Why I Love New Harmony (1)

Why do I love living in New Harmony? There are a lot of reason, and that is why I put a number behind the title in this blog. I may end up listing a lot of them.

We have had a snowy winter. If someone is keeping track, it would be interesting to know just how many total inches we have had this winter. I'll bet it is getting close to 100. Nice thing is, there is probably less than 12 inches on the ground right now. Before this last week, the ground was bare. I was washing our cars on the driveway in my shirt sleeves.



As big a pain as it is, I love the snow. Looking out my window this week and watching the mountain change every few minutes was awesome. The trees on top look like something out of a Christmas tree flock shop. I would love to transport myself up there for just an hour to be able to walk through that frosty wonderland. I'm sure I would need snow shoes. The 100 inches, give or take, we have received down here is probably double that in places up there.



As I watch out the back window, camera in hand, the clouds drift across the mountain, forming a kaleidoscope of shadows and light as the sun peeks through. Sometimes the snow falls soft as freckles, or sometimes angry, as the wind whips a horizontal fury.



The snow builds and drifts, and sooner or later I have to shovel. I kind of ruined my driveway in Kamas using a backhoe to clean snow, so I avoid machinery on this one. Since I don't have a snow blower, I have to shovel. I find the thought is usually worse than the reality. I would much rather spend an hour shoveling snow than 30 minutes on a treadmill. When you are done you can actually see you have accomplished something besides burning 389 calories.



Okay, if you are looking for the reasons I love New Harmony, you have probably already chocked up a few, but I have yet to make my point. Those are all good reasons, but the one that inspired this post is that we live only 35 miles from Saint George. Last week some friends from up north called and asked if I wanted to go golfing. I replied in the affirmative and met them at Sun River Golf Course on Friday. Can you believe that in 30 minutes you can leave this winter wonderland and be golfing? It was a fun day, and definitely a reason to love it here. No matter how much snow we get, or how cold and long our winter is, Saint George is just 30 minutes down the road.

Golfing at Sun River, 2/13/09.

Notice the snow on Pine Valley Mountain in the background.

The foursome, (L to R) myself, Jackson Kaiserman, Jim Kaiserman, John Mann

After golfing I stopped in town and ran a few errands. The traffic was backed up about a quarter mile on the freeway trying to get off at the Bluff Street exit. Then I had to circle the block twice to find a parking space, and wait in line at the check-out. Later as I headed on up the freeway, I was even more glad we live at least 35 miles from Saint George.

It's Still Winter

We got another foot of snow yesterday. It seems like February wants to tell us that it is still winter. When it got light this morning it didn't look like very much, but it was still snowing and blowing and I didn't want to go outside. I worked in my den most of the morning and didn't realize it was still coming down until I looked out around 2:00pm and decided I better shovel some snow. Some places were deeper than others, but on my air conditioner units behind the house where it is kind of sheltered from the wind there was easily 12 inches. By the time I got the driveway shoveled it seemed like forty. It was wet and heavy.

I got on the skid steer and ploughed out the lane. It was hard because the ground is soft underneath and I kept taking gravel along with the snow. On the north side of the house is is really soggy. I would have been better off just to stay away from there but we have kids coming this weekend and they need their parking place cleaned. I hope it will dry out a little before they come.

It warmed up today and by this afternoon a lot has melted. I went out and took some photos. Every time I look at the Kolobs I want to take a picture. It seems like they change from moment to moment.

Four Wheeling, Whitney Pockets to Grand Wash

Tuesday, 1-3-09, we loaded up the four wheeler and went on an adventure. It seems good to have gas prices at a place where you don't spend your entire month's budget on one fill-up.

The Sierra loaded and ready to roll.

We met Claudine and John at the Texaco around 10:00am and headed south to Mesquite, then further south on Gold Mesa Road. You follow the Virgin River for several miles, then cut out into the desert. You pass a virtual oasis with palm trees and everything called Juanita Springs, then come over a hill for a distant view of Lake Mead.

Here you can see Lake Mead if you look closely

Unloading at Whitney Pockets

After some 20 miles the sort of asphalt road ends and from there it is dirt. We stopped here at a place called Whitney Pockets to unload and begin the adventure in earnest.

One of the few signs telling you to go.

We unloaded and decided to check out this place nearby where the CCC workers built a small dam back in the 1930's. They dammed off one of the cracks in the rocks and piped the water it would collect out to a watering trough for livestock. There must have been more water then though because it was bone dry and looked like it had been quite a while since it had water in it.

This has become known as Whitney Pockets Dam. We called it "Little Hoover".

We spent quite a bit of time exploring the nearby rock formations and looking for a geocache that was hidden a little too good. There is one rock that looks like it must have been tipped over. Normally the red and white layers are separated horizontally, but on this one they were serrated almost vertically. Locally they call it two-toned rock.

Two-Toned Rock

Notice the strange way this rock has eroded to form the pattern on its face.

I called this "Jonah's Demise"

I thought this is probably like looking into a whale's throat. I got a little taste of what Jonah must have felt as he passed through an entrance like this.

Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe

After exploring for a while we had enhanced our appetite and finally had lunch. By then it tasted really good. Chicken salad spread on a soft roll enhanced with tomato and lemon pepper rings and Sunny D. Yummy!

After lunch we explored another rock feature that had a hole in it about the size of a good sized rabbit hole. I was sure if I could just get in far enough I would find Alice.

What can I say? I am naturally curious.

And I almost made it!

Later we drove east over a ridge or two into another valley which seemed to go forever. We found another route to Saint George, but decided not to take it on this trip.

So many choices...

We passed an itty-bitty cemetery where two people were buried, one in 1997 and one in 2000. We decided it would probably be a lot cheaper than the New Harmony Cemetery, especially for us "outsiders".

An "alternative" cemetery

It was here I found a cactus that I felt kinship with. I have been reading a little about eastern religions and reincarnation. I think this might be one of my relatives. John said its belly looked exactly like mine, and Ellie said that sometimes I am about that prickly too.

Kindred spirits?

We went from desert scrub to forests of pinion and Joshua. The desert is just starting to show a little green. I think in a month the spring flowers will be in bloom and it will be quite gorgeous for a few weeks.

The Joshua Forest

At the return point a sign said we were only seven miles form Grand Wash Bay. We wanted to see Lake Mead since we were so close, so we decided by majority vote (John & I) to take that little side trip. It was disappointing because we went as far as we could and were still at least a mile from the water. It the lake was full it would have been 20 feet deep there, but unfortunately the lake is really low. We returned the seven miles and realized we only had about an hour of daylight left and the trucks were still 25 miles away.

On the way back we explored a place called 'The Devil's Throat". It is a huge sink hole right out in the middle of the desert. It is probably about 80 feet in diameter and perhaps 100 feet deep. It would be quite a rude interruption if you happened to be walking through the area on a dark night.

We arrived back at the trucks just as it was getting dark. Though we had put on a lot of miles, we still hadn't seen all we wanted to. There are a lot of Indian petroglyphs in the area that we didn't get to explore so we want to go back again for another adventure.

We stopped in Mesquite and ate at the Eureka Casino buffet until we were stuffed. We had heard that it was great food but decided it was probably a little over-rated. They did have a pasta bar where they would custom make your dish. I had Fettuccini Alfredo with mushrooms, red peppers and shrimp. It was really good. So were the egg rolls and fillet Mignon. The lemon catfish was pretty good too, and the crab cakes. I almost didn't have room for the bread pudding in vanilla sauce and blueberry cobbler for desert!

We arrived home around 10:45pm. We entered the house very carefully and listened for the sound of running water. Last time we went on an adventure like this we came home to a flooded basement. This time I was sawing logs by 11:00. It was a very enjoyable day.