camping - martin luther king weekend - 2003

CampingMartin Luther King

Jr. DayJanuary 18-20,2003

Tucson, AZ

A Day in the Mountains

January 18-20Tucson, AZ

________________________________________________________Martin Luther King Day

For this camping trip our family is indebted to a talented and outstanding black man, Martin Luther King, Jr.

On his mother’s side, his grandparents were preachers back to before the Civil War. Their owners allowed them to teach and preach in the local Baptist Church (and the owners later became members).

On his father’s side his grandparents were also slaves and after they were freed they were share croppers.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born January 15, 1929, at their family home in Atlanta Georgia.

He was a talented boy and because of his high score on the college entrance examinations in his junior year of high school, he skipped both the ninth and twelfth grades, and entered Morehouse College at the age of fifteen.

In 1963 on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C Dr. ML King gave his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech where he said in part:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

James Earl Ray shot Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. James Earl Ray was arrested in London, returned to Memphis, to stand trial. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

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____________________________________________________________Preparations

Preparations for the weekend started early, we needed a bike for Blair and Garrett to ride. We planned to go south into the mountains to ride trails and get them some road experience.

This blue TW 200 had

been sitting in the corner of our yard for 6-7 years and that is never good for a motorcycle.

The carburetor was full of glue, it took three days to get it soaked loose. The gas tank was rusted and full of gunk so much that it did not want to come out.

Blair and Garret decided to go on a Boy Scout camping trip to Death Valley and skip Tucson.

Chase and Steve came. When we learned about the change in plans, the bike repair got put on the back burner, and we started working on the ramp for Chase, Wesley, and Kailey.

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____________________________________________________________Preparations

The ramp soaked up the stain at the rate of a quart per sheet of plywood.

Enough is enough for one day!

We enjoy watching the fire in the chiminea when ever we get the chance (a warm evening is the only excuse we need).

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____________________________________________________________Preparations

We are burning a family treasure! Thirty years ago we worked for a few months in Iran. There we purchased three camel saddles which were made for furniture, they were smaller than the real saddles and padded to sit on (rather than ride). This saddle finally came apart and reluctantly burned it. It was almost like loosing an old friend, one piece at a time.

Next, we glued the plywood on the ramp at the west end of the patio and gave it a coat of stain.

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____________________________________________________________Preparations

And then, it gets a coat of paint.

Wesley came over to try out the new stain, he rides his ‘tricycle’ on two wheels (when he wants to).

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____________________________________________________________Preparations

Wesley always enjoys an audience …

But things don’t always go as planned.

A new trick on this day was high speed off the ramp, standing on the seat and doing a sliding turn to see how close he could come to the tin can – without hitting it.

He did very well…..

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______________________________________________________Motor Cycle Riding

Steve and Chase arrived at 1 AM our time and went to bed in the motor home – both in the same bed. Breakfast was served at 9:30 Saturday morning, we were packed for a trip to the mountains, and a day of bike riding, topped off with a campfire, marshmallows, and smores.

Lots of trailer space is required to get all of our toys to the mountains. Steve, Ray and the three kids went ahead in the pickup to select a camp spot. The pickup pulled three bikes and the four wheeler.

Phyllis and Debbie came in the motor home a few minutes later pulling three motor cycles and Stacy drove down after he finished setting his

virtual reality rides at the swap meet.

Not everyone had unload duties, so there were other things to eplore

.

Debbie takes her first ride on ‘her’ four wheeler.

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At lunchtime, the young ones found their own table…

Debbie likes ‘her’ quad….

She is soon hauling passengers….

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Steve and Chase take a trip on Papa’s bike…..

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Eventually it comes time for the road warriors to hit the trail.

Near Gun Sight Pass we found some cows hanging out near their salt and mineral blocks.

The picture is a little blurred but for those that saw it, the memories are sharp and clear…

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We found a cattle-watering trough along the trail and stopped to look …Stacy and Chase got into a water splat….

Back in camp, Wesley gets some instructions about riding in the soft dirt…..

Wesley’s Honda 50 had a loose sprocket and a crowd gathers to ‘fix’ it… In the tool box (the one on the trailer in the top picture) we found some

nuts left over from Stacy’s VW Bug, that solved the problem…

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With the repairs out of the way it is time to hit the trails again…

Grandpa and Chase take a turn on the Quad and Chase did all the driving…

Stacy takes the kids for a ride on his TW 200

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The TW200 that Grandpa worked on (the one that had not been started in 7 years) needed a tow. After 2 miles of towing it still did not start … Oh well, back to the shop it goes.

We camped by a sprawling mesquite tree that was perfect for climbing and before long Chase found the top…

The tree gave us hours of fun… …

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_______________________________________________________________The Tree

Chase is in the top and Kailey is not far behind

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_______________________________________________________________The Tree

Everybody gets some time in the tree, it was fun!

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_______________________________________________________________The Tree

The tree is a place to climb …

And a place to sit

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_______________________________________________________________The Tree

How do you climb this tree with your back on one limb and your feet on the other?????

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

Grandma thought, a swing in that big tree would ‘Be a hoot’ …

So there was nothing to do but rig one up for the kids.

It sounds like such a simple idea….

But, somehow the rope got

tangled in the branch and the

engineers had to to get it down.

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

Here is another attempt at getting the rope down …..

So there was nothing left to do but climb the tree and get it down;

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

Hey Wesley how about climbing the tree ….

Nothing is working very well, so Wesley gets a turn on Steve’s shoulders … he is too short on one end!

Nothing is working so Steve goes into the tree…

It is a tight fit…

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

He gets the rope untangled but then there is the problem of getting down ….

Getting

down is easy, just JUMP!

Mom!

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

Did you say JUMP???

You’ve got to be kidding … aren’t you??

OOPS, jumping was not a good idea …

(He didn’t really jump, but it does make for a good picture)

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

Getting the proper knot to hold the board was a chore … but we made it (with a figure 8 on each end of the 2 x 6)

Then it is time to test out the rope … and then do some swinging …..

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

There were some casualties along the way …

Wesley takes his turn in the

dirt on his back….

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_______________________________________________________________The Swing

Wesley gets in some more swing time ….

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

When the Road Warriors returned from their ride Phyllis and Debbie had the fire going and it was time to eat…

Steve made the corn on the cob… first he took out the silk, and dipped each ear in water, next he wrapped it in foil and put it in the red hot ashes for 30 minutes.

HMM, hmm good!

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

It’s an old Indian Guides (YMCA) trick. … Put a good round steak on hot coals to cook, and then slice the sizzling meat into finger size strips, wrap it in a flour tortilla dash it with salt and let it melt in your mouth.

The cooks soon reported that the coals thing did not work, when cooking with chemically treated 2x4s.

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

The fun of the camp fire …

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

There is nothing like sitting around the camp fire …

And ….

Roasting marshmallows…

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

What is it about a fire that makes the heart warm??

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

It was getting cool in camp and a big fire felt good to be around ….

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

The camp fire setting, motor home, kitchen table, good company, and a roaring fire -what more could one ask ….

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_______________________________________________________________Cooking Out

After supper, the swing got some more action….

Who will be next ..Rock, scissors or cloth…

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_______________________________________________________The Swing After Dark

Around and around and around and around ….

After a while, enough is

enough … it is time to

pack up and go home…what a fun

day….

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_______________________________________________________Super Bowl Sunday

Sunday morning it was 9:30 breakfast at Beeka’s house: Swedish pancakes, sausage, yogurt, jelly, syrup, eggs just the way you like them, and frozen orange juice (the fresh squeezed was all gone yesterday after breakfast) and Christ Community Church at 10:45.

We met Stacy for lunch (when he came home from the swap meet) at Eatz-a-Pizza and then home for the double header playoff football games for the Super Bowl next week.

The games were a little lopsided and did not capture everyone’s complete attention….

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The game did get some attention even if it was not 100% ….

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Monday morning after breakfast and before Steve and Chase packed for the trip home the ramp got lots of activity.

An accident in the making….

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Kailey on the ramp!!

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The official Ramp Warrior salute…

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Ramp Warriors in action …

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The boys charging the slopes..

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After the riding there was a short jam session…

And a display of Zoids (new and old)

Steve and Chase packed their bags and at 10:30 they pointed their blue Infinity sports car back to California and were home by 6:30.

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~~~

What a great weekend!

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camping - martin luther king weekend - 2003

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