Depressing Town

We were in Twenty Nine Palms before we bought our home in San Carlos and it wasn’t much of a town then and it is even less so now. The lack of water in California has turned this town into a dried up groups of homes and businesses.

We don’t usually carry water in our unit when we travel longer distances and this time wasn’t any different. We knew our destination of Jumbo Rocks Campground in Joshua Tree National Park didn’t have any facilities at all….no water, no power, no sewer dump and no wi-fi. We researched ahead and found that the Visitor Centre for Joshua Tree set aside an area that RVs and campers could fill up before entering the Park. That was our plan until the Visitor Centre’s water pump wasn’t working. They told us to go to the RV Park by the golf course and they would look after us and allow us to fill our 30 gallon tank….they did for $25.00 USD!  Fred, the pessimist, decided that the Visitor Centre guide and the receptionist at the campground were in on a big scheme and walked away with our $25.00. BTW, we didn’t get a receipt for the water!

Jumbo Rocks Campground was certainly built for tenters and when I booked they told me that we would be okay with our unit. And we were, but just barely. Fred had to move around for a long time before we were able to comfortably put the slides out.

It was a tiring drive today so we didn’t do much other than set up, get a few things organized and make grilled cheese sandwiches before climbing into bed at 7:00.

The Mules

Death Valley was built on the strength of the mule teams that carried Borax from here to different towns 160 miles away. It took them 10 days to travel that distance. Everything in Death Valley was geared to the mule teams and the borax industry.

There is a group called the Death Valley ‘49ers who come to here every November and put on all kind of displays, sales and golf tournaments. The music is nonstop, but the best so far is the coyote howl. The contest was last night and the howling was quite impressive!

This is the 70th year for this group and in special recognition they had a twenty mule team come into Furnace Creek and travel on to the Harmony Borax Site. The mule team was a re-enactment of the actual teams that carried the Borax…I loved this! The mules were so cute!!

When the Borax mines were in danger of losing money the company decide to try to keep the area alive by attracting tourists. To do this they needed a nice hotel and so the Death Valley Inn was built in 1927. It has been renovated and is a beautiful oasis in the midst of the arid surroundings. We were there yesterday to check to out again and to get an update on prices…$400 - $500 UISD per night depending on the season seems a little excessive to me!

Sightseeing

Today was spent exploring some of the sights we visited before…just to refresh our memory. Death Valley really is a stark place with a moon-like feel..if we knew what the moon looked and felt like!

We went to see Devil’s Golf Course with its crystallized salt dunes. This place is what originally drew us to Death Valley…we thought it was an actual golf course!

We tried to get up close to Artist’s Palette but we think that the road to it has change since the flood a few years back. Even so, we did give Gord a pretty good tour of the beautiful rock colours.

We stopped to see an abandoned and restored Borax Mine, but I think the one at the Ranch is better. This one did give us a good idea of how the mules hauled the borax to towns hours away.

The most impressive stop of the day was at Zabriski’s Point with its impressive rock formations and hikes.

Reading

Once the sun goes down in Death Valley darkness hits quickly. I love to read and do crossword puzzles and using the solar lamp seems to be the best option.

We have two new batteries but we have been trying to keep them fully charged in case we need them later on. We have two more weeks of no electricity so we are in saving mode right now!

BTW, we did have two solar lamps but I dropped one on the first day here so now we have one!

Lazy Days

It has been pretty quiet in Furnace Creek so to keep us occupied with something other than golf we decided to drive to Pahrump, Nevada for a new RV battery….yes, on the coldest morning we wake up to find a dead battery in the system. No furnace means no heat!

Pahrump is an hour’s drive from here and it is the nearest town that would have a battery. We decided to kill two birds and took our laundry along. While Fred hunted for the battery I washed the laundry along with every homeless person in Pahrump. They must use this place as a warm up spot and I know they use the bathroom…evidence everywhere. Next time I will look for the battery and Fred can do the laundry! As if we will ever be back to this place.

Gas is more than a dollar cheaper per gallon in Nevada than California so that was also on the list…this truck is no Prius! The fills are very costly.

We stopped for a few groceries and were home four hours after we left. A worthwhile trip, but also an eyeopener.

Tonight we have a friend joining us for a few days, taking a break on his way to Yuma. Golfing and sightseeing will be on the agenda as Gord has never been here before.

Tried Our Hand

We finally were able to get our site and unit organized enough to attempt our hand at golf….the weather was beautiful and the golfing was fun, even though our scores reflected that this was the first round in three months.

The course hasn’t changed that much since we were here last [we are guessing thirteen years]. It is a little dry form the summer heat, but should green up now that the cooler winter temperatures have arrived.

Showering is a bit of a chore as we have to go to the swimming pool at the Ranch to use their facilities. It is a 15 minute walk to get to the pool and the showers are dirty, but they do their job.

Our stay so far has been unusual as the temperatures at Death Valley have always been a selling point of Furnace Creek Campground. This year we are cold in the evening [starting at 4:30] and very cold in the morning until around 11:00. The winds are keeping the daytime temperatures around 20C, but at night they are going as low as 4C. Not a whole bundle of laughs!

I can hear everyone saying “suck it up, Buttercup!” and I don’t blame them. Maybe we should have gone back to San Carlos….Gloria tells us the temperatures are around 35C right now.

Making My Ears Pop

It may have taken us eight days to drive to Death valley, but we are all set up and waiting. I’m not sure what we are waiting for, but here we sit.

Somehow I missed the fact that Furnace Creek Campground has eighteen electrical and sewer sites when I booked six months ago….and now they are all gone!

I booked a site that says it is fine for an RV and ours fit, but it is too small to hold our truck so that has to be parked in overflow parking away from the campsite.

The site we are in was very difficult to get our unit in as it is at such a strange angle. Not sure we could have succeeded if the other sites were occupied.

This place is much like Cypress Hills Park in the fact that everything is booked, but no one is here. The place is empty with open sites that say ‘reserved’ on them.

Every once in a while Fred or I will get a day of “what the heck are we doing here?” and yesterday was mine. Today I woke up with a better feeling even though we are still in the same site…no electricity or water for fourteen days.

No electricity or water for fourteen days isn’t so bad if you can hook up and go load up with water, but our site is not made for that strategy so we have to learn to use things sparingly…keep your fingers crossed that we make it to the fourteenth day!

We moved the table this morning to make a small area for my exercises..it is well hidden away from prying eyes.

As you can see from the pictures the drop in altitude can cause a few ear popping moments!