Into the Valley.....

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

7:11 am - PDST - Tuesday - 69º F, humdity 35%, wind 7 mph out of the south southeast-----very, very windy most of yesterday, and all night long.....very hot yesterday....over 90º F.....not sure if we are going to stay another day in Death Valley.....forecast orginally was for 80º F today, but has changed to 88º F with high winds.....not a formula for a lot of outdoor fun.  I was able to connect to the Furnace Creek Guest WiFi across the street using my 'Hawking Dish'.....costs $4.95/hour so I've got to get this done quickly.

We were up and at them early Monday in anticipation of leaving before 9 am and driving 66 miles into Death Valley, specifically to Furnace Creek where there are a number of campgrounds.  There was very little traffic as we merged our 62' on to SR-127 north towards Death Valley Junction where we would turn left on SR-190 and begin the 30 mile plunge into sub sea level elevations.

In all it took just over 80 minutes of driving to reach Furnace Creek which sits just over 100' below sea level.  We parked directly across from Furnace Creek Ranch to figure out in which of the four campgrounds we wished to spend the next 3 days.  We settled on the one we were parked directly across from.....Sunset Campground.  This is basically a large dirt lot with sites marked off with white chalk.....most are back in sites, but there are two rows of pull throughs that are about 70' long, and we ended up on the very back row (M) in site 10 facing west northwest.....not the best angle for our solar panels, but passable.  

As we began to set up we noticed the wind picking up, which is not an altogether bad thing when it is going to be quite warm.  Unfortunately, that wind kept increasing in velocity all afternoon until it was consistently in the 30's with gusts into the 40's.  That wouldn't have been so bad, but the wind was coming basically from our rear which meant we were not getting much breeze inside to keep it cool, so we ultimately turned on the big propane generator and ran the rear A/C all afternoon.

We did drive over to the Inn at Furnace Creek to see if we could get dinner reservations, but the earliest time they had available was 8:15 pm, which is later than we like to eat by a long shot, so we decided to return about 6 pm and just order a bottle wine an a couple of apps in the bar area.

Our first visit to The Inn at Furnace Creek 

The Inn at Furnace Creek from a distance

.....after our short visit to the Inn we returned our campsite then walked across the street to get our entrance pass.....all National Parks have an entry fee to obtain an entrance pass.....with our Senior Pass that fee is waived, an the campground fees are discounted 50%.....so, we saved the $25 entrance fee and only paid $7/day for our campsite.....a $46 dollar savings.

We spent the afternoon reading, and napping.....much too windy and hot to do anything outside, and as planned, headed over to the Inn at 6 pm for our wine and apps......this restaurant is quite expensive....$48 for a small filet mignon....$18 for shrimp cocktail which gives you four shrimp.....you get the picture, I'm sure.....

....there was some sort of vintage car rally staying overnight at the Inn, and these were their cars out in the parking lot.

We had a lovely time enjoying the view and the sunset before heading back home for the evening where, once again due to the heat and high winds turned on the big generator and the A/C which ran until 10 pm when we went to bed....still trying to decide if we will stay another day.....

On a side note....thank you to all those who have shopped Amazon using our affiliate link....it is appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by!

You will notice a new link at the very top of each daily blog post, and one just above the 'Page View' counter to the right of my blog....."Our Amazon Affiliate Link".....if you do shop Amazon please use my link when you do, and I will receive a portion of any purchase you complete.  If you are viewing my blog on your phone, or by email you will not see the link, it is currently only visible on the 'web version' of my blog.

Sunday.....

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

6:56 am - PDST - Monday -  65º F, 31% humidity, wind 2 mph out of southeast.....feels like calm.....forecast high for today is 86º F.....a break in the heatwave and time to head to Death Valley!  A side note....there is some WiFi available in Death Valley, but only in the campgrounds with hookups of which there are few, so I have no idea if I will be able to get online until Thursday when we leave Death Valley.

I started off the day with an 18 mile bike ride into Shoshone and back in which I averaged 15.5 mph, burned 1158 calories, and did it in one hour and 9 minutes.....a very good day.....nothing like a windless day to up the averages and totals!

I went up to the hot pools around 10 am to take a soak, and was back before 11.......then it ws time to take a 130 mile round trip into the southern end of Death Valley......we drove SR-127 north to SR-178 and then westward into the Valley of Death......from the turnoff it is 55 miles to 'Badwater', the lowest elevation point in the Western Hemisphere.......first stop of the day was the old Ashford Mill Ruins.....yes they did mine gold at one time in Death Valley.......

........the road in the southern end of Death Valley is rough, windy, and extremely narrow so the posted speed limit is 45 mph from Ashford Mill to Badwater....by the time we arrived at Badwater the temp had slowly climbed to 111º F......

......the parking lot was packed!  If you click on the next picture to enlarge it you can probably see the SEA LEVEL sign way up on the mountain side........

Very windy....had to hold onto my hat!

.......it's only a short walk down a concrete ramp to view the namesake of this iconic location......Badwater.....

......at 262' below sea level this lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.....and it is less than 60 miles as the 'crow flies' from Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the Continental USA.......

I'm sure it seems like a long way to drive to see just a couple of sites, but that is how we roll......I needed a break from wall to wall NCAA March Madness, and this was the perfect diversion.  We were back by 2:30 pm and I was back in front of the TV.  USC lost their very close second round game, but UCLA won their game handily to advance to the 'Sweet Sixteen' which starts next Thursday.  One shocking loss was Duke losing to Southern Carolina....I didn't see that coming.  So here's to cooler temperatures and a fun three days in Death Valley......where we will be parking the Newell I have no idea.....we will make it up as we go.....there are literally hundreds of dry camping opportunities and only a handful of hookups available for which you must make a reservation months in advance to get......that doesn't work for us so here we go......"see you in a few days" if there is no WiFi.

Thanks for stopping by!

You will notice a new link at the very top of each daily blog post, and one just above the 'Page View' counter to the right of my blog....."Our Amazon Affiliate Link".....if you do shop Amazon please use my link when you do, and I will receive a portion of any purchase you complete.  If you are viewing my blog on your phone, or by email you will not see the link, it is currently only visible on the 'web version' of my blog.

A 'near death' experience.......

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

6:58 am - PDST - Sunday - 59º F, humidity 35%, wind 3 mph out of the east......partly cloudy with a forecast high of 90º F.

Sun just hitting the mountains to the west Sunday morning

I was up by 6:30 am Saturday thinking about the few things I had yet to do in order to be ready to roll our wheels by 10 am.  We only had about 37 miles to drive back to Tecopa to get some more hot springs action before descending into Death Valley and its many below sea level attractions.  Originally we had wanted to spend the better part of a week in Death Valley, but a heatwave changed our minds.  We have not run our A/C since late November whilst we sojourned at the Elks Lodge in Fontana, CA and we work quite hard at avoiding those situations.  If we must run our A/C we prefer to be attached to an electrical outlet, as it gets quite expensive running the Kohler propane generator for hours on end, plus who wants to be anywhere where A/C is required more than an hour, or two each day.  Hence the two day sojourn in Pahrump, and now two more days in Tecopa before we hit Death Valley on Monday at the end of the heatwave and a return to more seasonal temperatures in the 70's and 80's. 

After dumping our black and gray tanks at the Elks Lodge dump station we were on our way down Basin (departure time 9:58 am) for a few miles, then left on Linda over to SR-372 and a fuel stop at the local Fastrip where we took on 80 gallons at $2.41/gallon.....probably the best price we will see between there and Lake Tahoe a month from now.  After that short stop we found ourselves arriving at Tecopa Hot Springs Campground and Pools around 11:30 am......we parked in site D-6 once again, plugged into the 30 amp receptacle, and immediately turned on the A/C to cool things down inside.

We spent the afternoon watching more NCAA March Madness.....a perfect alternative to being out side in the 90º+ afternoon......around 2 pm, however, we walked up to the bath house for our first soak this time around.  I don't know if I mentioned this the last time we were here but the soaking pools are gender segregated, and clothing is optional.....in other words women have their soaking pools, men have theirs and no one wears any clothing.....:-)  

We were both back a little after 3 pm, and by 4 pm we were on our way to visit Death Valley Brewing Company over in Tecopa proper (next to the USPS office).  When we were here a week, or so ago they were not open on Thursday, and we failed to get over there again on Friday when they were.  You can purchase one of their mugs for $7, which TLE informed me we were.....for her anyway....she chose the Peach Habanero Ale (shown below), and I chose the Caramel Pecan Porter (I had this last time at the neighboring steak house)......

.....it was still a little warm at 4 pm so we sat outside......like that was a difficult choice for us....we always go for the alfresco experience.......

TLE enjoying the alfresco ambiance

.......notice in the picture below the wood sculpture which appears to be a mug of beer overflowing....very, very cool.......

.....we sat on the veranda enjoying our brews and talking for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the coach for the evening just in time to catch the ends of two close March Madness games.  The rest of the evening was spent watching several more games which determined 8 of the sweet 16 bracket spots.....the remaining 8 will be decided Sunday.

So, we are nearer to Death Valley by 37 miles with about 65 to go on Monday......thanks for stopping by!

You will notice a new link at the very top of each daily blog post, and one just above the 'Page View' counter to the right of my blog....."Our Amazon Affiliate Link".....if you do shop Amazon please use my link when you do, and I will receive a portion of any purchase you complete.  If you are viewing my blog on your phone, or by email you will not see the link, it is currently only visible on the 'web version' of my blog.

It's madness, I tell you!

6:33 am - PDST - Saturday - 58º F, 38% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the south southeast.....moving day!  We have an ENORMOUS 35 mile drive ahead of us....all the way to Tecopa Hot Springs!

For whatever reason TLE and I were both up early Friday.....much too early, but what can you do?  I don't remember the last time we were both up and coherent when it was still dark outside.....I know, you're thinking of our 4:30 am departure from Borrego Springs to drive down to Los Algodones for our dental appointments a month, or so ago......remember, I used the word coherent.....:-)

At any rate we had no big plans for Friday except for me to figure out what was wrong with the 'whole house fan' that stopped working Thursday afternoon, and for TLE a laundry run.  I have been carrying around a spare 12 volt motor for about 5 years now, and was hoping it would be a match for the one that powers the 'whole house fan'.....it took me a while to find it, but as it turns out it is a smaller version with a shaft that is too small in diameter for the large fan blade.  At any rate I removed the fan motor and bench tested it on my 12 volt power supply and confirmed it is dead......well, it was 35 years old.  I was able to find a suitable replacement motor on eBay for $24 plus shipping so I ordered it, and should have it within a week, or so.  

Once that was done TLE and I both decided to do a workout after which I took a 15 mile bike ride.....the workout thing is good, and seems to work for TLE, but I need to burn 1,000 calories every day to continue my weight loss program.  By the time I returned 60 minutes later I had reached my goal, and TLE was ready to head off to the laundry.  I took a shower, then went into the Elks Lodge to pay for our second night, and to make arrangements to use the dump station Saturday morning.  They have to keep it locked here as there are a number of boondockers in the area who will come here and steal a 'dump' (not pay) when they are closed (they are open from noon to 9 pm every day). By the by.....TLE managed to be more disciplined than I in Las Vegas and maintained her weight, but I gained a couple of pounds....too much rich food....I am soooo weak.....:-)

With that done I settled in to watch another day of 'March Madness' and what a day it was.....both the USC Trojans and the UCLA Bruins won their games......the Trojan game was a 1 point victory and also an upset victory for the them.....it is the first time they have advanced to the round of '32' since 2009.  UCLA won handily by 17 points as expected.  Of course there was one delicious nap thrown in for good measure, and it ended with my phone ringing.....one of our future employees for TVC was calling with questions.

We were treated to another spectacular Pahrump sunset.......

.....I spent about an hour outside taking pictures of this beautifully evolving sunset!

The last NCAA game ended around 9 pm, and we were in bed by 10:30 dreaming of changing our view once again without going through escrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

You will notice a new link at the very top of each daily blogpost.....an Amazon Affiliate Link.....if you do use Amazon please use my link when shopping and I will receive a portion of any purchase you complete.

Rousted.....

(CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE)

6:49 am - PDST - Friday - 52º F, 43% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south southeast.....completely calm where we are......

....I was up early Thursday as I often am on getaway days thinking about what needed to be done to be moving to our next view by 9 am.  

It occurred to me that I forgot to mention in my blog post for Wednesday that when we were sitting outside with our friends that night saying our 'until next times' two security guard vehicles suddenly appeared.  As a matter of context since we arrived Saturday we have seen security guard vehicles patrolling the extended stay parking lot on an hourly basis.....not once had any of them stopped to talk with us, or question our presence.  In the 5 years we have been traveling full time we have only been rousted a couple of times previously.  We always ask permission to overnight in any parking lot, and we actually asked permission twice this time....the first time we discussed parking and staying in our RV with a nice lady in the group sales department that was handling our college reunion, and was advised it was okay....the second time was the day we arrived (last Saturday)....we went to the registration desk and once again explained our purpose for being there, and made sure we were parked in the correct area.  We were told we were, and when I asked specifically if we needed anything in writing, or some sort of permit the lady replied "No, and anywhere on the property is okay".  So, I wrote that to write this......the security guy leans out his vehicle window and asks who owns the RV, and I stand up identifying myself.....he then says "Are any of you staying at the hotel?", and I reply that everyone else there is except for me and TLE, and I proceed to tell him that we had permission to not only park there, but to stay in our RV during the reunion.  He asks "Who gave you permission?", and I advised him of the two people with whom we had spoken.  The then advises that we are not allowed to sleep in our "vehicle", only to park it there.  I then advised him "No problem, we are leaving tomorrow morning anyway".  Thursday morning as I was getting ready to leave TLE found a notice on the front of the coach that we were in violation of their rules, but the printed rules did not prohibit specifically 'sleeping in your vehicle'......he hand wrote that on the notice......hmmmmm.  At any rate, no harm no foul......we won't be back there again anyway, right?  What's the old adage?  "Better to apologize than ask permission"....well, we did ask permission and had to apologize anyway......lol!

Since we had pulled out every single camp chair we have Wednesday night for our late night 'until next time' session, so I had to put them all away Thursday morning before we could roll....nonetheless, we were on the road and proceeding west on Decatur towards US-95 by 8:58 am!  We only had 86 miles to drive Thursday as our immediate destination was Pahrump where we planned to spend at least one night at the local Elks Lodge #2796 where they ask for a $10 donation per night to use 30 amps of electricity and fresh water.....they do have a dump station, which we will need before we head to Death Valley.

We arrived at the Elks Lodge around 11 am, found a spot (site 20) and backed in......perfect!  I walked inside and gave our $10 donation, and then we began to get set up for 2 days.....

Nice view of the valley

.....so, you might be wondering, why didn't we go directly to Death Valley as we had originally intended?  Well, they are getting their first hot spell with temps in the mid to high 90's through Monday......although there are some hookups in Death Valley they are all reserved.  No way I'm going to Death Valley with those temps and no electrical hookup to run the A/C.....of course, we could run the big generator, but that would be a lot of propane over 4 days.  We opted, instead, to spend 2 days in Pahrump to shop, and get some laundry done, then move back over to Tecopa Hot Springs (hookups once again) for two more days (Saturday and Sunday), soak some more, then head into Death Valley on Monday when the temps begin to decline back into the 70's and 80's making it much more hospitable for us.  We'll still have 3-4 days in Death Valley before we head back to SoCal for a week.

After getting set up we drove directly down the street to the local Walmart to pick up a few things, and were back at the coach by 12:30......since we are facing directly west we are getting sun on both sides of the coach during the day, and as a result we have, for the first time in a long time, deployed every single awning including the patio awning.  I spent the rest of the afternoon, and into the evening watching the first round of the NCAA March Madness tournament.....sweet!

We were treated to a beautiful Pahrump sunset........

......thanks for stopping by!

You will notice a new link at the very top of each daily blogpost.....an Amazon Affiliate Link.....if you do use Amazon please use my link when shopping and I will receive a portion of any purchase you complete.

Fade to black......

6:31 am - PDST - Thursday - 62º F, humidity 37%, wind 5 mph out of southwest.....forecast high is 86º F with sunny skies.....up early as today is getaway day.....time to roll our wheels once more changing our view without going through escrow!

By Wednesday morning my tank was running on empty.....after three consecutive days of talking, renewing friendships, and just generally having a great time I needed a break from social interaction, so while TLE walked over to The Orleans to the ballroom where our reunion was being held to see who was there I hung out at the coach doing my workout, and then about 11 am decided I was going to take a walk to the local USPS (about 1.9 miles distant) to mail my check for my annual Elks Club dues.  I'm sure I could have dropped it in the mail at The Orleans, or in the mail box a block away, but the whole point was to take a walk.  Just about the time I was getting ready to roll TLE texted me saying she was on her way back, and would I wait for her so she could walk with me.....why sure!

She arrived a few minutes later and we were off at a brisk pace across Holman to Decatur out to Flamingo and over to Jones where the USPS was located......along the way we passed Rochelle Ave. reminding me that we'll seeing our lovely daughter-in-law and the rest of our kids and families in just a week, or so.....see you soon TAR*......

.......just as we were walking into the USPS I got a call from my good friend Tom Carrozzo asking if he and his wife could take us to lunch before they headed back to Los Angeles.......I knew it would take about 45 minutes for us to retrace our steps, and told him so......he said that would be fine.  We arrived back at the Newell about 12:45, and Tom and Claire were there shortly thereafter.  We drove over to the local Cracker Barrel restaurant to have 'breakfast for lunch'.  We had a wonderful time talking and reminiscing, but all too soon it was time for Tom and Claire to begin their drive back to L.A.....they dropped us back at our coach around 2:30 and we said our 'until next times'.

All of TLE's siblings are also in town and her sister Phyllis' birthday was Wednesday so we contrived to have a surprise birthday celebration for her at Alder & Birch where we had eaten the other evening......all of those who were to surprise her met around 4 pm for cocktails at Alder & Birch and it was TLE's job to lure her down from her room on the pretext of having a birthday drink in the bar......

The siblings.....left to right: Creig, Read, Laureen, TLE and Phyllis, the birthday girl

Phyllis was surprised!

.....just about 5 pm TLE arrived with the birthday girl and the surprise was complete.....in all we had about 20 folks (family and friends) for dinner, and had a great dinner and conversation for about 2 hours.....what a great time!

Around 8:30 we retired back to our coach, and were joined by 8 from the dinner....we sat sipping some scotch (some vodka) and conversing until after 11 pm when we called it a day.

So, stick a fork in me...I am done, and turn out the lights, because the party is over....thanks for stopping by!

*TAR = The Amazing Rochelle

More of the same.....

8:30 am - PDST - Wednesday - 66º F, humdity 27%, wind - calm.......overcast with a few patches of blue here and there.  Forecast high for today is 87º F.

We went to bed quite late Monday and, subsequently, arose quite late Tuesday.....well, late for us.  We had early visits from friends at the reunion who wanted to see our 'house', so we were sitting outside with patio chairs deployed when they arrived mid morning.  We talked about our lifestyle with them, and answered a lot of questions.

It was kind of warm by the time our visitors left, so we decided to forego our walk and just take at easy until about noon time when we got dressed and walked over to The Orleans ballroom where our reunion is being held, and for the next four hours there was once again non-stop conversing.  I am amazed at how well my voice is doing.....by this time a couple of years ago it was quite raspy.

Around 4:15 TLE and I decided to head back to the Newell to take a break, a nap, or whatever before the evening festivities began at 6 pm.  We were back in much more formal dress by 5:45.......

......TLE had her 'little black dress' on and looked amazing......here we are posing for my 'usie' with Tammy White Justsum and TLE's sister, Laureen Houghtaling Parker.  We had a wonderful salmon dinner.....at least that's what we chose for our main course.......chicken was the other.....the salmon was amazing.

Towards the end of the evening people began to gather together for group photos.......

.....and then we were done....for the evening.  There is one more day (Wednesday) and then Thursday we will be on our way to Death Valley and whatever weather greets us.....right now it looks like the first few days it will be in the 90's before dropping into the high 70's......we'll see how that works for us!

We, once again, were not in bed until after midnight......thanks for stopping by!