blizzard to spring wildflowers! Feb 26.

The temperature went up a few degrees and all the Poppies opened. Picacho Peak State Park - Superbloom AZ. Feb 27

Lost Dutchman State Park, AZ. View from our campsite. Feb 28

Bev and Ivan insist we pick some citrus in their backyard to take with us. Phoenix. Mar 1

On the Road Again! Hello Maine!

You may have been wondering why we dropped off the map …

Long story short, since we got back in March from our winter trip to Arizona, etc., Our V was in and out of the shop for months for repairs. Total incompetence at $175 an hour! But we did manage to get out of the house a few times since then.

Including...

Shavuot at Camp Moshava, Honesdale, PA. 

A wedding in Bethlehem, PA, a wedding in Lakewood, NJ, and a Bat Mitzvah in Trumbull, CT

A nice day in Long Branch, NJ.

A few fun days in Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware with two of our sons and our three grandchildren in June (plus a separate car, tent, screen room, lots of camping equipment, and a LOT of food). 

Last week was supposed to be a wedding in Montreal and a wedding in Staten Island, but turned into two weddings and a funeral (funeral in Toronto) and 1,200 miles driving in 3 ½ days.

And now we are in Maine! We hope to be here for about a month.

Great visits with family on the way up.

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49 States So Far!

No, not just on this trip.

But as of entering Lousiana, I have been in 49 states!

Anyone one want to guess which state I am missing?

(Childrentals, do not comment as you know the answer)

Jewish Iowa - Guest Blogger: Bob

On our trip last winter, we tried to spend a Shabbos every few weeks in a Jewish community and enjoyed learning about the community and meeting the people. Due to Covid, that can’t happen this year, but we still wanted to learn about some of the Jewish communities in Iowa, particularly since Lill’s great-grandfather was a shochet in Council Bluffs, Iowa in about 1895. We are not going that far west in Iowa on this trip, but we did visit the shuls in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

 

 

Cedar Rapids:

Cedar Rapids’ Jewish community dates back to 1895, when several families who had emigrated from Poland and Russia, established a Jewish cemetery. Next, they hired a shochet, and then in 1906, they founded the Beth Jacob synagogue, an Orthodox congregation. In 1922, some of the younger members broke away and founded the Reform Temple Judah. However, in 1949, the two congregations agreed to merge and combine their religious schools using Temple Judah’s building. They now have Reform services on Friday nights and a "Traditional" service one Shabbos morning a month. In 1964, they moved to their current building which we visited. We were given a tour by their Treasurer, Michael Heeren, who has been using the shul as his office due to Covid along with his son who was logging in to Zoom school.

The Traditional service uses the same sanctuary without separate seating for men and women, the same Siddur as the Reform, and is led by their Reform Rabbi. It wasn’t clear to us what the difference is between the services. However, it was nice to see how a small congregation of just over 50 families have been able to maintain their community and this beautiful building. Michael was justifiably proud of their 7 sifre Torah, some over 150 years old.

 

Iowa City:

In 1857, Moses Bloom settled in Iowa City and opened a clothing store. By 1859 a Jewish cemetery was established. (In 1873, Moses Bloom was elected mayor of Iowa City—becoming the first Jewish mayor of any city in the United States.) With the arrival of a new wave of Russian immigrants in the 1910’s — many arriving via the Baron de Hirsch’s Galveston Plan — the character of the Jewish community changed from being dominated by relatively assimilated German Reform Jews to being dominated by Orthodox Russian immigrants. It’s not clear when the Agudas Achim Congregation was founded, but in 1920, they purchased a house to serve as a synagogue. Interesting anecdote – In 1921, Agudas Achim repurchased the old Jewish cemetery. It is not known for sure, but it appears that most of the German Jewish families left town as the new wave of Russians arrived, and when they left, they apparently dug up the graves, took the bodies with them, and sold the cemetery. For many years the synagogue’s rabbi was whoever was sent to be the Hillel Director at the University of Iowa. Although they are not officially affiliated, they were initially an Orthodox congregation, but have had Reform or Conservative Rabbis over the years. Finally, in 1994 they had their first full-time rabbi. After their building suffered water damage and mold in 2012, they renovated a former Gold’s Gym to be their new synagogue. There was no one in their building when we arrived, but here is a picture of their new sanctuary from their website.

By the way, since this is a university town, in addition to a Hillel House, there is also a Chabad House.

An Abundance of Cuteness

This is not a baby owl. It is a tiny full grown saw-whet owl.  

We were extremely lucky to find out about an owl banding program that was being run by the Indiana Audubon Society last moztei Shabbos at Indiana Dunes National Park, where we were for shabbos.

It was part of a study about the saw-whet owl which is one of the smallest owls, only about the size of a beanie baby.

Saw-whet owls pass through the area from October to November as they migrate between Canada and (maybe) Georgia for the winter. 

Owls captured were banded, then measured for beak length, wing length, tail length, and weight. Their feather patterns were examined to determine the owl’s age, and their eyes were checked for shade of yellow. A guess was made as to gender.

This data was recorded for each owl as well as the date, temperature, wind, moon phase, time of capture, and place of capture. At the end of the season the information is entered into a national data base. From there if an owl is recaptured, the data will tell when and where the owl was banded.

Researchers are tracking population numbers, how long they live and where they actually migrate as well as other data. One of the owls banded in the Dunes was recaptured at Arcadia National Park in Maine and another in Saskachewan.

First owl, one year old

Posing for a glamour shot

Second owl, also one year old

Owl 3, three years old, another glamour shot

A barred owl was also captured. Because barred owls were not part of the study, he wasn't measured. 

But he was brought out to be admired. 

The owls were surprisingly good sports through all the indignities of being measured. Including being placed headfirst into a cup to be weighed.