Where We are Now and Valley of Fire State Park (Part 1)

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Thursday, November 7, 2019

We are presently in Death Valley National Park. We arrived here Sunday afternoon and joined Shirley and Ken, Seeing America with Ken and Shirley at Sunset. The Stinger "B" and its occupants have found the warmth.

As most of us who blog I write this blog for us as a memory of where we have been and what we have done. Plus, I like to think our children, grandchildren, family and friends enjoy seeing what we are up to. The next several blogs are going to be a mixture of where we were and where we are. I am guessing, I should be honest, there will be lots and lots of pictures. This is a beautiful country and pictures evoke the memories we want to keep with us for a long time to come.  If you read my words and enjoy the pictures that is a bonus for me. It is nice to think there is a possibility someone found  something to smile about or it brought back a memory of visiting the same place when reading our blog.

Before the catch up a quick overview of our last week. We spent last Friday driving through Valley of Fire State Park and what a beautiful place that is. Saturday we went to a local festival always fun to go to a local event. Sunday we drove to Death Valley National Park . We then spent three Happy Hours and two days seeing sights with special friends Shirley and Ken. During our time with them, besides the talking  and we did a fair amount of that, we visited Dantes View, Artists Drive, checked out Harmony Borax Works, drove through Mustard Canyon, and finally took a ride up and through Titus Canyon. They had to leave Wednesday morning and we sadly watched them drive away thinking the time went by way to fast. At the same time thinking how great it was to have this time together. (Thank you, Shirley and Ken for taking the time to drive down and visit with us.) Today we got in the Jeep and took a ride over and through the Panamint Range and Valley then back through Wildrose and Emigrant Canyons.

Now to start the catch up posts with Valley of the Fire State Park in Nevada.

Friday, November 1, 2019 Valley of Fire (Part 1)

Valley of Fire State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly 46,000 acres located 16 miles south of Overton, Nevada. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone, which formed from shifting sand dunes 150 million years ago. These features, which are the centerpiece of the park's attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun's rays. It is Nevada's oldest state park. It was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968.

Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Ancestral Puebloans, also known as the Anasazi, who were farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. Their approximate span of occupation has been dated from 300 BC to 1150 AD. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited their stay. Fine examples of rock art (petroglyphs)  left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park.

The creation of Valley of Fire State Park began with transfer of 8,760 acres of federal land to the state at Nevada in 1931. Work on the park was initiated by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933. During the years of their employment, which continued into the early 1940s, the CCC workers built campgrounds, trails, stone visitor cabins, ramadas, and roads. The park opened in 1934; it achieved official designation by the state legislature in 1935. (information found on the internet)

Coming in the East Entrance

First stop, the Visitor Center.

Became a National Natural Landmark in 1968.

Leaving the Visitor Center we headed up White Domes Road.

Our first stop.

Tom took these pictures 

of the walk in.

The water tank.

Continuing on.

Our view as we ate lunch.

Some of the views as we continued the ride down White Domes Road. I took quite a few pictures some with my camera others with my phone. I did my best to get them in the correct order. I do know all these pictures were taken on White Domes Road.

The views and colors never seem to end. We were lucky that on the day we choose to take this ride the sky was a beautiful blue and made such a wonderful backdrop to what we were seeing.

To be continued in our next post.

We are so glad you stopped by!

If you have a moment to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.