After spending a day with my favorite people in Phoenix, I drove to California to check out Castle Mountains National Monument. I was really confused about this one, because the cancellation location is at the Mojave Desert visitor’s center, and I’ve been there. After a bit of detective work, I concluded that it wasn’t really possible for me to visit the Castle Mountains. They’re surrounded on three sides by Mojave Desert National Preserve and you can only reach them on ATV roads. (I could be wrong, but that’s what it looked like on the map.) So I took a scenic drive past the Castle Mountains, enjoyed the Joshua Trees, and listened to a fascinating podcast about the Dark Web.
I got stuck in terrible traffic heading into Vegas to the Lake Mead Visitor Center, the location of my next stamp. The lady there informed me that Tule Springs Fossil Beds NM isn’t really someplace you can visit T this point; apparently it’s just been set aside and is currently being excavated. They don’t even have their own visitor center yet. But I was told I could go to Floyd Lamb State Park right next to the fossil beds, so I spent the night in Vegas (and won $.06 at the casino) and visited Tule Springs the next morning.
I stopped at the Veyo Pie Shop just north of St. George, and it totally lived up to the hype. I had a slice of sour cream lemon that I devoured right there in the parking lot and got a slice of rhubarb for the next day, using the excuse that it was Easter and I deserved a treat.
I got stuck in terrible traffic heading into Vegas to the Lake Mead Visitor Center, the location of my next stamp. The lady there informed me that Tule Springs Fossil Beds NM isn’t really someplace you can visit T this point; apparently it’s just been set aside and is currently being excavated. They don’t even have their own visitor center yet. But I was told I could go to Floyd Lamb State Park right next to the fossil beds, so I spent the night in Vegas (and won $.06 at the casino) and visited Tule Springs the next morning.
I really enjoyed this spot; it’s an oasis just outside of Vegas! So many ducks and geese hanging out, having their morning meeting. So, even though it wasn’t at all what I expected and there were no fossils to be seen, I’m glad I got to hang out there for a while.
Even though I was heading back to SLC, there were still just a few more sites I wanted to see. I stopped at Valley of Fire, which thanks to social media, has become a major tourist attraction.
I stopped at the Veyo Pie Shop just north of St. George, and it totally lived up to the hype. I had a slice of sour cream lemon that I devoured right there in the parking lot and got a slice of rhubarb for the next day, using the excuse that it was Easter and I deserved a treat.
I had been wanting to stop at the site of the Mountain Meadows Massacre for quite some time. I know that sounds weird, but Michael Kelsey has an in-depth write-up about it in one of his books, and I found the whole story so sad. And I was surprised that I’d never heard of these 150 people being killed! The people behind the murders obviously just wanted to sweep it under the rug. I’m glad there’s a nice memorial there now, and my heart breaks for all those people who lost their lives because the locals were paranoid.
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