Sun City, Circa 1880

(what follows is my next article for the Sun City News)

In the early 1880s. the Rock House, the first house in Mesquite Flats, was built. The unnamed pioneer, who built it, used local rocks, clay, sand, and mesquite wood as the nearest supplies were 80 miles away in Pine Valley, Utah, and were far too costly.

The rocks came from Linge Hill (now Virgin Valley HS) and were laid like bricks, bound together with clay and sand. The roof was thatched, and it had a length of cloth underneath it, that acted as a ceiling and caught falling debris. The fireplace was equipped with pot hooks and served as a cooker and heater. Twenty-inch thick rock walls provided insulation for hot summer days and cold winter nights. 

There is no record of who that builder was 140 years ago, but we know the Leavitts lived there before 1900. Over the years, each family made changes. The Sprague's added a chicken coop and a corral for cows. The Hannig's installed a finished wood floor and protected it with straw and a braided rug. Other modifications included a lean-to, a larger corral, a kitchen garden, two bedrooms, and electricity.  A metal roof replaced the thatched roof. Fifty years ago, James Bowler added an indoor bathroom and a laundry room. He also replaced the wooden floors with concrete.

The Rock House survived the feet of generations who made a living in our desert town. It was home to many families from 1884 to 2003. The city of Mesquite now owns the Rock House and maintains it to showcase how rugged and clever the early pioneers were. You can find the Rock House at East First North Street and Willow Avenue in Mesquite.

5-2

I'm being redundant...but it's 2/22/22 today. Hooray. I went to the newspaper editorial board meeting today and accepted 2 jobs: Write an article on the history of our little town; and interview the owners of a new boutique called Juniper Junction. So 2 jobs on 2/22/22. All is good.

(PS...my first article on local history was well received) If you missed it, here it is:

Have you been delayed on I-15 as you drive to St. George?  The alternative is highway 91 which is part of the Old Spanish Trail. Highway 91 is slower, but during bridge construction it has no delays.

To get to the Old Spanish Trail, take Hwy 91 (by Smith's) that skirts I-15 and drive through the cactus and Joshua desert, to the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Reservation, to Ivins and Santa Clara before arriving in St. George. Along the way you will see red rock mountains, canyons, and a few abandoned buildings. The old road was part of a more extensive trade route used by the Spaniards in the 1500s. By the 1830s the trade route connected Santa Fe with Los Angeles. John Fremont, with his guide Kit Carson, were hired by the U.S. to name and map the arduous 700 mile route in 1844. 

Merchants from Santa Fe, collected their goods and by autumn the mule train was ready to head west to  Los Angeles. Laden with Navajo weaving, somewhere between 20 and 200  men, and twice as many mules, trekked the trail to market on the Pacific coast.  Once there, two blankets could buy a horse but more were needed for a mule. The trade was even as horses and mules were abundant in  California and woven goods were rare. The annual trek returned to Santa Fe before the water holes dried out and desert heat became unbearable. Thousands of feet pounded the trail that became today's Highway 91. 

In 2002, President George W. Bush, signed Senate Bill 1946 naming the Old Spanish Trail the fifteenth national trail in the U.S. Nowadays you can see portions of the trail, a few old buildings and a desert diorama of mules crossing the arid,cactus filled Mohave desert.

Saw This Today

Today I saw an interesting bumper sticker. It tells a story that us folks in the great flyover are seeing first hand...

In my home state of WY, there's a sign in the County Treasurer's Office that says "We don't care how you did in your other state."

Cute Bug

People like to make their cars their own...to that end I saw a cute VWBeetle, with 2 cute personal touches..

Eyelashes

...and a winking smiley face.

When you see this cute Bug in the parking lot, you have to smile...and Lord knows, we need a few smiles nowadays.

Almost Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I've not had a lot of chance to send my Valentine a card, so I'm writing this blog to tell him I love him! I'm also remembering 51years ago, when we became engaged. It was special then, and it's special now. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love you!

They Arrived

The "they" I'm referring to is our new appliances. We bought our new home on 4 November 2021 with three loaner appliances--dishwasher, stovetop and refrigerator. We were told the new appliances would arrive in a week or two. The "supply chain problem" was the reason for the delay.

On 26 January, I was told the appliances had arrived and were going to be delivered on Wednesday. We waited, but alas, it did not happen. On Thursday I was told they would be delivered on Friday...and it happened--3 months to the day after we bought the house. 

We now have a new stainless dishwasher 

With a very nice towel bar handle

A very sleek induction stovetop  (note that there are not any knobs, only touch controls)

...and lastly the stainless fridge, which we are happy to report holds magnets (what good is a fridge if you cannot put stuff on the door...btw, not all stainless steel is magnetic). Now we can organize the kitchen as we finally have places for stuff.

As I am recovering, I can finally partake in making our new house a home. All is good.

Four Deuces

Today is February 2, 2022, Groundhog Day yet more important (to me) it's 2-2-22. I like alliterative or sequenced words and numbers. The next one we will see is 2-22-22. In 2011, we saw 1-1-11, 1-11-11, 11-1-11 and 11-11-11--those were stellar alliterative dates. While 2-2-22 and 2-22-22 are not nearly as impressive as the dates in 2011, they are pretty good. The next quartet of alliterative dates will be March 3, 2033 (3-3-33). I hope to see you then.

(Thank you PowerLine for the meme)