Wandering Orbit

Monday we had ourselves a quiet Christmas eve, with the presents under the "tree" (an ugly sweater tree from Grandma).  Note the fine wrapping job.... Wednesday we headed out, to Oklahoma.  It was foggy, rainy, but relatively okay driving We got to see FOUR trucks with these windmill blades on them get parked and situated at a truck stop. Thursday we headed to the Conoco Museum in Ponca, Oklahoma.  We learned a few things... How to pronounce "Conoco" And that Continental Oil and Transportation started in Ogden, Utah!  The actual oil came from Oklahoma (same with the Phillips 66 company) but they needed a way to get it from the oil fields to the customers, so they hooked up with Continental Oil and eventually took that name and turned it into Conoco. Some vintage gas pumps Our next stop was P.W. Mercantile in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.  If you've ever read the website, watched her cooking show, then you know who I'm talki

Monday we drove from Salt Lake City to Monticello, Utah for the night. Tuesday morning J and I went to the Monticello Temple. Then we went to Four Corners!  We hadn't been there for over a decade, J and S didn't remember it at all.  Driving from Monticello to Four Corners meant we went from Utah through the other three states.  For whatever crazy reason, there wasn't a New Mexico state line sign! Wednesday we went to Canyons of the Ancients.  There is an amazing visitor center, plus lots of sites you could visit, in better weather for the most part because there were either dirt roads or hiking trails to most of them. J (and S for a little bit) spent over an hour weaving on the Navajo loom and J really wants us to get a smaller version of one. Then we drove up to Lowry Pueblo.  We were a little TOO adventurous, it was snowy dirt road for the last half mile. You can actually go inside, the roof in the picture above is over the main pa