After a long stint of having the van parked outside the house due to COVID restrictions, we’ve finally gotten to take our first long-ish trip. We parlayed a vacation with family in California into a 2 week trip including some van adventures, and I feel like we did pretty well for newbies.
Our first night was staying in a View Area in Utah off I70. While not exciting, the view was gorgeous and the stay was very quiet. Made tacos in the van while watching Black Dragon Canyon at sunset.
The next night was at our first Harvest Hosts. (Harvest Hosts is a membership that allows you to camp at a group of wineries, farms, breweries, etc) We stayed at the China Ranch Date Farm simply because it was vaguely in the correct direction and seemed more unusual that staying at a winery—our 2 choices given the area. China Ranch was so entertaining! First was the drive out there—Mr Snacks called the drive “go to the middle of nowhere, then turn left and go for another 100 miles”. While he left out the commentary on the crazy steep, unpaved road just as you come into the farm, the rest is accurate.
We arrived just before their gift shop closed and had some date shakes. They also gave us a hand drawn map and told us once the shop closed at 5, we’d have the entire valley to ourselves. We did some hiking (there are several short trails that start there) which was so isolated it was almost unnerving, made dinner, listened to the coyotes and sat outside to see the stars which were so pronounced because it was so dark. In the morning, we met the owner outside by the date palms who gave us dates fresh off the tree and told us about the history of the farm. A kitchy, off the beaten path location with fresh fruit? That’s my style all the way.
We met up with family for a little R&R and pool time in toasty (106 degrees!) Palm Desert, and I was able to make my first visit to Joshua Tree NP. I liked it, but I’ll look forward to visiting again when the temperatures are more reasonable. We did scope out the campsites so we’d be able to return in better weather.
When it was time to leave Palm Desert, we picked our destination by looking for someplace we could get where the weather would be in the 80s and have little smoke from the wildfires. We ended up making Cedar City, UT out base for a few days. While there we spent time at Kolob Canyons (part of Zion NP) and Cedar Breaks National Monument. I knew nothing about either until we decided to go there, but they were both beautiful and uncrowded—a real treat given how crowded many national parks are right now. Also, I accidentally sent us on a detour one day on Hwy 14 over towards Duck Creek Village. In that area there were old lava flows where large swaths of land were covered with black lava rock. I had no idea there was lava in Utah! Combine the striking contract with fields of lava and aspens that were in fall colors—it so amazing.
To end our trip, we went to Goblin Valley State Park and boondocked a few miles away parked up against red cliffs. The park was small, but interesting—you get the opportunity to free hike through a 3 square mile area of “goblins” (think shorter, fatter hoodoos than at Bryce NP). There were about 10 cars at the parking lot, and we were easily able to avoid people and explore in solitude. While the campsites in the park looked pretty mediocre (close to each other and little privacy) the one plus would be access to the Valley of Goblins during the night. As a designated Dark Sky park, it seems like this would be a special overnight place.