My father's trail ...

Kanab, Utah

A big part of this road trip has been to follow my father's trail, or in his footsteps, as it were. I wanted to know why he loved Kanab and now I know. Just like Alpine, Texas it is a small town, full of friendly people and surrounded by beautiful hills with an almost magical quality to them.

This morning it was quite overcast so I took the opportunity to walk around the downtown area. I stopped at Linda Lea's Cafe where I had breakfast and coffe at the "old boy's" table. They welcomed me to sit and chat and I asked about my father's friend Virgil Riggs but nobody knew of him. Then I went down a little side street to the newspaper office but they were all new to the area. Right next door was a little bookstore and the man there knew of Virgil and his wife Gladys. Virgil had passed away several years ago but Gladys still lives in town so I took a walk to her house, unannounced, and introduced myself. We had a nice visit and she had many nice things to say about my dad. The nicest thing she said was that nobody ever said an unkind word about him. She told me where to find the old bakery/cafe that Virgil ran when my dad worked for him. It is now a T-shirt shop but the trim around the door and under the windows are still decorated with the many pieces of petrified wood that my dad picked up along the way. There are also many such pieces in Gladys' garden at her front door.












The old Kanab Hotel is now a photo shop/studio and the owner gave me some tips on places to visit. One such place is the old movie set about 15 miles out of town up Johnson's Canyon. The set was used for some movies before it was used in the early episodes of Gunsmoke.












Above that point is the Grand Staircase- Escalante, and it afforded me some awesome views. I'm afraid that my camera did not do the area justice. There were several times I wish that I had a horse and a pair of wire cutters.






The the afternoon was beautiful but the weather is still a little unsettled so I'll give it a chance to blow over before I leave town and try again for the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Tomorrow I hope to view the north rim which is just south of Kanab.


Behind the famous Parry Lodge (where the movie stars stay) there is an old barn that has been turned into a playhouse and movie theater. Every night at 8 pm they show a movie - FREE. It is always one of the old westerns where at least some of the filming was done in Kanab.