Location: El Dorado Hot Springs, Tonopah, AZ
We woke early this morning to the most amazing sunrise. It was so beautiful it inspired us to get out of bed and take an early morning soak. Even though this place is a bit funky there's something to be said for relaxing in a private bath, watching the sky turn from red to pink then blue amongst the quiet and solitude. It was hard to tear ourselves away, but we had a long drive today and also wanted to visit a nearby date farm. I highly recommend visiting China Ranch Date Farm if anyone is within an hour of Death Valley (or even an hour and a half from Las Vegas). It's hard to fathom that this lush place exists in this arid part of the desert. We drove down thru a deep winding canyon that at one time was a gypsum mine. Imagine the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland and then suddenly lush green date trees appear in the distance. This particular Ranch has had a long and tortured history, but really got it's start in 1990 as a date farm. It is amazing!! We were fortunate to be there at harvest season. I had no idea how dates even grew on a tree let alone how they were harvested. Check out our photos of the date trees with various cloths hanging over the ripe fruit to protect them from pecking birds. Who knew they were so brilliantly orange and yellow before maturing into the ripe brown dates we all know. Of course, no visit would be complete without tasting dates of every variety imaginable. The grounds were so interesting and entertaining to wander around. There was a definite laid back Hawaiian vibe to the place. The owners have put a lot of work into this ranch with a tiny museum, various picnic grounds and signage throughout the date groves explaining all the different varieties. One of their claims to fame is their date shake. Unfortunately, at 10:30 in the morning we couldn't bring ourselves to do it. Instead we settled for stuffing ourselves with dates and more dates.
As soon as we emerged from the oasis in the canyon we were left with the bleak desert landscape for the rest of the day. We drove thru a Joshua Tree Wilderness area (and almost ran out of gas - close call), thru Searchlight, Nevada (home of Harry Reid), across the Colorado River and into Arizona. Tonight we are about an hour outside of Phoenix at a rustic albeit very romantic hot spring "resort". The downside is you can hear the interstate, but wow this place gets the best rating for ambience. Imagine an upscale hippie commune secluded little piece of beauty. The one bathroom is a fenced in area outside, as is the shower. It's very cleverly done and quite the experience to sit on a full fledged flush toilet out in the open. Kinda the best of both worlds. For tonight's soak We opted for a private area that overlooked the desert rather than the communal space. We climbed into our private pool just as the sun was setting behind the Saddleback Mountains. What great symmetry to end the day watching the sky go from red to black and the stars magically appear. Tomorrow morning we are going to try out a different soaking pool. I hope to get pictures of this place, but since everything is so "au naturale " I don't want to be too voyeuristic snapping pictures.
