Rover Divas

Highway 1 Trip, Part 1 by Grace

2011-07-06T18:07:00.036-07:00

My family and I went driving up Highway 1 in California in the Dormobile. We decded to do this because we were going to get a new/old car and not just any old car, a RANGE ROVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Range Rover was in Redwood Valley, CA. So, we decided to make a vacation out of the trip.

Yeah this may seem crazy, to take a 1968 Dormobile 2,444 miles round trip. But the only thing bad that happened was a flat tire.

We set off from Tucson on Sunday, June 12th. That night we spent in a hotel in Laughlin, NV. The plan for Monday was to get to the coast, but we didn't quite make it and spent the night in Bakersfield, CA. The third day was the real start of our vacation.

We drove out of Bakersfield towards the coast and visited Paso Robles. This is one of my parents favorite places to visit wineries. We visited a few. It was boring!!!
Finally, we got to the coast!!!!!!!!!!!! We camped at San Simeon State Park. The beach was just a little way from our campsite.We watched the tide come in, and the sunset.

The next we visited the Hearst Castle, but that is for the next post.

Rover Divas are in Arizona Driver Magazine by Grace

2011-05-10T18:11:00.008-07:00

Look at us were in another magazine!!!!!!!

We are in the Arizona Driver Magazine the May/June Issue.

The article is about the Overland Expo.

Here is a photo of the article. Sorry it is so little, but if you click on the picture of the magazine. It will take you directly to the current issue of the magazine. We are pictured on page 6.

Easter at Turkey Creek by Grace

2011-05-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday, of Easter weekend, I went camping. We went in the Dormobile to Turkey Creek.

We set up camp and stamped eggs.

For dinner we made cheese wrapped in ham, wrapped in chicken, wrapped in bacon. We cooked them in the Dutch Oven. Yum!!

Saturday I hiked to a cliff dwelling. It was a Salado Indian site and was tiny.

We hiked back to camp and dyed Easter eggs.

I made an airplane and threw a ball against a cliff.

I started a fire with no matches. It was fun and the second time I had done this.

This is how I built it.

1. I shredded sycamore bark, then put it in the fire ring.

2. I then put old leaves on the bark.

3. Then twigs and sticks.

4. Got an ember left from an earlier fire. Then I blew on the ember.

5. And blew

6. And blew

7. And Fire!!!

8. Then I put on leaves and twigs. You have to be careful not to let it go out.

9. Add sticks and branches. Keep careful watch!

10. Before you know it you are adding tree branches, and your fire is a real campfire.

We had our Easter dinner on Saturday night. My parents had Rack of Lamb. I don't really like that so I got peanut butter and jelly. Much better!!

I set out two baskets one with eggs for the Easter Bunny to fill and one with just grass.

On Easter I opened my baskets.

My Dad went and hid the eggs and I had an Easter egg hunt. It was fun!!

Soon we were packing up and heading home.

Izabella's "Top 3 Disco Youtube Clips", .........for now anyway!!!

2011-04-07T21:23:00.001-07:00

I have been looking at youtube clips since we got our Disco 3 years ago, and I think I finally chose my favorites. I like to watch them with the volume turned up to get the full effect. It is amazing to see all that they can do. I am not going to write to much, the videos say enough!

So here they are............................ENJOY!!...............

1. Thee Most Awesome

2. Awesome

3. More Awesomeness!!!!!!!

It is cool to see in just a few minutes how the Discovery began, and how it looks now in 2011!

I LOVE MY DISCO

AZLRO Rally 2011 – The Super Duper Trail Story – by Dalene

2011-03-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

March 6th, 2011

Land Rovers: LR3, Discovery I, Discovery II, Jeep, Defender 90
Drivers: Shaun, Ryan, Rob, Chad, Bill Burke
Diva: Dalene
Trail: Ajax Mine

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast and packed our stuff. My dad led a trail but the Rover Divas were not there. It was sad that my Rover Diva friends weren’t with me.

On the trail two guys walked to Rob’s truck and told us that their Buggy was stuck in a hole. Things did not look good for the Buggy. I was not scared because the guys have fixed and helped trucks before.

Rob had a good idea. We pulled them up with a rope on a winch. There were four winches. Everyone helped us pull him out.

The buggy was in a mineshaft and we got him out. I was happy that it didn’t take a long time. I’m glad that the buggy started running.

After that we ate lunch. We drove on a hard trail called Ajax before we went home. The trail was fun and everyone had a good time. I brought home some rocks from the trail. I always bring rocks home from the trail for my collection.

HUGS, LOVE AND KISSES TO ALL!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS!

2011-03-23T20:11:00.001-07:00

First, we'd like to thank all the other Rover Divas for their thoughts and prayers so that we could have a speedy recovery. Also, we'd like to thank their parents for keeping in touch with our parents regarding our health. All in all we're doing great, still a little sore, yet going strong and getting stronger!! Not at school yet....shucks, but still waiting and counting the days.

Moms, dads and fellow Rover friends....our Familia would like to thank you for your concern regarding our special Divas, Samantha and Sophia! The first 3 days were the worst and now we're just getting over the hump to recovery! Linda, a special thanks to you and your familia for your most honest and loving thoughts. Also, for the pic's you posted and the notes, too. Soon we'll be "Rovering" again as a whole...and by that I mean with all the Divas and their families!!

With love, the deprived of sleep family!!

GOOD LUCK, SOPHIA AND SAMANTHA!!!!!!

2011-03-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Samantha and Sophia,

Good luck with getting your tonsils removed tomorrow. We hope you feel better soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Maybe we can all eat ice cream this weekend!!!

AZLRO Rally 2011 - My Saturday Adventure - by Grace

2011-03-14T16:23:00.002-07:00

Trip Information:

Land Rovers: LR4 and 2 Dormobiles

Drivers: All women!!

Diva: Grace

Trail: Queen Creek

At the trail line-up we took this picture with Bill Burke. Bill Burke is an awesome off-road guy. He put us on his Facebook page. You can also check out his website. My Mom, Dad and the other Diva Dad's took a three-day trail leader training course from Bill Burke in January.

I had to go on Queen Creek since my Mom was a trail leader. I was a little disappointed since the other divas were going on a different trail.

This the LR4 on our trail. It was its first time in low range, extended mode and off-road. Awesome!!! Get Dirty!!!

These are the wagon tracks. When I think of wagon tracks I think of little skinny wheel tracks that don't even make an impression on the ground. These are different. They are from ore carts from a silver mine that was run between 1887 - 1909. You can even see where the hoofs of the horses were.

Next we went to the old townsite of Pinal. This was a can lid we found. There is lots of cool junk left, but the buildings are just mounds of dirt

Updated Trip Information:

Land Rovers: LR4, 2 Dormobiles, 4 Discos, 1 Range Rover, 1 G-Wagon with Land Rover Badges (it was funny!!)

Drivers: 3 women and some boys

Divas: Grace, Izabella, Sydney, Samantha and Sophia

Trail: Still Queen Creek

At lunch all of the trail leaders from the rally, who did not have a trail joined us for the rest of the day. In the end there were 7 trail leaders on my Mom's trail. Who was the trail leader?? They were all fighting over it and kept passing each other to be the trail leader!!

After lunch we headed up to the rock shelters. Here are the LR4's boys exploring one of the rock shelters. These rock shelters are between 800-1000 years old. We found pottery that dates back to that time.

There are also Pictographs and Petroglyphs at one of the rock shelters.

We went in with 3 Land Rovers and came out with 7 Land Rovers and 1 German Thing!!

It turned out to be a very fun day!!!

Henry Ford Museum and the Rouge Factory Tour

2011-03-11T22:17:00.002-07:00

BY: IZABELLA

INFO

DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010

WHERE : HENRY FORD MUSEUM & THE ROUGE FACTORY TOUR (Michigan)

DIVAS:Izabella & Sydney

This is a picture of Sydney and me in front of the museum

Over Christmas vacation Sydney and I went to Michigan and then to NJ. While in Michigan we visited with my Uncle David, who is an an engineer at Ford. He is proud of the company he works for, and was excited to show us around.

We started with a visit to the Henry Ford Museum. The museum is very large, and it could take many days to see everything. As we expected, we saw many different years of Ford cars. There was also other car manufacturers.

Fun Fact

Ford owned Land Rover from 2000 til 2008.

Under Ford, the LR3 was introduced, along

the Range Rover Sport and LR2.

In 2008 Land Rover was sold to Ta Ta Motors of India.

The first display when you enter the museum the first Oscar Meier Wiener-mobile. It is very funny, and hard to believe it was really driven around town. This was one of the interactive exhibits in the museum. Sydney and I both got to play dress up a little, as you can see by the pictures below.

Sydney in front of the wiener mobile

Sydney is an over-sized hot dog, about to be served as
somebody's lunch!!!!!!!!

Below is a locomotive (funny word) and other trains owned and used by the Ford Factory in the early 1940s.

This is the mega, red train track snow plow

Sydney and I are sitting in the locomotive of the train

!!!!!!CAMPING!!!!!!!!

Pop-up???

One area of the museum had historical campers! There was a VW camper bus, a Ford House Car, and even an old, pop up camper.

Hippie van !!!!!! Peace !!!!!!


Mobile home or a house on wheels ?

,http://www.gtamarketing.com/1937FordHousecar.html

Fun Fact

Did you know???

Henry Ford never actually had a drivers license!

One of my favorite exhibits was about airplanes, it was called "Heroes of the Sky". This exhibit had famous women pilots, explorers, and wing walkers.

WHO SAYS A WOMEN CAN'T FLY A PLANE???!!!

The wing walkers were very daring and I am not sure I would like to have done that job. But, I admire how brave they were.

The airplane exhibit I most liked was the Arctic Expedition trip. The main Explorer was Richard Evelyn Byrd, a navy pilot. He claimed he had flown the first north pole flight in 1926. The trip was sponsored by Ford, and the plane was made by Fokker. I would like to read more about their trip. I would also like to learn more about the gear they used and how they survived.

Fun Fact

Fokker was the manufacturer of the plane and made sure his name appeared in large letters, so that no one would mistake it as a Ford:)

FORD MODEL T

At the Model T exhibit, you could sit and pretend to drive!! It was so cool !. Every day they take this exact car apart and kids can help rebuild it (with a little help from adults). The only thing kids can't do is lift the engine, it's too heavy. The museum lady in charge of the exhibit, said that, "it has been rebuilt over 500 times". When they reach a thousand, they will have a party.

                                                           FUN FACT!!!
                                                       Did You Know.......
               In the old days, if your feet could reach the pedals you could   drive!

This is a little city that is entirely made out of LEGOs. The cars, roads, people, buildings, farms, train tracks and crops were all Lego pieces. The workers at this exhibit put super heroes, such as Spiderman, Batman, Superman in the buildings. To find the heroes you have to look closely at the detail of the buildings. I was amazed how real the buildings looked. A local Lego club built this, and it must have taken at least a year, or more.

PART OF THE FORD MUSEUM IS THE FACTORY TOUR

THE ROUGE FACTORY TOUR

The Rouge museum is down the road from the Henry Ford. You have to travel by bus to get there. The factory is not always open, so we were lucky to see it. This tour has 6 stages to see, and you can move as fast or as slow as you want. We ran out of time and skipped stage 5 and 6. It is o.k., now I have a reason to go back.

STAGE 1 and 2, MOVIES!!

The first movie was about Ford Motor Company's history along with a story about Henry Ford. The second movie was a 360 degree theater, and our chair could also move 360 degrees. The movie showed how a Ford F150 was made and assembled. I thought that the movie was so cool, because, you used every one of your senses except for taste. If the car in the movie was being spray painted then we were sprayed with water, there was a red glow, and it even smelled like paint. When the car was tested in the wind it felt like a storm in the theater. If the car was being welded, lights flickered in the theater, and there was a smoky smell.

STAGE 3, The Observation Deck
To get to this stage you had take a elevator to the top floor of the building. This is where you can get a look at the The Living Roof. The 10.4 acre roof covers the assembly line building, and uses a new technology to conserve water and energy. The roof is made of a plant called Sedum. This plant is not grown in soil. It grows from a special 4 layer pad. Sedum helps protect the building, and cleans the air around it.

Benefits of Sedum and the mats that it grows on

Sedum only grows 6" in height, so it never needs to be mowed
uses carbon dioxide and produces Oxygen
collects and filters rain water run off
protects the factory roof, and the roof lasts twice as long as paint or tar roofs.
Insulation - keeps the factory cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter

http://www.thehenryford.org/rouge/leedlivingroof.aspx

Water Conservation at the Rouge

Ford has 2 parking lots that uses a porous pavement, porous means there is lots of holes and water can leak through

Water from rain and snow melt is collected and recycled. It is collected into a 12,500 gallon tank and used for irrigation.

4. The factory floor
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures for you from this stage,but that's because your not allowed to take any pictures in the factory! I did find a picture from another website, so you could get an idea of what I saw. We did not get to see my favorite part of a car assembly (the part where it is painted) but it was still awesome! After the car is painted they separate the body, the bed, and the doors to be worked on.

Each of these parts are put on a wooden platform and move through stations for special work. We did see seats, dashboards , lights and windshields installed. One side of the factory floor assembled the truck bed, and the other side assembled the cab inside and out. After the bed and the cab are finished, they were matched up and sent to another part of the factory. I liked the robot chair the best., the worker sits on it, and the seat moves into the car for the job. We also saw multiple other interesting machines in use. After the trucks are complete, they are sent to another area to be tested for problems. Then a worker will test drive each truck 12 miles, before it is considered o.k., and can be sold.

I do not want to give away anymore information! It is a place you have to go and see for yourself, how much fun it really is !!!!!!!

The Pima Air and Space Museum

2011-02-05T14:44:00.002-07:00

TRIP INFORMATION

By:Sydney

A Dealer event from Royal Land Rover in Tucson

THANK YOU!!!!!

Where: Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona

Date: December 12, 2010

Divas: Sydney, Izabella, Grace, Samantha and Sophia

Land Rovers: 2003 Disco, 96' Disco, a.k.a. SALLY, 68 Dormobile, a few LR3's, LR4's and a couple of newer Range Rovers!

This weekend all the Rover Divas went to Pima Air And space Museum. This is my favorite museum in Tucson. I love airplanes and Space.
We had a tour on a tram of all the old planes outside the museum. We saw old bombers, a guppy, and some cool jets. We also saw lots of different helicopters.

After lunch we had lunch with all the other Land Rover owners outside the Space center.


After lunch we went to a few hangars to look at more planes. We played in half of an air plane controller !!!!!!!!!!!!! I pretended I was a pilot. I was sad they took the simulator away. I rode in that three times before. It makes you feel like a pilot.

I thought they were all wonderful
I couldn't decide on my favorite plane. There is one really small plane. It is called the bee, it is painted like a bumble bee. Its a perfect size plane for me. The other planes are super big. Walking under them makes you feel really, really small.

This is a F-107A, and one of my favorite planes at the museum. I really love the shiny red paint!

Four little Land Rovers in front of planes.

Three cars three planes!!!!!!!!!!!!

Five little air planes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rock Climbing, at Joshua Tree National Park, CA

2010-11-21T18:48:00.001-07:00

By: Izabella

Joshua Tree National Monument is located in California. It was established in 1936 by Franklin Roosevelt. In 1994 it became a national park. The park is around 800,000 acres. The East side of the park is the Colorado desert. The west side is the Mojave desert. Each has its own special plants and animals. The Joshua Tree that the park is named after is actually in the Agave family. For a long time people thought is was part of the Lily family. The Joshua tree is found in the Mojave desert, in the Sonoran desert and also in the San Bernadino Mountains.

The park is huge, we stayed in the center of the park where the big granite rock formations are. Joshua Tree is a popular rock climbing location. Climbers from all around the world come here every year. The winter is the most popular, because it is almost perfect weather. The large boulders look like they exploded out of the desert floor, and scattered for miles. Some boulders are only ten feet or less, others are 100 feet or more. Some boulders are bigger then a jumbo jet. The granite is shaped by weathering. This creates the seams, cracks, crevices, caves and windows that I like climbing and bouldering on.

TRIP DATA
Dates: Nov. 3 - 7, 2010
Travel time from Tucson: 7 hours

Divas: Izabella and Sydney and 1 Toyota tot : Ella

Land Rovers: 1 disco

Diva dogs: Jäger

Animals seen, heard, or foot prints: Coyotes,Gopher snake, road runner

Meals: pasta, Bison burrito, beef stew, ravioli

Desserts: MEGA Marshmallows, Chocolate birthday cake for Joel
*****Important Info: Dogs not allowed on hiking trails, and more then 100 feet from road***********

HIDDEN VALLEY CAMPGROUND

The campers before us had left behind their signs. It looks like they had planned to use them as firewood.

The signs were "WOW","HUG ME", and "PAMPERED CAMPERZ"! Sydney, Ella and I put these signs around the campsite.

This is the view of our camp site with the big boulders behind it. We loved scrambling around on them every single day.

It was a big playground made by nature. The granite was super grippy and you could walk up steep areas with your bare feet. We found a little cave on the backside of a boulder. I imagined using this a shelter in an emergency.

DAY 1

Today we did a little climbing in the morning at ECHO ROCK. There are some sport climbing routes there. This is the type of climbing I know the best. Sport climbing uses fixed anchors which are usually bolts placed into the rock.
The climbs were slab granite, and I had to use my feet alot, and balance. When it got warmer outside, and the sun heated the rock, my shoes got slicker, and it made it hard to climb.

Climb: Cherry Bomb, Rating: 5.10c


Climb: Stitcher Quits Rating: 5.7

LATER ON IN THE DAY.........

Here Sydney and I are goofing around, dancing, and playing on the boulders behind our campsite. . It was alot of fun!!!! I love being in my bare feet, besides my toes were sore from climbing earlier in the day.

DAY 2

Friday morning we went bouldering. Bouldering is alot like climbing, without the rope. It is a good way to practice difficult climbing moves, without falling too far. It is like climbing, but you have to get used to letting your body fall to the crash pad. Our little friend Ella, likes to call it a "Smash pad". It is only a few feet off the ground, but can be scary at times. You should always use a spotter to help break your fall.

This is part of our J.Tree group (Me, Mommy, Sydney, Ella, Daddy,and Jäger).

Boulder Area: THE ASTEROID BELT

This is me bouldering a hard corner in the morning. This is where I had to let go and move fast and quick and catch the next hold. The longer you hang, the quicker your arm muscles burn out. The rock was so sharp, I lost some skin on my fingers, and they were red and puffy.

LATE IN THE AFTERNOON........................................more climbing!!!

CLIMB: THE FLUE, 5.8 trad climb, where: Hidden Valley, chimney rock.

This is Joel (Ella's dad ) leading the trad route. Trad climbing uses cams and nuts placed into cracks for protection. It does not have fixed anchors like sport climbing. It is different. Most of Joshua Tree is Trad climbing. I have started leading sport routes, but it will be a long time before I can lead trad routes.

cam

On this climb, I was second, I was tied in with a butterfly knot because I was in the middle. This climb had many different moves, thin cracks with finger jams, laybacks and sidepulls. I had to stop at each cam or nut (protection used in trad climbing), and unclip and reclip to pass. I am learning different climbing skills and getting more comfortable with using them.

This is me climbing in the middle of the route. Again, clipping and unclipping. It was alot of fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Someday I will learn to lead trad. Especially if I want to climb at Joshua Tree when I am older.

After the climb, my dad lowered me down the route. I was way too tired to repel.

3RD Day

Climbing area: CYCLOPS ROCK, "The Eye", 5.4,
Easy and lots of fun, I had to climb it twice.

This is an awesome route! It is around 110 feet tall, and ends in a room/cave with a window at the back you can walk through. This route is a walk off, which means we had to scramble down some large boulders to the bottom. The route has many hand and foot holds, which makes it a 5.4 rating, and not much chalk is needed. It is also a popular climb, and you may have to wait your turn.

Can you see me?? Hopefully my Orange Helmet helps! Here I have to "chimney" up to the belay where Joel is waiting for me.

SECOND TIME, Next Day

Today my dad led the route.

Finishing up the Chimney!!

This is how my dad was belaying us!

Here I am coiling the first rope. We used two ropes since we had 5 climbers today!

This rope is 70 meters, and is still a little big for me. My dad and Joel put them on their backs when we scrambled down the back of Cyclops boulder.

This is the group that climbed today Daddy,Mommy, Laurie, Joel, and ME!!! (daddy is taking the picture)

Today, jager and I are both tuckered out!!!

THE END!!!!!

Grace's Fall Break - Trip to Chaco Canyon - Days 7 - 9

2010-11-10T20:20:00.001-07:00

On Friday morning we packed up and left Chaco Canyon.

Here are Felicty and Gracie dressed for a Land Rover Safari Adventure.

We headed toward Farmingtion, NM, when my parents realized that Aztec ruins was just another 10 miles up the road.

This is kind of weird. The band of blackish/greenish rocks. I have never seen this before. It is especially interesting because they plastered over it. So, why did they do it?

The people of Aztec had two Great Kivas. One of the Great Kivas was reconstructed and we were able to go into the kiva. It might have been what kivas looked like a 1000 years ago. There are three types of Kivas. Great Kivas, Keyhole Kivas, and Housed Kivas. Great Kivas are really big.

This is an original ladder from Aztec ruins. I always thought of the Sante Fe ladder, but these were very common in both Aztec and Chaco. In Chaco there were no ladders left, because they were scavenged for firewood. Another thing that makes me sad.

After visiting Aztec Ruins we went to Four Corners Monument. Four Corners is where Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico all meet in one place.

It was really fun. You can say "I'm in AZ, no wait, NM, no wait, CO, no wait, UT, no wait, I am in them all.

After Four Corners we headed to Canyon de Chelly. We got there after dark and camped at the campground.

We drove the south rim of Canyon de Chelly the next morning and I heard all about the time my parent's got to camp at the base of Spider Rock. Maybe someday I will get to do that.

Our next and last stop was Hubble Trading Post.

We were lucky enough to get to go inside the Hubble House. Here I am in the entrance way.

This is bread oven. I think they said they baked 250 loaves of bread a week in this oven.

Cool Barn!! Sometimes they had up to 10,000 sheep here! I bet that was stinky!!

Here I am with my 6 Junior Ranger Badges and patches.

The last night we spent at our friend's cabin in Show Low, AZ. We are so glad we could stay there in comfort and hot showers after 8 long days in the Dormobile. Thanks Tom and Jane.

I had an awesome time. On to our next adventure!!!

Grace's Fall Break - Trip to Chaco Canyon - Days 3-6

2010-11-07T12:24:00.004-07:00

Chaco Culture was the main stop on our trip.

On the first day we went to Una Vida. It is one of the first great houses built in Chaco Canyon. Now it looks small, but in the 900's it was very big!!

On the second day, I hiked 8 miles to see the Supernova pictograph.

On the way there was a Petroglyph side trail. We took it and here are some of the Petroglyphs.

The square is a Kachina. I think this is really cool!!

Under the Supernova Pictograph there was a petroglyph of Halley's comet. The hike was long, and my mom got lots of blisters on her feet to prove it.

On the bluff above there were ruins called Penasco Blanco.

On the third day, we went to Hungo Pavi, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo de Arroyo, and Casa Rinconada.

Pueblo Bonito

Pueblo Bonito is the town square. It is Huge!!! It was first to be built and the last to be completed. On January 22, 1941 a rock face fell on an 8th of Pueblo Bonito. Here are some pictures of Pueblo Bonito!

This is a drawing of the different stages of building at Pueblo Bonito.

The famous curving doors of Pueblo Bonito. Awesome!!

This is the original wood ceiling beams in this one room of Pueblo Bonito. The room has original plaster, but the park service plastered over it, because people were vandalizing it. There was a lot of that kind of stuff here. It made me sad.

This is a rare corner door.

Chetro Ketl

Here is the "Great Wall" at Chetro Ketl. Which is another great house about 1/2 mile from Pueblo Bonito.

These are original mosaics that are blocked off, but a nice park service ranger came by and opened the door to the room, so we could get a better look. He told us there were several other examples in the park, but they have closed them off to visitors for safe keeping.

Casa Rinconada

My favorite of all the ruins!!!

Casa Rinconada is a Great Kiva. On the summer solstice a light shines on a niche on the wall. A Great Kiva is a ceremony room sort of like a church.

Pueblo de Arroyo

This a "tri-wall" or triple walled kiva. They are rare and only a dozen have been found in the four corners area. This is the only one at Chaco.

These mealing bins have metate's in them. The women would sit down with feet against the wall and knees against the mealing bin and grind corn.

Chacoan Stairway

Chacoan stairways were carved into rocks. They have found many stairways around Chaco Canyon.

Chaco was Awesome!!!

More to come - Aztec Ruins, Four corners, Canyon de Chelly and Hubble Trading Post

Grace's Fall Break - Trip to Chaco Canyon - Days 1 - 3

2010-10-24T11:30:00.008-07:00

Part 1: Trip data

Destination: El Malpais National Conservation Area and Monument & El Morro National Monument

Traveled with: Mom and Dad

Traveled from: Tucson

Maps: Arizona and New Mexico Gazetteer, GPS, Maps my Dad printed from internet

During Fall Break I went to El Morro National Monument, El Malpais National Monument, Chaco Canyon National Historical Park, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Aztec Ruins, and Hubble Trading Post. I also went to one place that wasn't part of the National Park system, Four Corners Tribal Park Monument.

I became a Junior Ranger at all of the National Park places. That is SIX Junior Rangers badges.

The first park I got a Junior Ranger badge at was El Morro which means in Spanish a butte or rock. At El Morro, you take a trail called, Inscription Trail.

On the trail there is a pool. We saw cliff swallows nests which are made of mud.

There are tons of inscriptions and petroglyphs. Inscriptions are carvings in rocks that are done by the Spanish and English explorers. Petroglyphs are carvings done by Ancient Indians. Graffiti is modern day inscriptions and is illegal.

The first English inscription was inscribed by a man named Lt. JHSimpson who copied down all the inscriptions by hand. He was an amazing artist, because his drawings were as good as any photograph today. At the time the inscriptions where in Spanish. The funny thing is his inscription read:

Lt. JHSimpson, USA u RH.Kern Artist

visited and copied these insciptions,

September 18th 1849.

So, the first English inscription has a miss spelled word.

To bad he didn't have a spell checker.

At El Morro it was interesting to see the inscriptions.

El Malpais is a lava flow. There are five layers of flow. The layers are McCartys Crater, Bandera Crater, Cerro Hoya, El Calderon, Twin Craters.

We drove through "The Narrows." It is where the lava just stops right next to the cliffs. There is only enough room for a two lane road, between the flow and cliffs.

We stopped at La Ventana Arch.

It was really cool. They made a big deal out of the me becoming a Junior Ranger.

Both rangers came outside and one swore me in. It was AWESOME!!!

That's all for now.

Stay tuned for Chaco Canyon!!!

Monument Valley Backcountry By: Izabella, Grace & Sydney

2010-10-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

This is the first blog post we have all written together. So, each Diva is writing in a different color. Grace is in Blue, Izabella is in Orange, and Sydney is in Pink. What we write together is in Green.

Trip Data

Date: Aug. 27-19, 2010 3days Friday,Saturday,and Sunday

Location: Monument Valley, AZ/UT

Divas: Grace, Sydney, and Izabella

Diva Dogs: Jäger

Vehicles: 2 Dormobiles, 1 LR3, 4 Discos, and 1 Range Rover

Weather: Windy, Just Right, Cloudy, Warm, 72 º F

Activities: Uno, 4wd, playing in the hogans, running with the horses, playing with the dogs, running on the sand dunes.

Meals: Marsh-mellows, Izabella and Sydney: Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, Enchilada casserole. All were in the dutch oven. Grace: Chili Mac, and Tacos

Animals Spotted/Animal Tracks: Horses, Beetles, Lizards, Dogs

A Little History on The Navajo

The Navajo Nation is the biggest reservation in the United States. It is 16,000,000 acres and mostly in Arizona.

The Navajo People call themselves "Dine" (Di-nay), which means "The People". The Navajo came to the southwest around 1400 AD. They may have originally came across the land bridge that used to exist between Russia and Alaska, around 1200 BC. When they reached the southwest the Anasazi or Pueblo people taught them to farm corn and beans. Spanish settlers later brought sheep (around the 1600's). They got wool from the sheep to make clothing, blankets and rugs. They also used the meat from the lamb and mutton. They used all the products from the sheep to trade for other goods. Today they still harvest corn and beans, and raise sheep. At the Cameron Trading Post you can see a woman making a very large rug on a loom. We talked to the lady, she said it takes one year to make one large rug.

Our Wonderful Guides

These are our guides. They were awesome! We could not have asked for more. Valerie Dee grew up in Monument Valley and she arranged for us to stay at her family's place in Monument Valley at the Hub. Her Mom and Dad were our guides around the valley.

Day 1

The trip was at least 9 hours from Tucson, AZ to Monument Valley. As we were driving, the desert started to change. It started by getting sandier, rockier(sandstone), then the color of our surroundings became a deep red rust color. There was lots and lots of red sand on the ground. There were a few trees and bushes scattered about, and finally we saw our first Monument it was sooooo pretty!!!!

From a distance the buttes and monuments looked purple but as we got closer they turned out to be red, orange, brown, and rust! When we first got there we were still on the main loop when we stopped to get some awesome pictures of the divas at the 2 mittens! Like always if Jäger is in a picture it is mighty adorable!

The Three Sisters - This is on the way to the campsite.

The Campsite was at the Hub.

We had two female hogans, one male hogan, and a sweatlodge and spectacular views on all side!

When we first got to the campground we saw 3 Hogans 2 large ones and 1 medium and a tiny one!!! We were all going to sleep in the largest one, the one in the middle, but we were all to tired, so we decided to sleep with our parents instead.

This is our group from the AZLRO

Hogans are made of wood, bark and mud. The hogan has log wood walls and a dome ceiling. They cover the wood with mud. It makes the Hogan look round. The hogans have dirt floors, and only one room. The door to the Hogan face east, so they can get sun in the morning, and help them wake up. There is a woman's hogan and a man's hogan. The woman's Hogan is bigger and more decorated then the man's hogan.

Female Hogan

Male Hogan

Sweatlodge or Dog Hogan?

Here we are playing at the campsite!

Three Divas on the Dormobile at camp

Izabella and Sydney's Pop-up camper at camp

Sydney and Grace went to bed earlier than I did so they did not get a chance to see the moon come out. I had to stay up late so that I could work on my moon journal, how cool is that?!!! The moon looked as if it was going to be huge from the size of it's glare, but it was just normal size. We had marshmallows but no skewers so I took a fork and knife and put them together with a hair tie. I broke off the two middle spikes,too. The marshmallows were delicious!!!! Then I had finished up about 4-5 marshmallows. It was time for bed!!!

A Little Geology

Monument Valley used to be a 100 foot piece of sandstone. Most of the sandstone has eroded away but some still stands, and is beautiful.

An arch is formed in four steps:

1. It starts as a sandstone block.

2. Then some of the stone erodes away from rain.

3. The wind blows the rock.

4. The wind breaks the rock and you have a arch.

Monument Valley is great for this because there is a lot of wind.

Day 2

In the morning we saw the free roaming horses. They were so close that they could hear us whistle. When we whistled they perked up their heads.

After we saw the horses, the rover divas went to the middle Hogan and played UNO for a little while. Then all of a sudden in the middle of our game my mom called me out to see the horses, again. They were so close to our campsite. I almost got to pet the foal, but didn't since he was too mouthy like Jäger. The mother was a dark brown with a black mane and tail; the father(stallion)was white with a white mane and tail. His mane and tail were actually orange because of the red dirt in monument valley. The foal was a red roan (a red/orange color)with a orange mane and tail. They were the perfect family!!!!! We finished up our UNO game quickly and then we set off with the group to go on a 4wd trip to see more of Monument Valley.

On day 2 we bought from inside the hogan. Valerie's Family sells to tourists they have made.

Hogan Repair Shop in the morning of Day 2

Then we drove around one of the buttes and saw a flowing river, approximately a foot deep, and muddy. It was so muddy that our leader got stuck so we had to go a different way.

We drove some more to a rock with a large window called "Ear of the Wind".

Ear of the Wind Arch

I tried to make a sand angel, but I just got dirty!!

Sand dunes are steep, but lots of fun to run down!

This is the Big Hogan!

Aren't we cute!!

Day 3
Mystery Valley

Two Divas at the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park sign

We stopped at a ruin in Mystery Valley, and my dad and I climbed up the steep, steep rock hill. On top was 3 pools of water. The water was from rain and was very clean. I touched the water and it was too cold to swim. Maybe it could be used to take a bath in the summer. We did not stay on top too long, it was way too windy. I felt like I would blow away!

Anasazi Ruins in Mystery Valley

Checking out shards of pottery and we found some old corn cobs.

Bighorn Petroglyph

Divas in arch

This is in the arch and there are two circular rooms. Probably for storage in the old'n days. There was a bunch of packrat evidence.

Girls with Pictographs

Free roaming horses galloping through the canyon. Awesome!!

On the way home we had fun playing Uno in the car.

Sydney cleaning up the red dirt!

Day at Mount Lemmon By Samantha

2010-09-19T14:55:00.002-07:00

Date: September 18, 2010
Divas: Grace, Izabella, Samantha, Sophia, Sydney (All of them plus Moms and Dads) plus two Diva dogs Aspen and Jager
Where: Mount Lemmon, Arizona

The Divas all met at a gas station and my family ate at McDonalds. We headed up to Mount Lemmon to learn how use a compass. After awhile all the divas got in my car and played brain teasers all the way to the lunch spot. We stopped for lunch in Geesaman Wash .

Right after lunch we learned about compasses and maps.

Then we went hiking up the wash to use the compasses and look for pyrite(Fools Gold).

Izabella saw a black rattle snake in the wash under some shade. I got really scared and didn't want to continue the hike. I hate snakes.

The rest of the divas went to look for the gold but found none. They did have fun trying to get these Iron like cubes, out the rock up high on the side of the wash.

My mom fell on top of our puppy on the hike back. The puppy is OK.

We went up to the top of Mount Lemmon singing all the way in the truck with all the divas and playing hangman. The dads made a swing for us to play. Then the fun started with the swing and making ice cream. Izabella and Sydney brought an ice cream maker. It was a plastic ball filled with ice and Ice Cream Mix. You need to shake it or play with it to make the ice cream. So after a long day we had chocolate chip ice cream. It started to get cold so we got back in the trucks. The divas all in one and headed back to Tucson.

The End

Rover Diva Grace Goes Rock Climbing for the First Time by Grace

2010-08-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

Izabella, Sydney, and I went rock climbing the first weekend in August. At Mt. Lemon, Windy point, near Tucson. Izabella and Sydney have been climbing for a couple of years. Izabella is amazing. She is so good. Their parents have been climbing for a long time.

Here I am getting into gear. I had to wear a harness, helmet, chock bag and special shoes. Linda, Sydney and Izabella's, mom taught me how to put the rope on the harness.

Rock climbing is tough, but it is fun!

I have climbed a rock wall 20ft. before, but then I only climbed halfway. This time I climbed a 70ft. piece of rock. That's taller than the five story building my Dad works in!

Izabella and I look tiny on the top of the rock. It was so cool to be on top of a hug rock.

Their was a little cove where we played Indians in it. It was a great day!!!

2 Divas in North Carolina

2010-08-09T10:11:00.001-07:00

North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher Island

By Samantha

Sophia and I saw a big circle fish glass eye that ws 4 in. thick and it curved 4 feet into the water.

We also saw a green eel. As soon as I saw it, I shiverd. It was 5 feet long.

We saw Jelly Fish...

and Sea Horses.

My mom loved this baby golden turtel, because it was rescuded from the beaches of North Carolina.

We also saw a rare albino allegater named Luna. Luna is a Spanish word, it means "Moon" in English. The aquarium basis it's funds on traveler's and vacationer's. The funds are then used to rescue the Sea Turtles and the eegs they lay on the beaches of Carolina. They also use the funds for other species that are found in the Carolina's that are in danger of extinction. Other funds come from donors of big companie's or vacationer's like us. So, next time that you're in North Carolina, visit the Aquarium, donate if you can, and you'll see what my sister and I saw!!

Camping by the Gila River by: Izabella

2010-08-02T12:19:00.001-07:00

April 2010

TRIP INFORMATION

Vehicle: 3 (2 Discos and 1 Dormobile) and 1 pop-up camper

Divas: Izabella, Sydney, Samantha and Grace

Diva Dogs: Jäger, Fossy, Rascal and Kiwi

Location: Gila River, Arizona (north of Winkelman)

GPS/Map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=105632636342591632466.0004840c928f36839e041&t=h&z=13

In April, three Rover families got together to explore an area near the Gila River. The Gila River starts in New Mexico and winds through Arizona and ends in at the California border at the Colorado River. It is 649 miles long. This was the Rover Diva's first camping trip together. It was so much fun to 4WD and camp with other girls my age, which is nine. We all communicated on our pink Diva radios. It kind of drove our parents a little nuts with all the noise, especially when we were going over a rough spot. On the way in the scenery was amazing, we saw orange poppies, and blue and yellow wildflowers. It was so green and lush. We saw one mountain that had bands like on a map.

We drove through a couple of washes, down some steep hills, over some ruts and even almost slid sideways one time. When we finally came to a stop, we were at the banks of the Gila River. It looked like a perfect campsite, but not a very safe spot for kids and dogs. Our parents decided to set up further away from the river on a more flat and open area, so we could play.

While our parents set up camp we played card games and made a fort under a mesquite tree. The day got very hot so we went to the river to play. When we got to the river, Samantha's Westie, Rascal, jumped into the fast flowing water. Then Samantha's other dog Fossy jumped in. They both started floating down the stream. Chuck, (Samantha's dad) went in after the two dogs. Then her third dog, Kiwi jumped in after Chuck. Chuck was able to rescue them all. It looked like a dog train in the water. Chuck then used webbing and tow straps to tie them up, and keep them safe. The water was muddy, cold and fast moving, so we could only go in up to our knees. In some areas it also dropped off quickly. It was ok, we just made mud pies and played games, and ran around the little beach. We found lots of small clam like shells, which I brought home to paint.

After playing in the water, we dried off and went to play in the fort, until... the dogs came and wrecked part of it. We were mad at the time, but it was actually funny. Then we went to my pop up to play until dinner was ready. The campsite had a lot of soft dirt on the ground and it was pretty dusty, so Grace and I sat on my Disco roof to eat our dinners. All the families made there own dinners, but we all had the same desert; SMORES!!. After dark, we saw many bright stars. The sky was amazing. Grace pointed out a few constellations to Samantha and I. She knows a lot about astronomy. The adults sat around the campfire and talked while we played more card games until bed time.

The next day we went for a long walk to find a safer swimming spot. We never found one, so we went back to the original spot. It was really hot again that day. My mom said it had to be in the nineties, one of the first hot days this spring. We waited til later in the day to drive out because it would be cooler then. The dormobile doesn't have air conditioning, and its gets very hot in there. Along the way, we stopped to explore a rocky area, and take some pictures. There was lots of limestone with fossils. My dad found a large centipede under one rock and a scorpion under another. The adults decided it was a good idea to keep moving, and to get back on the paved road by sunset. We ended the trip at a very good Mexican restaurant, La Casita, in Mammoth. I am pretty sure we will stopping there again on the next trip to the area.

Rover Divas adventures in microsoft paint by:Sydney

2010-08-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

Rover Diva Grace Goes to Virginia by Grace

2010-07-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

I flew from Phoenix to DC, all by myself. For a two week visit. Flying alone is fun! But stressful for my parents.

I visited my Aunt Jenifer, Uncle Will, Grandmother, Grandaddy and my cousins, Claire and Trey in Virginia. My Grandparents live in Clifton, VA. My Uncle Will is a pilot in the US Navy. They are stationed right now at Virgina Beach. I spent most of my trip in Virgina Beach.

My Granddaddy has some old Range Rover's but they don't run most of the time.

Here we are at a Japanese restaurant. Yum!!!

Earlier in July, I went to San Diego with my parents and swam in the Pacific Ocean. So, I've been in both the Atlantic and Pacific ocean in the same mouth.
Cool!! or maybe Wet!!

It was my first time on a bogey board.

It was so fun!!!

We went to Colonial Williamsburg. Both Claire and I own Felicity, a colonial American Girl Doll. We wanted to bring our Felicity dolls, but Trey wanted to bring something too. So, he brought Master Yoda. It is kind of funny to see him running around Colonial Williamsburg with a Yoda =)

This is a horse just like Felicity's.

We found out that this house is what the Felicity books were based on, but not used much in the Felicity movie.

Here is Felicity's house that was used most of the time in the movie.

We decided to give our toys a shoulder ride.

Me and Claire got mob caps, just like Felicity!

Trey got a three corner hat.

I had lot of fun in Virgina.

AZLRO Rally 2010: Trail pre-run Temporal Gulch near Patagonia, Arizona

2010-07-06T21:30:00.007-07:00

By: Izabella

Two Discoveries went on this trip to check out trail conditions before the rally.

Divas on this trip: Samantha, Izabella, Sophia and Sydney

A quick Diva lunch break

Samantha and I enjoying some cold fried chicken .

Sydney and Sophia had fun climbing In and out of

Samantha’s roof top tent.

After lunch Samantha and I decided to explore the area and play in the cold water.

We are on the road again!! (sort of anyway)

Samantha and Sophia’s Disco (Sally) avoiding a deep spot!!

Possible lunch site for the rally next week!

This is the small canyon behind the lunch site. It is a great place to play.

Here we also saw a pair of real working cowboys.

This is the entrance of the second mine we came to. They mined copper here. Copper is Arizona's main mineral.

On the inside we found Chrysocolla on the walls. Chrysocolla looks alot like turquoise. We picked up a few pretty pieces. It is found wherever there is copper.

This is one of the small, but very pretty waterfalls we saw. We had a lot of rain this year in Arizona. Most canyons had waterfalls, this was one of them. We also counted 25 water crossings this trip.

The End!!!

Memorial Day Weekend on Mt. Graham. The Rover Divas visit The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) by Grace

2010-07-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

My Dad works at the LBT. We planed a trip so more people could be as amazed as us by the telescope.

This is our camp site at Treasure Park. We had a lot of fun here.

There were 7 Land Rovers and we had our Chevy Pickup. We don't like to drive the Dormobile during the summer, since it does not have air conditioning. Besides me there were 4 girls and 3 boys.

My Dad and Jon Christianson both had telescopes. We looked through them at night. During the day Jon put a white cover on his. We thought it looked like a ghost, and thought about putting eyes on it. :)

The Girls built a fort. It was awesome!

The adults sat around the campfire(booooooring), while we had FUN!

Their was still snow on the ground, so we had a snowball fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love visiting the LBT!!!!!

The girls couldn't find a seat at once, so we sat on each other. Poor Aslyin the littlest on the bottom.

The kitchen always has otter pops. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

The LBT is amazingly impressive, but because of its massive size its The Largest Telescope in the world!

New Years in Death Valley by Grace

2010-06-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

Over New Years 2010 my family and I went to Death Valley.

Death Valley got its name when people when through it during the 1849 gold rush. They were not ready for the massive heat and died.

We met up with 6 other Land Rover Owners and one Volvo thing in Saline Valley for the trip.

This was our campsite the first night. I was so excited that there was another girl, her name is Rachel. Rachel was 5 years old.

At the first campsite there were hot springs. Ahh!

Rachel and I at the Salt Flats.

Rachel and I overlooking the salt flats.

Lippencott Pass to get here was really rough and bumpy. But this view was worth it.

The Racetrack!!!

It is called the racetrack because rocks look like they move/race across the dry lake bed. What is really happening is when it rains it gets all muddy, and then the wind blows, and the rocks move. They make ditches by sliding across the mud. Very interesting!

Teakettle Junction

Just one of those weird things that happens in the desert! But fun to look at.

Rachel and I playing on my DS in the Dormobile, because there was snow on the ground and it was freezing outside.

Ubehebe!!! (yew-beh-HEE-bee)

Ubehebe is a crater in Death Valley it is where one tribe believes humans came out from the earth.

Ubehebe became my Dad's new favorite word, and he calls himself "Mr. Ubehebe" We all enjoyed saying it over and over. Even now we find ourselves saying it and laughing.

Here we split up from the rest of the group. They headed north and we headed south through the park.

This is my favorite picture from the whole trip!

This is where we camped the 3rd night. It is Mesquite Springs Campground.

Pretty picture of the Dormobile.

Do you ever wonder where 20 Mule Borax is from? Well I had never heard of it. But this is where it came from. Here is a picture of me with one of the wagons that was pulled out by the 20 mule teams. Funny enough it is actually 18 mules and 2 horses.

New Years Eve!!!

On New Years Eve I tried to YoYo in the Dormobile. I wasn't very good.

I got a Junior Ranger Badge. I am a Junior Ranger in Death Valley.

Devils Golf Course is a real devil. I would lose my ball for sure.

Badwater Basin!!!

Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.

It is 282 feet below sea level, and we didn't even get wet!

Cool Salt Flats

The salt flats were geometric shapes with salt growing on the edge.

After this we headed home, it took us two days to get back to Tucson.

We are trying this out!!!

2010-06-17T14:37:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone.