Friday, November 13, 2020

The Final Leg of Travel

It was two weeks since we had left our SD home and time to move on to our AZ tiny house...

the Veyo rhubarb pie


playing Farkle at the picnic table with Jon & Sherry

17 games over 3 nights


travel sized Farkle game purchased in Deadwood in September

wish I had bought more of them!


On Friday morning it was time to say goodbye to Snow Canyon State Park and our camp hosts. We had excellent accommodations for 3 days, great food, fun geocaching, and stunning scenery. What was not to like? But it was time to move on down the road. 


cozy, but comfortable


the Joshua Tree, one of several, at the state park


watching the morning sun move through the canyon


St. George is just 4 miles from the AZ border

no more red rocks


and 15 miles later, crossing into Nevada


a glimpse of Lake Mead before crossing the Hoover Dam Bridge


and then back into Arizona



along the Joshua Tree Parkway of AZ
Highway 93, south of Kingman
between Wikiup and Wickenburg


Yucca brevifolia is a plant species belonging to the genus Yucca. It is tree-like in habit, which is reflected in its common names: Joshua tree, yucca palm, tree yucca, and palm tree yuccaThe Joshua Tree has barely any leaves, just a few balls on the edges. ~ Wikipedia


a Joshua Tree forest


the temperature as we arrived at our winter home


the first sunset photo of the season


And then as a wrap-up to the two weeks, five states of geocaching (eight states of travel), and almost 4,000 miles...

the US counties prior to the trip


US counties after the trip


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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

A Geocaching Milestone

While we were in the St. George area, I realized I was very close to reaching a goal of finding 23,000 geocaches. Jon and Sherry recommended a scenic drive with some roadside geocaches and a stop in Veyo for pie.


an equestrian trail head, as well as human hiking trails
railed fence for truck and horse trailer parking and unloading


can you spot the geocache


the colored lichen caught my eye


icon in the community of Veyo


a small corner bakery allowing only 4 patrons at a time
no room to eat in, but nearby tables and a covered shelter


we bought a rhubarb pie for dessert
and a couple of apple turnovers and lunch


beef pot pie


chicken pot pie

I can see why the place was highly recommended. Everything was delicious and I am pretty particular about pie crusts! We enjoyed the pot pies in a church parking lot in Gunlock. The apple turnovers were enjoyed a couple of days later and were also very, very good. We shared the rhubarb pie with our camping hosts Jon & Sherry that night after dinner, and enjoyed it for a couple of nights after that. Yummy to the very end!


a picturesque stop for a geocache
a rope for swinging and jumping into the 
swimming hole


the rock for launching the rope jump


an unedited phone photo
stunning colors of the swimming hole
no luck on finding the geocache


Some cachers look for a very special geocache to celebrate milestones, and we have, but when on the road like we were and not knowing where we might be when the milestone was reached, well, you get what you get. I had solved a puzzle cache in St. George and decided to make it my 23K milestone find. It was the type of puzzle I had used with students to encourage "thinking outside the box." 


Utah map before our October 2020 visit


the Utah map after our geocaching adventures






Monday, November 9, 2020

Snow Canyon State Park

Snow Canyon State Park was our 'home' in the St. George UT area. After traveling for 11 days, moving the travel trailer every other day and road tripping 300-400 miles on the other days, we were both looking forward to some 'down' time at the state park. 

We have traveled through St. George and honestly, we would not have stopped this time had it not been for the opportunity to spend a few days with Jon & Sherry. And honestly, we would not have visited Snow Canyon if it had not been their home and work base. What a treasure we would have missed!


the view looking out our front door


"Snow Canyon State Park is a 7,400 acre scenic park tucked amid lava flows and soaring sandstone cliffs in a strikingly colorful and fragile desert environment.


Transported by wind more than 183 million years ago, tiny grains of quartzite sand covered much of what is now Utah. These sand dunes, up to 2,500 feet thick, eventually cemented into stone.


Burnt orange to creamy white in color, Navajo sandstone, the predominant rock in the park, is what remains of the ancient desert sand sea.


Over time, water cut and shaped the sandstone to form canyons.


Created in 1959, Snow Canyon has a long history of human use. Anasazi Indians inhabited the region from A.D. 200 to 1250, utilizing the canyon for hunting and gathering. Paiute Indians used the canyon from A.D. 1200 to the mid-1800s. Mormon pioneers discovered Snow Canyon in the 1850s while searching for lost cattle.  


lava flow ridges of basalt


Approximately 1.4 million years ago, and as recently as 27,000 years ago, nearby cinder cones erupted causing lava to flow down these canyons, filling them with basalt. This redirected the ancient waterways, eventually carving new canyons.


a lava tube and cave 
(distorted color as it is VERY black)


petrified sand dunes
Hubby blends right in with the dunes


1 of 13 marked hiking trails in the park 


the names of the pioneers, written in axle grease, dating back to 1881


plodding in very fine sand


most of the trails were well marked

The canyon was the site of Hollywood films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Electric Horseman, and Jeremiah Johnson. Originally called Dixie State Park, it was later renamed for Lorenzo and Erastus Snow, prominent pioneering Utah leaders."

I was sort of bummed we would not be going to Zion National Park, or Bryce Canyon National Park, or any of the other very scenic parks and drives. Our stay in Snow Canyon helped ease the need to see the stunning red rock landscape of Utah's national parks where there would have been many more people. Snow Canyon was a perfect substitute.



Saturday, November 7, 2020

Art Works in St. George

 We spent some time at St. George Town Square during our tour and geocaching excursion. The statues were very interesting and worthy of a visit and closer look.



The day we visited volunteers were busy wrapping and stringing lights in the Square's trees in preparation for Christmas.


statue near the library & children's museum


a splash pad at the Town Square


a familiar sight at the Children's Museum


"Synergy" by Gary Price
$30,000


our version of Synergy
photo by Sherry Hockersmith


the bison was an unexpected surprise
bison is the mascot for Dixie State University, St. George


loved the facial expression on this statue
girl holding duckling
(no plaque stating title, artist, or price)


a working carousel at the Town Square


"The Swing"
by Victor Issa, $9500


"Ready to Play"
by Deveren Farley
2016, mixed media, no price


wrapped in license plates, including several from 
South Dakota


close-up of the mixed media
love this type of creativity by the artist