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Show u RETIRED EDITOR WRITES FRIENDS DURING VACATION Banning, Calif., April 1, 1931 Dear Editor: We are wondering if our many ' friends in Utah would not be inter-jested inter-jested in hearing a little about the iCarltons? I We left Beaver, January 16, and jSpent the night in the little town o Mesquite, Nevada. We had a very comfortable cabin. The night was a little chilly, cold enough so we needed to drain our car radiator. In the morning the faucet put outside of the front door was frozen slightly. We were quite surprised at the growth this little town has made in the past two years. Leaving in the morning we drove i to Las Vegas, Nevada, where we : found a nice comfortable cabin and I stayed two nights. While there we Ispent one day down at the Boulder Dam site. A very interesting place. Leaving Las Vegas we drove to Bjeath Valley Junction, a distance of 100 miles, and to a little place called Indian Springs, where we stopped for gas and water. After we left this place, we met one car rather a lonely ride, but interesting. Death Valley Junction, on the Tonopahe and Tidewater railroad, is the gateway gate-way to Death Valley. From here, thirty miles, the traveler is conveyed by motor car to Furnace Creek Inn, the heart of Death Valley. On the floor of Death Valley, below sea level is Furnace Creek ranch, where alfalfa, alfal-fa, date trees and other fruits are grown. The ranch is owned by the same management as the Furnace Creek Inn and there is a camp grounds about three quarters of a mile from this ranch where running water has been piped and shower baths may be enjoyed. Picnic tables and a place to cook have been built and there is plenty of fine water. We spent the night there in the camp grounds. Early the next morning we visited certain points of interest on our way out. Furnace Creek Inn, built at sea level above the valley itself, stanrtt where Furnace Creek Wash has poured the grumbled alluvium ol 'mighty hills into the trough of Death j Valley. The Inn is sheltered against , the rugged bulwark of the Funeral I mountains and is built to conform 'to the character of the country. A garden surrounds the rock ter. races of the Inn. Broad verandas , flank the wings of the guest rooms each an outside room overlooking the valley, facing the tumbling fountains foun-tains ot the garden. Rustling palms grace the garden slopes, completing a landscaping in complete harmon; with the surrounding country. The climate in Death Valley is hot Throughout the fall, winter anc spring the valley is cool and comfort able and this is the proper time foi one to see it. It was quite cloud; while we were there and looked as if it might rain. The high moun tains were covered with snow. The distances are very great in the vallo; from one point to the other and tht roads are not very good, so wo die not try to visit many of the point: of interest. Scotty's Castle anc ranch was 100 miles to the north o Furnace Creek Inn, so we did no see it. But Zabriskie Point, readier by a short drive from the Inn ui Furnace Creek Wash, is itself in th heart of the Bad Lands and com "tinand9 a view perhaps the most in teresting in the valley, for its panorama panor-ama of colorful desolation. After returning to Death Valley Junction we continued on our way to Baker, Calif., a distance' of S3 miles, passing through only one town, Shoshone, a little town nestled among the willows with pretty green yards and flowers. It is surely an oasis on the desert. Here they have a post office, stores, gas and auto supplies and cottages to ii-ent by night or the week. We spent the night at Baker, Calif., on the' Arrowhead Arrow-head trail. Leaving about 9 o'clock a. M. to continue our way, arriving at Riverside in the afternoon. We have been spending a delightful time with our many friends, making trips to Gardina, Hollywood and other places of interest. For the past month we have been at Banning, Calif., keeping house in a cottage belonging to a cousin at Hollywood. We have had a delightful time. Banning is located 90 miles east of Los Angeles on the main line of the Southern Pacific railroad and is served by four motor transport lines. FeW cities can equal Banning in natural na-tural beauties. To the north, the peaks of the San Bernardino mountains moun-tains scrape the sky as their crests surmount the clouds to elevations as high as 11,500 feet above the sea. To the south the massive pyramid of San Jacinto rises to an elevation of 10,800 feet, the highest peak from its base in America the mountains are noted for the beauty of their pine forests, and desert canyons. Palm Springs harbors the only native palms in California. Tuesday of last week we spent the day at Palm Springs and had the pleasure of attending at-tending the Riverside County Chamber Cham-ber of Commerce meeting and banquet, ban-quet, at which the governor of California, Cali-fornia, James Rolf, of San Francisco i and Mayor James Walker of New York City, were guests. From there we drove down into the Coachella Valley. Beyond Palm Springs the road winds its way between be-tween the foothills and desert for a distance of twenty miles. It swings around Point Happy where a sharp turn to the right takes one back into 'another cove wherein La Quinta 'rests peacefully, at the foot of Santa j Rosa mountains. Built after the .fashion of a Mexican hacienda is, indeed, in-deed, a place of rest as its name implies. im-plies. Proceeding beyond La Quinta one travels only a few miles until one enters the date gardens. Our next stop was at Indio, the ( largest town in the Coachella Valley the home of the date industry. A large number of varieties have been planted, but about eighty-five per cent of the acreage commercially developed de-veloped has been confined to the 1 Deglet Noor variety. The estimated production of dates in the Coachella Valley for 1930 is -3,000,000 pounds, i including all varieties; and when the i acreage now planted is in full bear-' bear-' ing the annual prodction will be ap-i ap-i proximate 25,000,000 pounds. About : fifteen years ago the first orchards of I grapefruit were planted in the Coa-i Coa-i chella Valley. They were purely experimental ex-perimental plantings. Today these same orchards are points of interest i to tourists and others who visit , there. Climate, soil and water con-; con-; ditions have proven certain sections of the valley adapted to production i of first quality grapefruit. Many oth-: oth-: er products are produced from the ' soil in the valley. Among them are early figs and winter vegetables. The . Ocala Cotton seed grown there is I shipped all over the country and is - considered the purest planting seed : obtainable. Indio is 20 feet below sea level. ij We spent the night at a camp - grounds just out of Indio and (Hiring ; the evening it rained quite hard. - something that doesn't happen very ; often on the desert. Next day we 1 drove out about six miles to see a 5 cousin near Thermal. Returning 1 home toward evening, on the valley f route, a wonderful highway. No. 99. t Paved all the way and is called the I Sunkist Trail. Very heavy traffic. ) lots of trucking from the Imperial ? Valley. Carloads of alfalfa hay are - brought through on very lnrce - beneath the surface of Ranninp. and trucks. It is expected that a huge' 2S miles tunnel which will carry the water of the Colorado river to southern south-ern California, will he bored 800 feet I this city will be in the center of activity ac-tivity during the construction of the '$200,000,000 aqueduct. Banning has 400 acres of orchards or-chards and Is the largest almond growing district in the state. There is fine trout fishing in the nearby mountain streams. Banning has splendid schools and churches. I We are leaving here tomorrow and 'will spend several days at Ilemet, California which was our first home in Southern California, j Best Wishes From. THK CARLTON'S |
