bjregan

St. George, Utah

Today we crossed over into the southwestern corner of Utah, arriving at the town of St. George.

St. George is one of the places that has been on our list of possible locations where we would like to settle. We haven’t had time yet to see much of it, but we are very impressed with what we have seen.

Temperate climate is one of the selling points of the city and we very much appreciated that aspect today. We left Phoenix on Saturday and as we’ve traveled through Arizona, Nevada and Utah the last several days the temperatures have soared. We have been in some places that are normally quite warm, but everyone says that these temperatures are much higher than normal for April.

Saturday’s drive from Phoenix took us as far as Kingman, Arizona, where we spent the night. Part of the route that day went through a scenic desert area forested with the interesting cactus called the Joshua Tree. I had seen these treelike cacti in California but didn’t realize that they grow in parts of Arizona and Nevada, as well.

On Sunday we drove from Kingman, Arizona, across the Hoover Dam into Nevada. Many years ago when I had crossed the Hoover Dam the road was on top of the dam. There is now a recently constructed bridge, a real engineering marvel, that was built to route the highway off the dam.

In order to get a view of the dam there is a separate sightseeing area that allows you to climb up to a walkway along the bridge.

Behind Hoover Dam is the large Lake Mead Recreation Area.

On Monday we drove along the 65-mile Northshore Road, reaching our camping site for the night at Valley of Fire State Park.

Camping in the rocks at Valley of Fire reminded us of the camping at City of Rocks in New Mexico. However, the accommodations at Valley of Fire were much more luxurious. And the temperatures here at night did not cool down at all. The highs that afternoon had been over 100 degrees and we did not need our sleeping bags to keep us warm for the first time in any of the camping we’ve done this year.

Rainbow Vista at Valley of Fire State Park.

Now that we are in St. George we expect that our sightseeing will lead us to more beautiful desert vistas and colorful geological formations. Tonight we are camped at Snow Canyon State Park, just outside the city–not as isolated as Valley of Fire or City of Rocks, but a very worthwhile visit. And since St. George has been called “the launching point to Zion National Park” we have much more yet to see.

Arizona Adventures

When the summer heat would hit Virginia, the standard phrase I used to compare Virginia’s heat to years I’d spent in the southwest, was “it’s a dry heat.” I guess that’s why I thought this postcard was so hilarious.

Our first couple of days in Phoenix were quite chilly, as a storm front had passed through the state bringing clouds, wind and cooler than normal temperatures. Fortunately, we didn’t need to be out in the weather, but, instead, were spending time at Agnes’ house in Chandler, AZ. Agnes was a wonderful hostess. It had been a long time since we had been there for a visit and we had lots of catching up to do.

The three of us took a Sunday afternoon drive north of Phoenix to visit the experimental community of Arcosanti.One of the residential areas of Arcosanti.

It only took a couple of days for the weather to warm back up again and by Monday we were out enjoying the abundant sunshine riding our bicycles on the Paseo Trail along the Consolidated Canal, from Chandler up to Gilbert. We combined this with a day to have some work done on our car, taking a detour from the bike path to go back through town after the shop called to let us know the car was ready for pickup.

Tuesday we left Phoenix and drove down to Tucson to spend some time camping at Catalina State Park. That’s when the weather seriously began to heat up. On the web page for Catalina State Park I noticed a Climate chart that showed the average April high temperature to be 73 degrees. Since we’ve been here the daily highs have been in the 90’s–more like July temperatures.

We’ve learned to adjust to the heat, making sure that we always have plenty of water and access to shade. Catalina is close enough to urban areas that we can also retreat to air conditioned stores or visitor centers. For example, at the present we are comfortably working on our computers in the heat of the day at the public library in downtown Tucson.

Love the desert in bloom.Relaxing in camp at Catalina State Park.A glimpse of a roadrunner dashing through the campground.Hiking at Picacho Peak State Park on the way to Catalina State Park.

Barrel cactus on Picacho Peak trail, saguaro cactus in background.

Hiking the Romero Canyon Trail in Catalina State Park.On the Romero Canyon Trail, in the distant background is Picacho Peak, where we had hiked the day before.Destination on Romero Canyon Trail was to several small pools at a stream crossing up the canyon.

This weekend we plan to leave southern Arizona and make our way to St. George, Utah. We have heard good things about the city as a retirement destination, but neither of us has been there. I’m hoping there’ll be time for a visit to Zion National Park, as well. The journey continues.