China Ranch Date Farm

I talked Rick into another Harvest Host stopover. We decided to spend a free night at the China Ranch Date Farm, and turned off the highway to find it. It was easy to follow their signs through the desert! However, the road became quite interesting, and I could feel Rick tense up. Through steep hills and sometimes one lane roads, we made it to the bottom of the canyon!

The date farm was started by a man from China, but is now under new ownership. It was fun to walk through the date groves, all labeled with informative signs. The crops were able to be raised because of one small river running through causing the oasis. Clever irrigation paths were seen running to the trees. A flea market shop was in the main building with a bakery and malt shop. Everyone that we ran into could not believe that we had not ordered their famous date malt. Oh, well..................

Winnie decided to escape and run away into the twisted brush area behind our coach, so we talked and had a wine with a couple from California while we waited for her return. We were all a bit nervous as coyotes roam the land. I guess she was tired of Rick's cat calls, as she eventually returned. 

We decided to go to Shoshone to the famous and only saloon in town called, The Crowbar." We shared an order of fajitas and then headed back to the date farm. It was a much easier drive in a jeep. After our night of sleep all alone, Rick decided that he was tired of the desert, and wanted a nice camp. He had researched and off we went to Terrible's RV Resort in Pahrump, Nevada.