China Ranch Date Farm

We took a ride out into the desert, actually crossing over the state line and into California. We went through Shoshone and stopped at a museum dedicated to the hardy souls who came to this area to mine. They had a pretty extensive collection of material on the women who came to this harsh land and how they endured. Then we journeyed on to the China Ranch Date Farm, famous for its date milkshakes and date bakery items. We left the highway and traveled 2 miles to a graveled one lane road that twisted and turned down between rock cliffs until we reached an oasis at the bottom. A natural spring feeds this area and the imported date palms were quite impressive. The folks that farm this place have made a living from their hard labors and it is quite lovely out in the middle of such stark landscape. By the way, the date milkshake was quite good.
Do you see Mr. Frog. Every time I see a frog, I think of my brother, the collector of frogs.
If you look really hard at the left corner of the fountain, you will see a little bird taking a drink. In the middle of the desert, this oasis is alive with birds.
This is a working farm but they also have a nursery to sell various cacti to the public.
Can you tell this is an old TRUCK...it has lots of character. I am a sucker for old vehicles...love all of them...don't know a darn thing about them but I just like the looks. More later from the Happy Travelers

Zion National Park

We drove up to Zion National Park, parked the car in Springdale and took a shuttle. We went to the last stop, Riverside Walk and took a hike along the Virgin River. Here are a few of the pictures, I took along the way.
We also went to another part of Zion, as well as a place called Cedar Bluff where the temperature was so cool you had to put on a jacket. It was 10,350 feet up. I had a problem with my video camera and had left the battery back at the campground so no pictures of Cedar Bluff. As sharp as these pictures may be, they don't compare to being here in person. God surely made a wonderful world and put lots of breathtaking beauty in this part of the country. From Utah, the Happy Travelers journey on to Nevada. More later.

St. George and Hurricane, Utah

These were the mountains in front of our campground name St. George but in Harrisburg, Utah. What a sight...I never get enough...so majestic.

We drove into downtown St. George and they have a lovely park in the historical district where the families come and children play in the water. There is even a shallow concreted river-type basin to play in. There were lots of flowers and benches....just a nice place to hang out.
There was a small museum in Hurricane, Utah dedicated to the pioneers, especially those folks who settled in Hurricane. The wind was really blowing the day we were there and I tried to take a picture of the monument and the flag flying...so you got two pictures of the monument...one you see the flag and one you see the monument.

Can you imagine having to pack up everything you owned and traveling across unknown land in this?

Lake Powell, AZ

I just couldn't get over the water being so blue...was it the rocks or was it the sky? It was beautiful.
You can see that there were house boats. There were many boats of all types and skidoos. There was a large resort across the road from us and they brought people in by the bus load.

The sites at the campground had the trailers going in with one facing up and one facing down with landscaping separating the two...was nice...you didn't have to face your neighbors sewer hose. They planted draught resistent trees and plants and used a lot of rock.

A couple of videos

Before I try to publish any more pictures/videos of Lake Powell and my Utah visit, I have a couple from Jerome and Sedona I would like to share. The first one is from Jerome....I cut off the Je... and the second one is at the Chapel of the Rocks. You can hear a fountain and lots of wind in the background. Here goes.

Sedona Views

This is Kat, Ron and me at the Chapel of the Rocks in Sedona. Also several shots of the rock formations in the area.

Jerome, AZ

This is Kat Drayton, Matthew's aunt, who has been a resident of Sedona for over 12 years. She was so gracious to serve as our tour guide. Our first stop was in Jerome, AZ, the wildest town in the West.
This is now a hotel on the top of the mountain in Jerome.
One of the cute little shops in Jerome---The house of Joy---can you imagine what this building housed at one time!

Maybe the best thing Jerome has going for it is its view. We are way up in the hills--up from Sedona.