Superstition Mountain and the Lost Dutchman's Gold!

The last week and a half have been great.  We went to Apache Junction, AZ and stayed at the Lost Dutchman State Park.  The park is at the base of the incredible collapsed volcano, Superstition Mountain.  There is a lot of history surrounding the mountain, most of which I don't have time to tell about. : )

The most famous story is about the lost dutchman, Jacob Waltz.  He traveled up into the mountains and returned with GOLD!  It is said that he stashed the gold in different hiding places on the mountain and had a secret gold mine that he kept secret forever...or did he.  On his death bed it is said that he told two people where to find his stashes of gold and the mine.  After Jacob's death those two people searched two years for the gold but denied ever finding anything.  (mysterious music begins to play)  Years later three huge gold mines were found around the mountain that made over $2,000,000 in profit!  Keep in mind what that would be in today's dollars.  The mines drew in about 4,000 people and the town of Goldfield was started.  Even up in the 1990's people still lived in caves on the mountain searching for gold.  Many of them found it, lots of it.  One man found a saddle bag in the 80's that contained over  $500,000 worth of gold (that's about half the price he could get for the gold now)!

 

The state park is really nice.  It borders the Tonto National Forest which borders the Wilderness which covers the mountain.  Dad and I decided from the day we got there that we wanted to hike to the top of the mountain.  It's easier said than done.  The hike is six miles round trip and climbs about 3000 feet during the first half of the hike!  I actually should stop calling it a hike, it's more like bouldering.  The trail follows a gorge surrounded by thousand foot cliffs and is littered with boulders!  There are some places that are really tricky to get up.  We had a great time and the climb was definitely worth it.  The view was amazing!  The picture on the left is how the Pheonix valley looks from 4000 feet above it!

We also went to the Renaissance Festival while we were there.  Everyone got all dressed up, except me.  Hanna really enjoyed it because that's her favorite historical time period.  One of the coolest things was the jousting.  Gabriel was so excited!  We made him armor out of sheet metal and he was ready to take on any of those knights out there.  We ended up spending the whole day there.  There were a lot of neat things to look at, and listen to.  Some of the music was really cool.  The Renaissance Festival is definitely a mission field of it's own.  There were a lot of evil decorations and demonic looking people walking around.  If what we saw was how the middle ages really were, I wouldn't have wanted to live back then. 

We went to the Superstition Mountain Museum three times I think. : )  We never even actually went in the museum, they had so much to see outside.  The blacksmith there was really nice.  I talked to him all three times we went and he gave me some pointers on forging.  He showed me how to make little patch knives which can also be used as a paring knife or even a little skinning knife.  ( For those of you that don't shoot black powder guns.  A patch knife is a little knife used to cut away the extra cloth around a patch so that it can fit down the barrel between the powder and the ball.  For those of you that do shoot black powder.  I have a 50 caliber Hawken Rifle)

One afternoon Hanna and I decided to go for a hike.  We went the long and treacherous trail up to the Green Boulder. : )  It actually is green because of lichen, I think.  It was a fun hike.  We ended up going a different route than we first planned because we were moving along faster than we had planned!  We took Jacob's Crosscut across the valley and back to the campground instead of going back the way we came.

We also went to Goldfield which is now a living history type town.  We went through the museum and the reptile exhibit.  Gabriel loved the cactus shop because he said "I've never seen a cactus that close before"!

All in all, it was a great place to stay.  We got to do a lot of fun stuff while we were there and it's definitely somewhere I would like to go back! 

Gettin' Ready To Go, and a Hermit Crab!

Well, today and yesterday we've just been getting ready to go.  Yesterday we said goodbye to my aunt and uncle.  I'm going to miss them.  I've learned so much about wood working from my uncle while we've been here.  We also went around and said bye to most of the other MAPS volunteers.  They've started to feel more like aunts, uncles, grandmas, and grandpas instead of just friends.  The picture on the left is of all the MAPS guys here sitting in our break room, we've had some fun times during our half hour break.  I'm going to miss everyone here.  Hopefully we'll meet up with them again soon.  Today we thought we were going to leave by 1:30 pm.  Between Dad's work and Mom feeling uneasy about driving in bad traffic, they decided to stay.  We'll probably leave by 10 am tomorrow morning.  I'm excited to get back on the road, but sad to leave all these wonderful people here, if only you could get to know them.

On a happier note, yesterday I got a new hermit crab.  My last one died and the guy at Petco said even if it was past the 15 day limit I could still exchange it for a live one. So, I got a crazy, wild little crab that doesn't even like to stay in his shell.  He's not shy at all, if you put him on your hand he'll crawl right up your arm! : )

PBR Church!

This morning we went to the PBR church service, put on by Riding High Ministries.  It was great.  They played some great country worship songs first and then had one of the Brazilian bullriders preach.  He couldn't speak very much English, so he had a translater.  The service was held right by the gates and the bull pens!  Once it was done we went and talked to Mike Lee for over 30 minutes.  He's a great christian man.  He invited us to come stay at his bullriding school when we get over to Texas!  He said he could probably find something for us to help out with.  Sounds good to me!  

Pinewood Derby and PBR!

Today was great!  The Royal Rangers program at the church we're staying at had the Sectional Pinewood Derby this morning.  I thought we'd be gone by now and so I didn't worry about making a car to race with Gabriel.  Well, an hour and a half before the race was going to start I decided to make a car!  I used a couple tricks I picked up at James River AG in Springfield, MO.  Dad and Mom made a car for Gabriel and Naomi, also.  The race was a blast, there were over a hundred people there.  Surprisingly, I won second place in my division!Pretty good for 30 minutes of work.

Tonight was the event we've wanted to go to for a long time, the PBR (professional bullriding)!  This is where the the big dogs, such as Mike Lee and Kody Lostroh, ride.  When we went in, Mom signed us up for the PBR Fan Club which means for a year we now get the PBR magazine, we get to go into the arena before and after the event to talk to the riders, and Gabriel got a free t-shirt!  Before it started we got to go down and be on Versus TV while they interviewed one of the bullriders!  Then we went and sat down in our seats, five stories above the arena floor!  The stadium, Jobing.com, is huge.  The bullriding was great, we got to see some awesome rides and close calls.  Kody Lostroh ended up winning the event.  After it was over we made our way down to the arena to meet some of the cowboys.  With our fanclub pass we were able to get inside and walk around with the bullriders.  Then we saw the one we'd been looking for, MIKE LEE!  Gabriel was literaly jumping for joy.  Mike signed Gabriel's vest and hat and posed for some pictures with him.  We were the last ones to leave the arena, Gabriel didn't want to go.  God gave us so much favor tonight it was amazing.  I had a great time and can't wait to go to the next event! 

Working Hard ... or Hardly Working?

Well, I've been busy the past couple days.  I cut out about 50 bread knives from boards of cherry on the 9th.  That took all afternoon, but I got it done.  Dad said I can't bring any boards along when we leave here, but if it's made into something then we can't leave it. ; )  I also "refurbished" a knife that one of the guys here found in a fire pit.  I polished up the blade and put a yellow poplar handle on it and it turned out pretty nice.  The knife has strange history, there is a bunch of Russian or Romanian type writing on the blade and I have no clue what it says.  Today we moved up a site to make room for some more MAPS volunteers that came in today.  We haven't moved in almost four months so we're a little out of practice. : )

My New Bed!

Well, we finally did it.  Mom and Dad having been saying for a while that Hanna and I should switch beds.  For the past year and a half I've slept in my queen size top-bunk in the garage area of are camper with almost everything I own on it.  My bed and the one below it are on an electric lift so when 4-wheelers are in there we can raise the beds up out of the way.  Hanna on the other hand has been sleeping in the loft bed above the kitchen area of our camper with almost everything she owns on it.  It is a little bit larger than a twin size.  Last night Mom told Hanna and I that Hanna should get to have the big bed for the next year and a half (ouch).  : )  So Hanna got all her stuff out of the loft bed into a huge heap on the floor. (The picture on the top left is of all Hanna's stuff piled on the livingroom floor.)  Now I know some people can be pack rats, but GOOD GRIEF!  It was like the widow and the oil jar in the bible, it just kept coming and coming and coming (Mom's gonna get me for this later)!  I then started moving my stuff straight from my old bed into the new one.  We worked until midnight.  It's truly amazing what you can find in such a tiny space that you didn't even know was up there, such as:
darts to a dart gun I don't even have any more,
a fake roach on a string to scare people with,
an old pair of dress shoes that don't even fit me any more,
and a lot of other stuff that I won't mention at this time. : )
This morning we finished putting all our stuff in our new beds and got everything organized like it should be.  I actually like my new bed/room.  It's comfy, more spacious than I had thought at first, and has a big window by my head so I can keep an eye on things outside.  All in all, it wasn't a bad trade after all.
-Cody

My new bed, spotless.                                                

Hanna's new bed, I refuse to comment at this time.

Sorting, Building and Mesquite Trees!

Today I did some fun, but unusual things.  First we decided to clean the back room (where all the kids toys are).  We piled all the toys up in the middle and started the daunting task of putting away everything, down to the little barbie crowns and every little toy soldier gun.  Amazingly I was saved by Mom from such a horrible fate and instead was given the job of building a desk.  After getting the measurements Mom and I went to Home Depot and got some thin plywood and some screws.  I started working on the desk, but quickly realized I would need Dad's help getting it done right.  I then started something else...  Along the side of the road that we're camped on, at the church we're staying at, there were some piles of mesquite tree limbs. I was able to get five of the guys from the youth group here to come help me haul them all to the construction dumpster.  I got the church golf cart and hooked up the trailer behind it.  It took probably about five or six loads and a couple hours but we "kicked that pig" (inside joke).  I finished doing the limbs just in time to help Dad with the desk and build Mom a shelf in the kitchen.  Our microwave finally croaked the other day and got thrown out.  Instead of getting another one we decided to make that empty space into three shelves for bread, chips, cereal, chips, and chips (I hope).  At least now we won't have to worry about our brains getting nuked!    :)  After that I decided to do facebook and write a post on my new blog.  Because Mom is sorting in the back there is a big pile of stuff right in front of the desk so I had to jump over a box, squeeze between a table, and climb over the side of our computer chair.  Now here  I am, sitting down wasting my time writing a blog post instead of watching Pride and Prejuduce with everyone else. ;)