Out and About in Bluff, Utah

We got here in Bluff around noon yesterday. Notice the "Established" date on the sign. The area is part of the "Trail of the Ancients" 

We are staying at this RV park. Level pull throughs, good WiFi and easy to find. Picnic tables, bbqs at each site. Good power. $33 a night. I would stay here again. And there is a lot to do and see in this area.

Here we are. Beautiful view of red hills, doesn't show in this picture. 

After setting up we headed out looking for a place to go for lunch. We ended up at the Twin Rocks Cafe. The rocks it is named after. Good food. Interesting place. 

Very interesting scenery around here. Between the rocks and the San Juan River. 

We stopped to visit the Bluff Fort. If you ever go through here stop there. You can see from the flag that the winds are still blowing and the temperature was up in the mid 90's. 

We went inside the Visitor Center, a replica of the Co-op store, and looked around. Mormon settlers founded the town in 1880. The very old safe inside.

The Post Office boxes are still being used. 

The old cupboards and cabinets. Now it is a typical visitor center with lots of locally made items for sale.

Out through the door is the replica of the original beginning of the town. The founding of the town is an amazing story. Click here to read their amazing journey. 250 people made this trip. Some days only traveling 1.7 miles. It took 6 months to arrive here. This is the outside of the meeting house. Used as church, school, meeting place and recreation house. 

The inside. The buildings were made from all the cottonwood trees growing in the area. 

There are several replica cabins, wagons of all types and items from everyday life in the cabins. How the cabins were constructed.

 The remains of one of the original cabins.

Every time we go some place like this I marvel at the people who settled the west. I'm afraid I'd stay in the east or for that matter across the pond. 

 Can you imagine traveling and living in this? I'm complaining about our shorter RV. Shame on me. Summer heat, winter cold and all the clothes the women had to wear and what everyone had to contribute to just keeping clean, fed and healthy. 

 One thing that really impressed me about this particular museum was the information available. Every building had one of these. Narration about the people and structure in several languages. 

We spent quite a bit of time there but only saw part of it. It was just too hot to continue.

On the way back to the RV park we took a different road and saw these unusual pieces of art. 

We later went to the old cemetery, drove around town and then out to the river to see the petroglyphs. Will write about that later. Internet is not wanting to cooperate now.