SharivilleLife stories from Shari

What a day we had today. What a great adventure.    Good thing we had a quiet day yesterday .  We drove in from Laughlin, Nev. a total of 90 miles.  That’s a record.  We settled in at Sam’s RV park on Boulder Hwy.  We love to come here.  We like the casino and the food and they have an outdoor show complete with wild animals, almost think they are real.  Its beautifully done complete with a bear and a howling wolf.  If you bring an RV to Las Vegas, you would like this place.  We had a great buffet dinner last night and then decided we better slow down on the buffet’s.  It was so good we had to waddle out.

Today we did something we haven’t done in 17 yrs.  We drove about 50 miles NE of Vegas to Valley of Fire.   It has to be one of the most beautiful places there is.  The only drawback was, we forgot how far out the Park was, it’s a state park, and we didn’t bring a picnic lunch like everyone else did.   The park has changed in the last 17 yrs. they now have a visitor center, complete with a gift shop,  Joann,  and many more pull offs, and signs indicating a good picture site, and lots and lots of covered picnic tables.  They also have a small campground with complete hookups.  It was Sunday and not all that crowded.  It’s an out of the way place and that’s just fine.  The fewer people who know about it , the better.  Less chance of spoiling the area as sometimes happens.  Vince and Mike, you would love this place for photo’s.   We were there in the middle of the day, but mornings and evenings  would be great for picture taking.

There are the most unusual sandstone formations weathered by the eroding forces of wind and water. I esp like the beehive formations. Valley of Fire was formed during the dinosaurs age, 150 million yrs ago. To me that just seems unreal.  Other formations in the park include lime stones, shale’s and conglomerates. At one time the Anasazi Indians, the Pueblo farming Indians known up around the 4 corners area, farmed the nearby Moapa Valley. We have been to the 4 corners area and looked at the pueblo’s, fascinating.  The 4 corners area is where  Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico join at the corners.  It’s reported that occupation dates from 300 B. C. to 1150 A. D.  History dictates that a scarcity of water would have limited the length of their stay. The annual rainfall is four inches, usually in light winter showers and summer thunderstorms.  But I am here to tell you that those arroyos where the water runs off are deep and looks like the streams run fast and furious when the water does come.  They have desert tortoise’ here and visitors are asked to please leave these like able and harmless creatures alone to live its life in peace in it’s own environment.  People steal them and take them home and these guys live long long lives and should stay where they live to begin with.  This breaks my heart, like I said, let this wonderful place remain a secret.There are historic stone cabins that were built with native sandstone by the CCC in the 1930′s  as a shelter for passing travelers.  The drive into the park from the north end isn’t as pretty a drive, but the south entrance on into Henderson with the view of Lake Mead  is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever been on.  I am so lucky to have such a loving and patient husband who will stop on a dime, turn around in impossible places and do it without question, just so I can snap a picture or two.  The other plus is Jerry loves to drive, so I get to go everywhere and enjoy the ride.  Along the way the desert Marigolds were beginning to bloom.  They bloom in  spaced out clusters and are spectacular.

We came home and I fixed cold cuts with macaroni salad and pear wine.  We got the pear wine up in Oregon last yr.  There is a wonderful winery along the Hood Canal that specialize fruit wine.  Our very fav is their Rhubarb wine.  Now that’s an idea maybe our next trip should be up in that area, esp. with summer coming on.  I think I was born under a wandering star……….more to come, Hugs,  S.   and  J.                                                                                                                                                    

This is known as elephant rock, can you see why?