Death Valley and Ash Meadows

We are now in Pahrump, NV, approximate one hour drive to Death Valley National Park.  We've met up with Joe & Barb Clark (friends we met back east in 2011) and will be traveling together to Vegas and Cottonwood, AZ.  

Death Valley is so much more than we expected.  What a land of beauty.  It didn't hurt that we were there on a day of .57 inches of rain, which is very unusual to have in one shot in this area.  It completely changed the desert and waterfalls were in several areas where there is normally just rock and dust.  We love the area so much we canceled our second stay in Vegas and are going to stay in Death Valley at the Furnace Creek Ranch (in our RV) 4/29-5/13.

On our way to Death Valley we stopped in Rhyolite Ghost Town for a quick visit (strange little town!).

Tom, Becky, Barb and Joe - on the colorful couch in town

We took a 26 mile drive through Titus Canyon, in Death Valley.  Amazing views and variety were seen on this 2 hour drive.

Ubehebe Crater - even though you can't tell from the pictures, it was quite the windy day here in the Crater.  We plan to hike down into it and around it when we come back.  The 45 mile an hour winds were a bit of a deterrent this time.

On our drive back to the park on day 2, we had to stop in Death Valley Junction to fuel up on homemade pie and ice cream sundaes!  :-)

Rain...snow...more rain...waterfalls...clouds and sun...all in one beautiful day in Death Valley.

Higher Elevation on the way up to Dante's View - we had to turn around due to road conditions.  The road has since been closed so we'll have to go back in May.  This picture will be drastically different then. 

With the hard surface of the desert any significant rain brings lots of flooding and washes

a red waterfall from the rock in this area

Artists Palette

resident Coyotes

Badwater Basin - the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level

Notice the really small white sign up in the rocks above the road

This is what the sign says!  What a great way to show the perspective of what 282ft below sea level really is!

Why do many vehicles in Death Valley carry extra gas cans?

This is why!  OUCH!  Also, with over 700 miles of roads you certainly don't want to run out!

Mosaic Canyon and Salt Creek

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada.  This area has several species of the endangered Pupfish.

This caged in area is for view of where the Pupfish live.  This Devils Hole Pupfish only lives here.

Crystal Reservoir

Tomorrow we head to Vegas for 2 weeks.  We need to stop for a quick (hopefully) RV electrical repair before heading to our place in Vegas.  We're looking forward to hiking in the area as well as spending some time with Tom's cousin Joe (AKA Joey Vegas) and cousin Mark (from Ohio who will be in Vegas while we are there).  We may also enjoy a visit with my brother and his wife, Michael & Meghan, if they can get a quick getaway trip in.  Fun times ahead!

Til next time...Happy Trails!

Salvation Mountain and Slab City

We traveled to Yuma, AZ to meet up with friends, Jay & Joan Brown (and Lacy), who we met in FL last winter.  They were to meet us in Palm Springs but due to a fire in their RV they are stuck in Yuma for several months while it is repaired.  If you've ever been to Yuma you know there's not much here besides plentiful sunshine, tons of RV parks, dining and shopping.  Oh yeah, and we can't forget a quick trip to Mexico for medicine and other items.  We also bumped into other friends in the area, Walt & Pam MacQueston, and enjoyed a little time with them as well.

Lacy, recovering from surgery

Tom, Pam, Jay, Walt and Joan - we're enjoying a cookout together at our place

We took a road trip back to CA to the Salton Sea area to see Salvation Mountain (http://www.salvationmountain.us/) and Slab City (http://www.slabcity.org).  Leonard Knight created a painted mountain out of a pile of trash.  People donate the paint and he adds to the mountain with adobe mixed with straw to hold it together.

Slab City is actually the abandoned Camp Dunlap Marine Training Facility formerly located 3 miles east of Niland, CA.  This 640-acre compound, located approximately 120 fee below sea level in the desert near Salton Sea began operation in 1942 as a training ground for US troops during WWII.  In 1946 it's operations ceased, and the buildings were removed and sold.  By 1961 the base had been completely dismantled and abandoned.  Only the cement foundations of buildings remained, thus providing a convenient name for the area, Slab City.  Soon afterwards, RV campers began to occupy the area during winter months to take advantage of the rent-free parking.  Attendance steadily grew over the years, and now thousands of visitors return to "The Slabs" each winter to enjoy the relatively mild climate.  CA is considering shutting down this area due to the amount of trash and human waste which is left behind.  Christopher McCandless (Into The Wild) spent time in this area during his travels.

The sign when leaving Slab City 

Tomorrow we leave for Pahrump, NV (near Death Valley) where we'll stay for a week before heading into Las Vegas.  It was a quick week in Yuma but we had a great visit with our friends.  

Til next time...Happy Trails!

Leaving CA...for now

It's hard to believe our time in CA has come to an end and we are heading out to Yuma, AZ this morning.  We've been in southern CA since the end of November and now that winter is just about over it's time to move on.  It wasn't the warm toasty winter we had in FL last year but it was great to check out this area and we'll certainly be back again in a few years.

Here's our plan for the spring and early summer (now remember, the beauty of this is we can change it at any time and for any reason):

Yuma, AZ 2/24-3/3

Pahrump, NV (near Death Valley) 3/4-3/11

Las Vegas, NV 3/11-3/25

Cottonwood, AZ (near Sedona) 3/25-5/3

Las Vegas, NV 5/3-5/17

Mount Hood, OR (to climb the mtn!) 5/20-6/3

Fly home to PA - 6/5-7/3

We plan to spend the remainder of the summer in the west and then work our way to FL late November for the winter.

Tom received this great e-mail from a friend he used to work with, Bernie Wise:

"I have been following since you left,   I have turned my mother on to your blog. She is 86  and still very active and alert .  She really missed your blog this fall  She was more concerned about you and Becky than anyone else I know.  Really glad to see and  hear you are able and actually able to be living a dream of millions of us."

Thanks for worrying about us, Bernie's mom, and thank you for following us!  I'll try to be more consistent with the blogs as we certainly don't want to worry you.  :-)  Thanks, Bernie, for the kind words!

Unfortunately we didn't end up doing many of the things we had planned for this area.  We were kept down by a few nasty colds, the flu, pneumonia (I'm on antibiotics and on the road to recovery now!) and without our Jeep for two weeks (getting a new head gasket - uggh) so we spent a bit more time in the RV than normal.  

From our campground in Desert Hot Springs there is a great hike up the mountain with excellent views of the surrounding mountains and area.  I took this hike each morning (before being sick) and enjoyed the company of Sandy and Cody twice.  Then when I was sick Tom took the hike with Ed and Cody.  

We also made one quick trip to Joshua Tree National Park and took a nice 6.2 mile loop hike on the Lost Horse Mine Trail (past an old Gold Mine - no, we didn't find any gold to take home).

Til Next Time...Happy Trails!