Salina, Utah 6/24 - 6/27 2020 Travel Tour "Rock Stars" of Moab

From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com 

Tim and Linda Bunyan

Travel Tour 2020 - The "Rock Stars" of Moab

We have come from Delta, Utah to another small population (2,500) town of Salina, Utah.
We are driving our way to Moab and using this week to view small-town living in Sevier County.

We arrive at our Membership RV Park: Butch Cassidy RV Park (no charge)  I am happy to find the Laundry room is open.  The pool is closed.  So I can do laundry but no swimming.

1865 Mormons came and made claim, through toil and infrastructure development, and constant, the diligent effort of agriculture.  They found abundant salt deposits nearby so they named the area "Salina".  Coal was discovered and in 1908 the area was being fully cultivated.

Salina is at the northern edge of an extensive ATV trail that covers the southern portion of Utah, the Paiute Trail.  We noticed many, many trucks hauling ATV's

 Many enthusiasts!

 This is a unique trailer for towing bikes.

The Hot Spot (referred to us by my hairdresser).   Hamburger drive-thru with outdoor picnic tables.  Tammy Jensen Harrison, 3x State Champion, Utah State High Jump,
 the record holder is the owner of the Hot Spot on Main Street.

 Here are a couple young boys having lunch together at the side yard of the Hot Spot.  On their own, having young boy conversations with each other; caught my attention for a photo moment.

 Across the street from the Hot Spot is the Burns Saddlery; it is open by appointment only.  I peeked inside through the window and there were saddles, spurs, and cowboy hats on display for purchase.

Sites around town; the local LDS church.

 A nice home in the neighborhood. Decorated in Red, White, and Blue.

 This other house decorated with the TRUMP logo and signs.

 Downtown on Main Street, the State Liquor Agency office.

 Mom's Cafe on the Main Street intersection.

 We had to go for a soda drink at this unassuming, popular drive-thru named: The Soda Run.
  They just sell sodas!  Angela guessed correctly, Tim and I ordered the Orange Creamsicle - Orange Twister, Pina Colada, Vanilla Cream.  Alicia (on Facebook) chose her fav: the Kenzie Special - 7up, Cream side, Vanilla Cream.

There were no beauty salons in Salina, so Tim and I drove 15 miles to 'the city' of Richfield (population 5,000) for the day.  (There is a Walmart there too, so we stocked the refrigerator for our "Rock Stars" in Moab adventure.)  

This house is "The Works" nail and hair salon.

T

This sign inside the salon, written by one of my fav authors:  F. Scott Fitzerald.

Tim took this picture of all the color at the nail salon.  He did get a pedicure, but no color.

The Visitor Center and Welcome to 'the city' Richfield (population 5,000)

The hair salon station and stylist Cheyanne.  She grew up a cowgirl, roping and riding.  She met her husband in the same arena.

 This is the waiting room in the hair salon.  I am so taken with the style of this salon.  It is a converted house in the neighborhood.

 The Visitor Center entrance to the parking lot is blocked: closed.

 The Salina Veterans Memorial Park 
This is a working area.  There are plenty of truck haulers and trucks.  Ad for Kenworth and Freightliner...alot of that here.

Laundry is done and the refrigerator is full.  We are going into the Moab area, Canyonland National Park, and Arches National Park.  Our first camp is at Dead Horse Point State Park, staying nearly 15 days.  We may not have a strong cell connection.  The town of Moab is about 35 miles from our first camp.  
Mike and Sherry are meeting us there tomorrow.  Ron and Frannie are coming to their new rig next week.  Kevin and Gordon Hubble and Skip and Linda Garrett are joining us too!  Gordon and Kevin are bringing their 4-wheel drive Jeep, so we anticipate a rootin, hooting, hollering adventure.

Delta, Utah 6/21 - 6/24 2020 Travel Tour "Rock Stars" of Moab

From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com 

Tim and Linda Bunyan

Travel Tour 2020 - The "Rock Stars" of Moab

We departed Great Basin National Park, Lower Lehman Campground, and on the road heading east to Delta, Utah-- 
(103 miles)

We fuel up at the
 Border Inn, just outside Great Basin. 









We notice our route does not have any services.

Tim and I noticed this highway sign and I have looked to the wiki to explain.  It belongs to a story of the history of our highway numbering system.

Its name honors the American Civil War Veterans Association.
U.S. Route 6 is the main route of the U.S. Highway system.  Route 6 currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts.  Although the route has been modified several times, the highways longest-lasting routing, from 1936-1964, had its western terminus at Long Beach, California.  During this time US 6 was the longest highway in the country.

There are many books and reference materials to discover more about the full history on each and every highway in America (fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure).  On this travel tour, we have given respect to the stretch of U.S. Route 50 in Nevada named The Loneliest Road in America.  Route 6 stands proud as a part of Americana road history.

100 miles from Great Basin to Delta, Utah we are at our Coast to Coast Membership RV Park: Antelope Valley for a couple of nights (no/charge per night).  Laundry and showers facilities are open and we get a choice spot in the shade.  There is even a concrete path and lawn space which makes Woodstock very satisfied.

Welcome to Delta, Utah; sign to 2500 population town filled with mining, utility power, agriculture, recreation, and the wonderful wide streets

 (signature of the LDS city planning aspect).

The front reception office to our Membership RV Park: The Antelope Valley RV Park.

The shade is helpful as it is 90 degrees, 
in an arid climate.  So nice to have the air conditioner and it runs most of the day.

We go for an afternoon ice cream downtown Delta and Steak Houses abound.

While walking Woodstock around the RV Park, the sunset fills the sky.

The day in Delta, Utah we want to see the
oasis in the middle of the desert: The DMAD Reservoir.
  It captures the lower reaches of the Sevier River.  It supplies water, aquatic habitat, recreation, water for irrigation, and cooling for the Intermountain Power Project (IPP) coal-burning power plants. 

Water from the reservoir going to the agricultural area of Delta, Utah.  

Alfalfa and corn mostly.

The IPP (Intermountain Power Service Corporation)  a large coal-fired power plant at Delta, Utah, USA.  1900 MW is owned by the Intermountain Power Agency and 

is operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. 

 The power plant supplies power for much of Los Angeles County in California.

The IPP's transmission line runs between Intermountain Power Plant and Adelanto Converter Station in Adelanto, California.

The plant is scheduled to be converted to natural gas by 2025 and LADWP plans further conversions to a blend of 30% hydrogen and 70% methane.  

There are many reference materials defining the Interconnections of kV lines and the 2400 MW Path 27 HVDC transmission line. 

After my 20 years in the utility business, I now leave the research to others.

From the water to energy, to the agriculture a major economic force, to the beef cattle and dairy producers, we discovered this community along the Sevier River surrounded by farmland in an arid/semi-arid climate with a population of about 3,000.

We stop to watch these cows feeding up along the road.  Their feeder gate allows their heads to come through to the piles of hay and alfalfa.

Delta is home to many dairy farmers who may ship the milk out of the county.  The cows were charming; actually stopped eating and looked up at us as we stop for the photo op!

Alfalfa hay is the main crop of the Delta area.  Due to the dry climate farmers are able to control the moisture content of the hay when it is baled.  This is very important to prohibit mold growth.
There is a lovely green in this high desert countryside.  A welcome view!

We come to Gunnison Bend Reservoir.  It is one of the finest bodies of water skiing or boating with a public park.  Many have chosen to reside along the waterfront.
There is a Snow Geese Festival every Spring, where one can watch thousands of snow geese fly over Delta on their annual 3,000-mile migration back to Canada.  The route from California in the winter brings the geese to Delta, Utah in February.

One can choose to live by the water in an RV, or a boathouse.

An A-frame RV and an A-frame house along the water.

Road services in this town.

Delta, Utah U.S.A.  We stop to get groceries.

Some photos do not need words.

 Time to go on the road to our next stop: Salina, Utah.  It is about 100 miles up the road as we draw near our Moab destination: Dead Horse Point State Park.  
We anticipate meeting up with Mike G and Sherry.  They have been visiting Bob & Sue Baker in Lincoln City, Oregon, and their other friends in Idaho.  
They are on their way to Dead Horse Point too!

"The TA hunting cosmic rays"
HOWEVER, I must explain this photo (below) as it is a part of the 'why' of Delta, Utah.
The Cosmic Ray Center, University of Utah
As Tim and I were driving across the last 100 miles of the desert, we noticed equipment spread across Utah's dry Bonneville lake bed.  Now, we have come to know, here in Delta, Utah at the visitor center, is the hub of the operations and construction of new equipment for the Telescope Array (TA).

  The scintillation detectors at the Telescope Array are spread out across the desert to study high energy particles from space called cosmic rays.  It is an unconventional telescope that studies the high-energy particles that come from distant universal courses and Earth's atmosphere.  "What we're looking for are those incredibly rare events," says Julie Callahan, the project coordinator at the University of Utah. 
 Scientists continue to hunt for answers to the mysteries about cosmic rays.

Travel Tour 2020 "Moab Rock Stars" off to Salina, Utah.