Pages

Our Awesome Travels

Our Awesome Travels
Taken In Quartzsite Arizona Dec 7th 2015

Tuesday, November 08, 2016

China Ranch Date farm, an Oasis in the desert

Where are we today
clic on a pic to enlarge it
          The early morning sunrises are wonderful, about 6 am. And as the sun rises so does the temperature. The usual walkabouts, then we getting ready to head out for a day trip.
        Today we gonna take a day trip, desert drive to China Ranch, about an hour away, for the link to China Ranch click HERE . Not many roads to choose from, just get on the road and go. We hit the road at 8:30 am.
        About an hour each way and luckily there was a few signs to point the way. Really an Oasis in the desert. Once there we were amazed. Sure glad we did not take the motorhome here it would have been a tough drive, if not impossible.
this the place
very narrow steep roads to get there
interesting history
what an amazing discovery
      Nothing real fancy just a family run operation that seems to be successful. Nice gift shop, free date samples (did not know there was so many different types of dates). And some wonderful homemade bakes goods too. All with dates.

                                
love the old truck
lots of samples and they are all good
      We bought a date/nut loaf (just like my grandmother made so long ago) and some fresh dates.
         The gift shop was interesting, but nothing we could not do without.
     Now some interesting information about the date trees. We drove about the orchards and so many acres with hundreds of different kinds as well. There is so many wonderful hiking trails here, if you are a hiker. But not for us, probably a few years ago, but not any more.
so close to Death Valley too
Harvesting the dates
white bags over the dates as they
mature, to keep the birds away
we saw this wild coyote a few times
wandering about
checked out the Modest Museum
some old history and pictures of the past
interesting arch on the steep road back out
      Passed through Tecopa and the rv parks with Hot Springs, almost looks like a ghost town,
                              
         Then a stop in Shoshone, no crowds today. Small village population 31.
The famous Crowbar Cafe / Saloon
     We had hoped to check out the museum here, but just happens to be closed today, Tuesday.
museum closed today
        Now we back home by noon for lunch. A walkabout, pick up a few groceries. Cut my hair and beard (Suzie does the final trimming) the enjoyed a very nice 82f afternoon in the shade getting some more quality reading time done.
we both enjoy reading
         Now because of the time changes sunset here happens at 4:45pm an early supper so I can BBQ not in total darkness.
        Tonight a couple fish burgers on our grill mat with a salad.
perfect meal to end a wonderful day
89.3 miles return that we did today
         Sure glad that we took the time to check out the China Ranch ( Oasis in the desert), it is amazing. And we learned quite a bit about dates as well.
        Glad that y'all dropped by and hope your day was a good one as well.

Where have we been this Winter

20 comments:

  1. Too bad you missed the museum in Shoshone. It was kind of fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were hoping to get to see it, but closed on Tuesday? Maybe some other time.

      Delete
  2. We visited a date farm in CA. Never knew there were so many types of dates.
    That road looks a bit scary for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We never knew there was so many types of dates either, no traffic and very slow going, but we made it.

      Delete
  3. Interesting area. Going to have to take a trip to see it. Last time I was in the Palm Springs CA area, noticed that the date trees there were newer hybrids, where the trees were smaller, so the harvesting and maintenance could be done without cherry pickers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These wrtr huge, but there was some areas with the smaller trees here as well.

      Delete
  4. Looks like a fun day trip - Didn't realize dates were such desert lovers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a fun trip, and yes strange to see the dates here.

      Delete
  5. What an interesting (but out of the way) place to visit. I wonder what happened to the China Man.... hmmm....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nobody seems to know for sure, he was either bought out for $500. or chased away some folklore says.

      Delete
  6. Glad you enjoyed the date farm, such a great treasure to find.

    ReplyDelete
  7. A reader of ours suggested that we stop by there but we hadn't gotten the message until early the next morning and we had already passed by it. At that point in time we were on a time schedule to get back to Canada for our May 1st start at the park. Looks really interesting and hopefully we will make it there one day in the future. Glad you enjoyed your time there.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a wonderful day, but would be a tough drive for Sherman a narrow rough road in an out.

      Delete
  8. Thanks for the report on the date ranch. We'll be sure and check it out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem, it is nice to see if you are in the area.

      Delete
  9. So nice that you are still finding new places to explore. Thanks for the tour. Somehow we missed that place when we were in the area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alway new places to see if you take the time, and we do enjoy this area.

      Delete

We love it when you take the time to drop us a line.