A day with Mormon pioneer descendants ends with French kisses.

Friday, October 11, 2013

The San Juan River is our new backyard.

Today we leave Windwhistle with our destination being Sand Island BLM Campground just west out of Bluff, Utah in hopes that it will also be part of the “soft close”.  We arrive to find a similar situation with camping allowed, but no services.  At $5.00/night we can live with that.

Again, I truly think we got the best spot in the entire campground.  We back right up to the San Juan River.  We’re in good shape as long as “the creek don’t rise”. 

   

Here come the river runners!

Along with a campground this BLM land also has a boat ramp.  The “river runners” are required to have a permit in advance to put their rafts, boats, canoes, kayaks, pontoons, or whatever floating device they have into the water.  From here, most people take a 3 day trip down to Mexican Hat – about a 27 mile float trip – camping along the way. 

We sit in our lounge chairs and watch all the lucky folks drift by.  Looks like a great time.

A day with Mormon pioneer descendants ends with French kisses.

After setting up camp we drive the short distance into Bluff to stop by their visitor center.  As we park the Jeep we note that the building appears to be brand new.  People are scurrying about dressed in 1800’s attire.  Tables are set up with red and white checked table cloths.  We wonder what’s going on?  We don’t have to wonder for very long as all the folks are happy to tell us their story. 

Dedication of the new Visitor Center/Co-op Store!

This weekend is the dedication of the new visitor center/co-op store.  For the last 15 years the descendants of the Mormon families that settled here have been working diligently to make Bluff Fort Visitor Center & Co-op Store a reality.

Each person we talked with told us the story of the pioneers that blazed the nearly impossible trail from western Utah to the Bluff area in 1880.  They have come to be known as “The Hole in the Rock Pioneers” for the amazing engineering feat of building a road down a crevice in the canyon to reach the Colorado River over 1,000 below.  It is a truly amazing story; and miraculously, not a single life was lost during the entire six month trek.

Dinner with the Mormons … and the French.

We accept an invitation to the Navajo taco dinner in the evening at the visitor center.  Locals from the Navajo Nation are on hand to make fry bread for the plate-size tacos, which are then piled high with chili, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream and salsa.  They are scrumptious!  

We sit and enjoy the stories told by the older men in the group … when the French show up. 

A gentleman walks up to our table and asks if the empty seats at our table are taken.  We invite him and his companions to join us.  Of the two couples, one lady speaks fairly good English – she immediately becomes the interpreter.  We tell stories and laugh, and then laugh at our inability to communicate.  The English-speaking lady tries to translate a comment made by her husband.  I nod my head indicating my understanding.  Then, they all start laughing because it’s evident from the blank look on my face that I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.  We figure it out – we laugh some more.  It was a great evening with some very lovely folks from France.

Then the French kissing starts.

As we part company each starts the double cheek kiss routine.  I receive 8 kisses, and Jack receives 8 kisses.  That’s a lot of kisses from the French.  We had a great time with these lovely couples.  At the end, I sneak into a picture.

What a fun day with the Mormons and the French.