Going North to Springville, UT.

Thursday, March 21, 2013 was 9ºC and sunny at 9:15 in the morning when we prepared to leave the Temple View RV Resort located in St. George UT.

We looked around to see all the new leaves on the trees and were saddened that we were leaving warm temperatures and spring conditions. Today's high here in St. George was to be 24ºC.

Our destination was to head to I-15 and North towards Salt Lake City, a 257 mile drive. We passed Zion Park Area, noticing a chain-up area sign.

On the plateau at these elevations there were ranches of cattle and feed lots.

The mountains along each side of the Interstate had snow on them and the temperature dropped to as low as 0ºC and hovered around 5ºC most of the way.

At noon we pit-stop in Filmore to fill the truck with diesel and grab a bit to eat. It was breezy and cool.

As we drove the elevations went to 5660 feet at a summit near Filmore.

As we neared Payson there where some fruit orchards with no greenery yet. The terrain close to the highway looked very brown, with no signs of spring and the mountains had a lot more snow at the tops now.

We arrived in Springville, UT and the East Bay RV Park, a Good Sam Club park, at 2:00pm. The cost for a night was 27.50/night which included full hook ups, a 50 amp and free wifi. We'll stay four nights here before moving farther north.

We set up in no time, hooked up to the park's WIFI and TV; We are all set for our four day stay.

This RV park is close to I-15 and a stop-over for many travellers going north this time of year.

Today's drive was good with only a few summits to climb with 6 & 7% grades.

A little bit about Springvelle: First explored in 1776 by the early Missionaries; was originally settled in 1850 by eight pioneers families who crossed the plains to Salt lake Valley from the East and were subsequently directed by Brigham Young to settle 50 miles (80 km) further south. Incorporated in February 1853, the city was first called Hobble Creek by the early pioneers, because their horses were often hobbled (by loosely tying their front feet together) and left along the stream to graze in the lush grass. Thus, the settlement earned its original name. Later, as the town grew, the name was changed to Springville, after the Fort Springville. Fort Springville was named such because of the many freshwater springs in the area, particularly near the fort. The original name was not completely lost, however, as the canyon stream (and associated canyons), a local elementary school, and city owned golf course have retained the name Hobble Creek; Known as "Art City" due to its strong development of the arts. Springville is the birthplace of noted sculptors like Cyrus Dallin. Gary Price and Jeff Decker. Springville is a thriving community with a population of close to 30,000.


Checking Facebook there were many pictures posted of the blizzard that closed down most of the Saskatchewan highways, and some of Alberta's.

There is a weather system settling in over us for the next four days that will bring moisture in form of snow. Hopefully when it comes time for us to move on north on March 25th that the sun will be shining again.



So until next time remember “Discover It and Live It”.

About St. George, UT.

On March 18, 2013 we did a walking tour. St. George, UT is located in the southwestern part on the Utah/ Arizona border.

Due to the city's low elevation and southern location, St. George is the warmest part of the state and has a subtropical arid climate' dry desert valley of typical desert vegetation in the northeastern Mojave Desert, with most of the city lying below 3,000 feet.

St. George was founded as a cotton mission in 1861 under the direction of Brigham Young, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons or LDS Church). We were given a tour of Brigham Young's Winter Home.

On May 19, 1953, the United States government detonated the 32-kiloton atomic bomb (nicknamed "Harry") at the Nevada Test Site. The bomb "Dirty Harry" because of the tremendous amount of off-site fallout generated by the bomb. Winds carried fallout 135 miles (220 km) to St. George, where residents reported "an oddly metallic sort of taste in the air.

St. George received the brunt of the fallout of above-ground nuclear testing in the Yucca Flats/Nevada Test Site northwest of Las Vegas. Marked increases in cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma, thyroid cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, bone cancer, brain tumours, and gastrointestinal tract cancers were reported from the mid-1950s through 1980.”

The Howard Hughes motion picture, The Conqueror, was being filmed in the area of St. George at the time of the detonation. The fallout is often blamed for the unusually high percentage of cancer deaths among the cast and crew.





Using the computer we researched some places to visit and trasferred the coordinates tothe GPS. We did a walking tour of the Historical Centre of St. George and saw -

Buildings built in the early 1800s;

St. George Historical Tabernacle;

Historic Town Square;

 A playground filled with families with very young children playing in the water pools and on a carousel and others eating lunch;

Have a cola the old way.

St. George Tabernacle

Blossums in full bloom 

Jacob Hamblin Home, Santa Clara, Utah

Second level of the Jacob Hamblin Home in Santa Clara 

So until next time remember "Discover It and Live It".

Leaving Arizona for Utah

It was sunny and warm on March 17th when we checked out of Kingman KOA. We took the Andy Divine Drive on Route 66 through Kingman as we turned onto AZ 93 north.

We passed by 'Old Chloride' a living ghost town where they once mined silver chloride.

“Today, Chloride is a peaceful community of approximately 250 people. The mines are closed, the residents are active, semi-retired, retired, business people, families and artists who enjoy a relaxed lifestyle in the village. Some say Chloride doesn't have any ordinary people living here - just characters! That may be true! Three movies were shot there, 'Help yourself, 'Like a Hobo', and 'Seven Spanish Angels”

We drove 82 miles before we entered Nevada and towards the Hover Dam.

The New Bridge over the Colorado River, Can't see the Dam but you can see a small bit of Lake Mead. 

The Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge is an arch bridge in the United States that spans the Colorado River between the states of Arizona and Nevada.

There were many tourist on the bridge to get a good veiw of the Hoover Dam.

After Bolder City we joined I-515, through Las Vegas which had it's moments with the high volumes of traffic. It was a relief to drive out of the city and merged on to I-15 north.

The 116 miles drive through this section of Nevada was great and as we reentered north/west corner or Arizona for 29 miles the Interstate become interesting with the vista and winding highway.

"This terrain was though the Grand Canyon and along the Virgin River Gorge, located between Littlefield, AZ and. St. George, Utah is a long canyon that has been carved out by the Virgin River in northwest Arizona. The Virgin River Gorge connects the southwestern rim of the Colorado Plateau and the northeastern edge of the Mojave Desert. I-15 runs through the canyon and crosses the Virgin River several times. The Virgin River Gorge section of Interstate 15 is one of the most expensive parts of interstate highway ever constructed. Due to the winding of the interstate, the canyon is also noted for its tricky driving conditions. This canyon is popular among rock climbers, hikers, and campers."

We arrived in St. George at the Temple View RV Park at 2:30 pm. Randal handled the curves and traffic very well throughout the 225 mile trip which took three and half hours. There was a time change to Daylight Savings Mountain time. One hour ahead.


So until next time remember"Discover It and Live It".

Route 66

On March 12, we left the Grand Canyon and drove south on AZ-64 for 55 miles and turned west on I-40. The Interstate is not in the best of condition. In places there were signs saying "Rough Road"which reminded me of some of the highways in Saskatchewan. The 112 mile stretch from Williams past Seligman to our destination, Kingman, which has a Historic Route 66 running throughout this area.

We arrived at noon and were anxious to see “Route 66”, so we set up and had a lunch quickly. Then drove to the Kingman Historical District. Our first visit was 'Route 66 Museum'. We paid senior’s rate of $6.00, that was good for this museum as well as two other historical places, “The Mohave Museum” and “The Bonelli House”.

“Route 66 Museum” was housed in the old Power House. It told the story of “Route 66” origin, coming of migrants from the Eastern US, the decline of businesses and the development of the “Route 66” preservation as a tourist attraction in 1987. It was filled with memorabilia and storied so it took us a couple of hours to go through it. The afternoon was well spent.

The next day, Thursday it was sunny and hot with temperatures up to 34º C. A beautiful day to go for a walk, be a tourist, and go on a photo-shoot. In the morning we were back in the Kingman Historical District. The second place was 'The Mohave Museum'. This museum housed the history of the Mohave culture, early miners and ranchers of the late 1800s of Kingman and area.

There was a display dedicated to Andy Devine, the late actor who was born in Flagstaff and upon his death Kingman named a road his honour.

We left the truck parked at the Museum and walked to through the historical streets of Kingman. Our third place was the “Bonelli House”. Here is a history of the Bonelli family.

“The George and Effie Bonelli Family, of Swiss descendant, were in the ranching and four retail stores business in Kingman, AZ. In 1895, George, age 26, married to Effie , a daughter of W. Tarr, station master with the Santa Fe Railroad. Their first home, built in the late 1890s, burnt down in 1915. A new was built the same year with improved structure of stone walls, doors to the outside in every room, the most recent electrical and plumbing system. One of their eight children, Joseph, a bachelor, lived in it until 1973, leaving the original furniture and his parent's clothing to the City of Kingman Historical Society. www.mohavemuseum.org” 

Randal took many photos of the historical buildings as we walked along more streets. 

We stopped at “Mr. D's” for a traditional hamburger, fries and onion ring served with a home made cool root beer. “Mr D's” had a 1950's theme with many posters and memorabilia.

The meal was good for a couple of hungry tourists and it was one Route 66!

We popped into a tavern of old vintage where could have bought a beer. We settled for pictures instead.

We drove on old “Route 66” switch-back old single-lane narrow highway. This hair-pin-road and went through the Black Mountain Range and had some awesome views.

We passed an old gold mining area at the town of Goldroad. Today they are still mining for gold, but his time not with burros, picks, and waggons but with the latest technology.

Further on, as we approached “Oatman”, An Authentic Western Ghost Town and Mining Camp, we were very surprised to see it filled with tourists and shops. Many burros were strolling the street, accepting food from the people.

The place was busy with everyone enjoying the warm weather and atmosphere.

“Oatman was born in 1906 as a tent camp, flourished as a gold mining centre. Today is is one of the biggest tourist attractions on Route 66. Films like 'How The West Was Won', 'Edge of eternity', 'Universal Soldier', and 'FoxFire' were filmed there”

We walked through the streets also getting excited at being a tourist. Most of the souvenirs were from China or India. There was one place the sold locally-made art and jewelry, which was refreshing.

Heading back south on Route 66 towards Topock, the road wound through hills and desert. The road met the Colorado River as we turned onto I-40 east.

This was one of our longer days of touring having gone 135 km in a loop. It was almost five by the time we arrived back at the trailer. We were still full from our dinner so we just grazed from the frig until we called it a day.

So until next time remember to “Discover It and Live It”.