Easter in Nevada Part 1: Tractors and Petroglyphs

Ben's family in Lund, Nevada always have a huge picnic on Easter weekend, and this year was the first year we were actually able to make it. It was such a fun and relaxing weekend for us, and was a definite needed break amid the busyness of springtime.

We left Thursday after Malcom's first soccer game. I was completely exhausted and conked out about half way there (it's about a 4 hour drive from here). The boy's both fell asleep at first, then woke up for the last hour. Apparently they helped Ben keep an eye out for deer, cattle, windmills, and they even spotted a bat flying past the road. It sounds like they had a great time, and I almost wish I had woken up for it (almost... I really like sleeping these days!).

Friday was easy-going. Only a few other family members had made it to town yet, so we had a lot of time to just do whatever we wanted. Malcom got to help Uncle Sam drive a tractor and move stuff around.

 That's Malcom on Sam's lap, Ben's dad, Lance, bending over there to unlatch some equipment.

We later picked up Ben's Aunt Rhoda and headed off to see some petroglyphs in some rocks about 15 to 20 minutes north of Lund. The first one was sort of a lone sun-looking drawing on the top of a small hill of boulders. The boys were practically comatose by the time we got there (they were exhausted from our late night), but we were very lucky to have Aunt Rhoda with us, who was more than happy to wait in the car with them to let Ben and I explore.

(*Rhoda wasn't sure which Native American tribes are attributed to the petroglyphs, but google says its likely Paiute, Shoshone, Chemehuevi, or Anasazi. There are a lot of petroglyph sites all up and down Nevada, some are thought to be over 1500 years old. This is a cool site that has a few petroglyph sites listed: http://www.forsythlv.com/index.html)

After we got back to the car (maybe 15 minutes tops), we headed east(?) about 5 minutes to another petroglyph site. This one took a little more hiking to, but it was worth it. Again, Rhoda stayed by the car with the sleeping boys.

Ben surveying from the top of the hill

I wish the boys had been awake to come exploring with us, but it was nice to have a mini-date with my favorite person in the whole world. We'll just have to go back again someday when the boys are a little bigger and able to hike up the hill on their own.