Scotty’s Castle

Yesterday we drove to the north end of Death Valley National Park to take a tour of Scotty’s Castle.  What an interesting place in the middle of the desert!

This home was built between 1922 and 1931 as a vacation home by Albert and Bessie Johnson.  You’re probably wondering why is it then called Scotty’s Castle.  The story could easily be right out of a novel. 

Walter Scott “Scotty” was quite a character.   In the early 1900s he was selling shares in a gold mine that didn’t exist.  As investors in the west grew wise to him, he expanded his search to other cities.  He convinced Albert Johnson of Chicago to invest in his fictitious gold mine.  After two years of no returns, Albert decided to visit Scotty in Nevada to see the mine.  He never did see a mine, but he fell in love with Death Valley and found Scotty to be very entertaining.  Albert decided to build a vacation home in the desert.  By the time he was finished, he had spent 2 million dollars. 

Scotty stayed with the Johnson’s at their home when they came to Nevada.  He told many stories to their guests including the fact that he owned the home and Albert was his banker.  The Johnsons went along with the story so the press wouldn’t bother them.

Albert used his engineering background to build the home with electricity, indoor plumbing, an electric refrigerator, and all the newest innovations of the time.  He used water from a nearby spring to create the electricity.  I was amazed by the many modern conveniences in a house build in the 1920s!

The National Park Service offers two tours at the house.  One tour is of the inside of the house and the other is an underground tour in the tunnels under the house to see how everything worked.  Both tours were very informative and enjoyable. 

Here’s a view of the entire compound including a cook house, guest house, a clock tower and stables.  It’s set in a valley surrounded by mountains on all four sides.

The Johnsons enjoyed music so they built a music room at the cost of $200,000.  The main instrument was a pipe organ.  Neither one of them could play the instruments, so they had paper rolls of music which played the organ and piano.  We were given a demonstration of the instruments playing, and it was quite impressive. 

This is the main living room.

 

 

 

The Johnsons lost a lot of money during The Depression so they were not able to finish all of the projects they had started including a large swimming pool made to look like a moat at the front of the house.  They also began renting out rooms to bring in some revenue.  Some of their guests included President Hoover, Clark Gable, Will Rogers, Betty Grable and Betty Davis.

We were walking along a path on the grounds and we heard a noise.  It sounded like crickets to me.  Kevin looked down and saw a rattle snake under a little bush along the side of the path.  Yikes!!! I’ve never seen a rattle snake other than at the zoo.  I am going to be very careful walking around the desert from now on!!  Can you see his tongue sticking out?

We took a drive up to the Ubehebe Crater.  About 2,000 years ago this volcano blew it’s top and the result was this crater.  It’s the largest such crater in the park.  It’s a half mile across and 500 feet deep.  The explosion spewed rocks over a six square mile area.

A cold front moved through yesterday afternoon.  It was extremely windy and it even rained!  This area is only supposed to get about 3 inches of rain a year.  I think we got a good part of that last night.  It’s much cooler today, only a high of 64.  It’s supposed to be in the 70s this week; perfect!

This morning I saw this little bird sitting on the electric box outside of our window.  I did some research and think it’s a Vermilion Flycatcher, but that’s just a guess.  If anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

A Jewel In The Desert

We are truly in the middle of nowhere.  The nearest grocery store is 30 miles away.  So who would have guessed that there is a jewel out here in the desert.

It’s called Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.  Few people have probably even heard of it.  It encompasses 23,000 acres of spring-fed wetlands and alkaline desert and was established in 1984 to protect endangered and threatened species.

The visitor center is only about 10 miles from where we are staying.  After seeing some information about it in a brochure, we decided to check it out yesterday.

As we were driving down the road to get there, I just couldn’t imagine there were wetlands anywhere within a hundred miles.  The very nice lady at the visitor center gave us some information and told us to walk down the boardwalk next to the center to see the spring.

As we walked along, there were some information signs.  We learned that the mesquite trees are native to the Mojave Desert, but many had been cleared away for farming and ranching.  The refuge is protecting the trees which provide shelter for many birds.

At the end of the boardwalk we found the amazing Crystal Spring.  The water is crystal clear and just as blue as you would see in the Caribbean.  The trees in the background are mesquite.

Ash Meadows has the greatest concentration of endemic life in the United States.  Endemic means found here and no where else.  Several of the species are endangered.

There are over 30 seeps and springs in the refuge.  The water comes from an underground aquifer system and it supposedly takes thousands of years to move through the earth.  Over 10,000 gallons per minute flow year round.  These are hot springs as the water comes from deep down in the earth. 

One of the main focuses of the refuge is saving the endangered species of pupfish found only here.  They are tiny little fish that feed off the algae in the bottom of the springs and can live in water as warm as 90 degrees.

It was quite warm yesterday so we only checked out the one spring.  There are two more boardwalks to other springs.  We are planning on going back next week.

I saw this cool dragonfly at the spring.  I’ve never seen a red dragonfly before.

 

Last night’s sunset was gorgeous!

 

 

 

It has still been in the 80s each day so we’ve put off going to Death Valley.  Next week is supposed to cool off to highs in the low 70s; perfect for wandering around the desert.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Amargosa Valley, Nevada

On Monday we traveled to Longstreet Casino and RV Resort in Amargosa Valley, Nevada.  I think it’s a stretch calling it an RV resort, but it’s fine for our purposes.  We needed someplace to hang out until December when we head to San Diego and this place was a good bet since it’s not far from Death Valley.

The monthly rate is $10.14 a night which includes a FHU site with 50 amp electric and free wi-fi and cable.  The cable picture is pretty lousy, but all we use it for is local news.  Our local channels from Utah are still working on the DirecTV satellite. 

When we had to change our local channels from Colorado to Utah with DirecTV, we had another customer service fiasco.  It took four people and two days until they got it right.  So, we decided not to call to change the local channels until we have to.  It’s kind of nice because the Utah channels are on mountain time and we’re now on pacific time so everything starts an hour earlier. 

The casino is also a hotel and seems pretty nice.  The casino only has slot machines, no table games.  It is rather smoky, so I don’t plan on spending any time in there.  Behind the building is a pond with a waterfall, gazebo and lots of ducks.  At night there are lights in the trees and the gazebo and it looks so pretty.  The night sky is amazing with tons of stars.

The campground is behind the pond.  It’s a large gravel lot with hook-ups and a few small trees.  We’ve found that to be pretty standard for most campgrounds in the desert. 

That’s us on the left.  There are several campers that belong to employees.  There have been about two or three other RVs here each night.  The lady in the office told me that they get busier when the snowbirds arrive.  There is also a pool and a hot tub that look very nice.  Unfortunately, they’re not open.  At check-in, we were told they are understaffed and don’t have anyone to take care of the pool.  That’s a shame, but at $10 a day, I’m not complaining.

The weather has been fantastic.  Highs have been about ten degrees above average.  Today it was 84 degrees.  Next week is supposed to get back to normal with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. 

We walked for about an hour yesterday and walked to California.  It’s only a 1/2 mile from here.  Next week when it’s a little cooler we’ll check out Death Valley National Park which is about 8 miles away.

Today we road our bikes for an hour.  We’re finally someplace that isn’t all hills.  I haven’t ridden a bike (other than a stationary bike while rehabbing) since I tore my ACL from falling off my bike about a year ago.  I have to admit I was a bit nervous and tentative especially on gravel, but I did fine and enjoyed it.

Here’s a view of the mountains behind us at sunrise.  Sunset is quite early at about 5:30 p.m. and I keep forgetting to watch for it.  Tonight I’m going to make sure to watch the sun setting over the mountains.

So, we’re taking it easy doing some little chores and relaxing and enjoying this great weather; back to wearing shorts :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Too Funny

Yesterday we decided to run some errands before we leave for Nevada tomorrow.  We think we are going to be rather isolated at our next location so we stocked up on food and supplies in case we’re far away from shopping. 

As we pulled out of the campground, we had to stop because the road was full of sheep.  That’s a new one!  It appears sheep dogs and horses have been replaced by trucks and ATVs.  There were two pick-up trucks and one ATV herding about 100 sheep down the main road.  I’m not sure where they came from, but they were being herded down the road and turned onto a side street.  A few were straggling, but as soon as the ATV came up behind them, they got right back to the group.  Too funny!!  I didn’t have my camera so I had to use my cell phone camera.  This is the best picture I could get.

The sheep are on the left in front of that truck and also on the road in front of the truck on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

Today is football watching day.  Kevin’s Packers won so he’s one happy camper.  I can’t just sit and watch football so I did laundry, washed the windows on the outside and have been messing around on the computer.  Supper is cooking in the crock pot, so what more could we ask for :)

Tomorrow marks the six month anniversary of our full time RV life.  So far, so great!!

Now that we have six months under our belt, I have a few observations.  Financially, I think we’ve been doing a good job of being frugal but still enjoying the things that we want to.  Kind of the same as we have always lived.  I do think it will cost a bit more than I had expected. 

There really is very little I miss from our old life.  I miss seeing family, but we talk often, and the boys are coming for Christmas in less than two months.  I also miss having a dishwasher.  It’s really the only convenience I wish I still had.  I know they now have them for RVs and maybe someday I’ll have one again. 

I’ve also determined that doing laundry in commercial laundromats is more economical than using the campground laundry.  The washers are about all the same in performance and price.  It’s the dryers that are much better in the laundromats.  All of the campground dryers we have used don’t dry nearly as well.  So, we will be doing laundry in town as much as we can.

So those are my great words of wisdom after six months :) 

The weather is gorgeous today, around 70 degrees and sunny.  I hope everyone is having as great a weekend as we are!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Zion National Park Revisited

In July of 1996 we visited Zion with our kids.  We spent a day riding horses through the canyon and hiking.  Yesterday we went back for another look.

One of the best changes that have been made since our first visit is there is now a shuttle into Zion Canyon.  Cars are no longer allowed.  The buses were great running every 6 to 8 minutes and even included very interesting narration as you drove from stop to stop.  Too bad some people were too rude to stay quiet so I couldn’t hear all of it.

In Zion the main road is at the bottom of the canyon which gives you a very different perspective than at most other canyons.  This section is called Towers of the Virgin (the Virgin River carved the canyon).  The mountain on the left is the tallest in the park.

The park got its name from early Mormon settlers who named it using the biblical reference of Zion.  Many of the landmarks in the park have biblical names given by the Mormons and a Methodist minister.

This area is called Court of the Patriarchs.The peaks are named Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The entire canyon was carved by the Virgin River, rain and snow.  There is no evidence of any glaciers.  The power of running water is amazing.

The Bridge Mountain Arch is 1,000 feet from the floor of the canyon.  There is a trail to it, but you have to bring 150 feet of rope to rock climb up part of the trail; not for us :)  The arch is in the center of the picture and looks like it’s vertical.  Can you see it?

 

We hiked along 3 mile Emerald Pools trail.  There are three pools, the lower, middle and upper pool.  These trails required some climbing, but the pools were beautiful.  They’re created by water running down the sides of the cliffs.  Here’s the water falling over the rocks at the Upper Emerald Pool.

Another amazing spot is the Weeping Rock.  Water seeps out of the sandstone and makes it seem as if rain is coming out of the rock.  There are hanging gardens in these areas created from the water flowing out of the rocks.

This is called The Great White Throne and is white Navajo sandstone.

 

Zion is the second most popular extreme rock climbing place in the country, second only to Yosemite.  These guys were about half way up.

 

 

 

Here’s a picture of the entire wall for perspective.  The climbers are a little to the right of the small light colored rectangle in near the center.  Everyone who saw them agreed it was crazy!

 

Many of the trees still have their leaves.  I like how you can see the red sandstone wall through the red leaves.

 

 

 

 

This young mule deer was grazing along the side of a river trail.  His mom wasn’t too far away in the bushes.  He must be pretty young because he still had the spots on his back.

I was really surprised to see that the campground was full for the weekend this late in the season.  Zion’s elevation is a bit lower than some of the other parks and is in the very southwest corner of Utah.  They don’t get as much snow or cold as other parts of Utah.  Coming from the east you have to drive down a very windy road which includes a mile long tunnel.  There are strict height restrictions and certain vehicles have to pay a fee for an escort through the tunnel.  I would recommend anyone wanting to camp at Zion come in from the west entrance.  It’s a much easier drive.  Then definitely take a drive to the east entrance.  It’s an amazing scenic drive, just not while towing.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Zion National Park Kolob Canyon

Kolob Canyon is on the north side of Zion National Park.  The majority of visitors only go to the south section.  The last time we visited Zion was in July, 1996, and we weren’t even aware of this north section.  So today we checked it out.

This is the  view from a distance.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the view as you begin the drive up the five mile road.

 

At the end of the road is an overlook of the canyon.  For an even better view, there is a 1 mile roundtrip trail.  Here’s the view from the top of the trail.

A nice lady took our picture up there.

 

 

 

I saw this bird at the overlook.  I’m thinking it’s another Western Scrub Jay although the park brochure said there are Western Bluebirds up here.  Hopefully, Judy can identify it for me :)

One of the trails is a five mile roundtrip trek along Taylor Creek.  It takes you back into one of the canyons past two old cabins to an amazing double arch alcove.  I really enjoyed hearing the sounds of the rustling fall leaves and the trickling water.  There is still quite a bit of fall color in the canyon. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both of these cabins were built in 1930 by two colleagues at the Branch Agricultural College, Gustive Larson and Arthur Fife.  They stayed here off and on during the summer for several years. 

 

At the end of the trail was this double arch alcove.  This cave is the beginning of the creek.  The water seeps through the rock to form the creek.  The canyon is a beautiful place and I can see why someone would build a cabin here.

When we got home, I contacted the RV Park we want to go to next.  We now have a reservation at the Longstreet Casino RV Park in Amargosa Valley, Nevada for the month of November.  It’s on the east end of Death Valley so we’ll have time to explore and relax.  I’m ready for some time at the pool.  Average November temperatures are in the 70s.  The best part about this place is the price.  The monthly rate is $10.14 a night for a full hook-up site, electricity included.  It’s pretty remote so we’ll be stocking up with supplies this weekend in Cedar City.  I hope the place lives up to my expectations!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

We drove along a Scenic Byway to Kanab, Utah where there is one of four visitor centers for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 

Along the scenic route.

 

 

 

 

Navajo Lake is located along the scenic drive.  It was formed by a volcano.  There were numerous fields of black lava rock in this area which was an unexpected sight in the mountains of Utah.

 

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was established in 1996 by President Clinton and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.  It encompasses an area of 1.9 million acres.  The area is an outdoor laboratory allowing scientists from many countries and specialties to explore and research.  New species of dinosaurs, insects and reptiles have been discovered here. 

It’s called Grand Staircase because of the rock layers, red rock, white limestone and a pink layer above that making it appear to be steps.

The red rock layer.

 

 

 

 

The white rock layer with the pink rock in the distance.

 

Along the way was the original set of the TV show Gunsmoke.  It’s not in very good shape anymore.

We took a different scenic byway on the return route which actually went through part of Zion National Park.  Here’s the entrance from the east.

We’ll be returning to Zion later in the week.

I found out an interesting fact about the small town of Kanarraville we are staying in.  It was the first town in the country to have an all women’s fire department.  This town only has a population of about 240.  Way to go girls!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!