Day 10 - La Verkin

This may well be the best place on earth for a pizza and coffee. The pizza is as good as you'll find in Italy, they are expert coffee roasters and pull a mean espresso, and this is the view from their terrace. Yes, that is a cliff right in front of our table. No railing. River Rock Coffee Roasters, La Verkin.

Not our usual turkey vulture. And that is the limit of my expertise. One of our group will surely know what kind of raptor this is - there are lots in this canyon.

View from the top of the trail that leads into the canyon containing the Virgin River.

The Team starts down the freshly-minted path to the canyon floor. This did not exist last time we were here, and it looks very new. The red building in the background is River Rock Coffee.

Clear evidence of the evil alliance of Kari Lake, North Korea and the Wildfire Lab. These Wildfire-developed chemtrails have been raining down on Arizona all week, released by contractor Northe Korean aircraft. The chemical trigger it contains causes a irresistable urge to vote for Kari Lake. An unusual side effect is: it also causes a zombie-like stagger, accompanied by the shouted slogan, "Stop.... The.... Steal........ Must.... Stop....The.......................Steal".

The Team, oblivious to the chemtrails, enjoys the view. Besides, what "steal" are we all stopping?

It's a long way down to the canyon floor - but the descentis greatly aided by this incredible set of steps. Oh yes - we do have to come back up eventually!

Hope this cliff face is stable. Don't want River Rock Coffee falling on us. Hope some kid doesn't throw his drink. Or his lunch.

Those are brand new vacation rentals perched on the far cliff - known as "The Dwellings". We actually had a close look at them as possible accomodations. Amazing views - but they are right along the main road through La Verkin which is very well travelled at all hours.

Enjoy the view. Forget the unstable cliff. Forget the chemtrails. Oh - way over there, someone wants to sell you the view. See detail below.

The sign way over there.

The sentient tumbleweed considers its next move. We think they are just windblown minor nuisances that bounce off yer car.

Meantime - we have another entrant to the category of Renewed Topographics.

On prior visits, we have taken notice of this building from River Rock Coffee. Never knew what it is or was. We are going to find out.

The Team stamps in for a closer look.

Wow - we had no idea there were such incredible relics inside this pump house. There is a local effort underway to restore all of what remains. Yeah, it's a noble cause for sure - but sometimes the visual discovery of things "as is" is way more fun.

Yow. The main generating room. It is fantastic.

A framework altar of sacrifice for the power generation gods. They built this as insurance in 1911 in case there is such a thing as power generation gods.

The grafitti will surely be all gone once restoration efforts begin.

Cool stuff to dig through.

Work in progress.

When the trees wear skirts. The purpose of which confounds us - but possibly they are hopefuls for the local ballet company.

Further up the trail another historic stucture. No idea what this one was used for - but it is likely in the plan for preservation as well.

Love the way it settles into it's unusually interesting rocky backdrop.

View fron "the bridge" over the Virgin.

Yes ultimately - we make the climb back up. It's also a hot one today - about 10 degrees F higher than usual for this time of year. Ella however - can't figure out what could possibly be taking so long.

The Hurricane city overwatch force keeps a close eye on us as we travel to the edge of town in search of the Utah Gov Liquor store. The Utahonians make the best beer. really. We're stocking it up for our time in Sedona.

En route back we get "the stare" - Mr Bull is very suspicious.

As we snoop some back roads we come across this old beauty hidingin the trees. This is an Impala - with the biggest trunk section ever allocated to a car! What did they store in there?

Late afternoon sunshine hits dried out grasses right off our back patio.

The landscape view from the rear of the house.

Ah yes, it is definitely coffee time. Just sip - and stare up at the magnificent cliffs and all the features of the landscape.

It's getting pretty close to last light - but these two - presumably local boys - have scarmbled all the way up the cliff side to practise slingshot technique from the top. We don't think their armaments will reach us - they are a long way up. We hope. We also note they have walkie talkies - likely a nod to parents who do want to make sure they make it up and down safely.

 

 

 

 

 

back to Fall 2024 Roadtrip Main Page

back

home

Google Analytics