Desert Beauty

Night light-up of Hot air balloons in Mesquite, NV

Hot air balloon festival in Mesquite, NV.  They launched about 40 balloons.  We didn't know this was going to happen.  This lot was right next to our condo.

A colorful and beautiful sight.  One balloon landed in our parking lot, so I went over to ask some questions and got drafted into helping pack it up.  Was a new experience.

This was our first time seeing the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada and we liked it a lot.  It had marvelous red rock formations and some of the rocks had Indian petroglyphs on them.  We did a half-mile round trip hike through a narrow little canyon called the Mousetrap, where a renegade Indian used to hide from the law.  The canyon floor was filled with red sand and it was hard hiking in it.  

Enjoying the view and eating lunch of cheese & crackers.

Artsy photo taken by Denny

Lost City Museum in Nevada.  Found out there were a whole string of Anasazi villages along this valley.

Desert beauty

Chapel at Pine Valley

This is the old general store in Hurricane that we liked so much the last time we were there.  They sold everything from nuts to bolts--We bought our big-headed quilting tacks there.  There used to be a warming stove in the middle of the store.  The big heavy double doors were original, as were the floor planks that were worn with years of use.  The store's now a flower and antique shop and it's not the same.  It was still nostalgic to explore inside the building but it's lost a lot of its flavor.

Pipe Springs National Monument where settlers fortified the springs to control the water.

Mustache cup - keeps the mustache from soaking up all the drink.

Pioneer telegraph set up by Mormons using surplus government equipment.  Note the battery in the blue bucket.

Zions National Park

Evening sunlight & shadows playing on the cliffs at Zions Park.

More desert beauty

Desert sunset at edge of Mesquite.

At St. George Temple

Wells Fargo Museum at Silver Reef Mining Town

Senior miner doing minor work

Warming up with hot chocolate on a cool day at Mars chocolate factory and cactus garden in Henderson, NV (by Las Vegas).   Chocolate was so thick & rich we couldn't drink it.  Took it to our condo and diluted it with milk.  Had to throw a bunch of the syrup away when we checked out the next day.

Lunch by waterfall attraction at Sam's World in Las Vegas.

 Riding the Wells Fargo Stagecoach

Homestead Pioneer Museum in Cedar City, UT

Is that maverick from the TV show?  No , it's Adventure Grampa.