Page 53 - NORTH FROM BENSON - AZ IN A DAY AND A HALF

March 19, 2005

Okay, we left Benson, AZ as we are planning to meet the Russells up in Death Valley. That means we have to move much faster and farther than we normally do. Oh yes, leaving the Benson RV place, we saw a covey of Gambel's Quail, which are beautiful.

We skirted Tuscon, which was hosting one of the March Madness NCAA Regional Finals. (That means camping rates go up and availability goes down.) Then we drove through Phoenix, and it's associated burgs, and were slowed by all of the highways adding two lanes. Phoenix is HUGE and still growing. Can't imagine where all the water will come from. And for God's sake Phoenix, learn to time the stop lights. You have to stop at nearly every one. I was relieved to get out of the Phoenix area, and on a road where we got back to nothingness, which is Rt. 93 from Wickenburg to Kingman. Some beautiful and desolate scenery, including a forest of Joshua trees. Don't think we need to go to Joshua Tree National Park in California, as this AZ forest was huge. Looks like another world. Cool trees. And Arizona didn't make a big deal about it. Just had one little sign: JOSHUA FOREST SCENIC HIGHWAY. That was it.

We crashed for a single night in Kingman. Didn't even unhitch. We were both tired and Donna is fighting a cold.

So yesterday, we headed for Las Vegas. Thought "we" (more so Donna than me) would spent a night or two there an see the wicked city. That meant driving through some most scenic mountains (wild flowers everywhere!) and crossing over Hoover Dam at Lake Mead. Interesting visitor's spot, but no place to park an RV unit. SECURITY ALERT: these were the first "new" 911 security measures that we have encountered. Commercial trucks and buses are no longer allowed to cross over Hoover dam, and all other vehicles get stopped and inspected for explosives. We had a very nice inspector who was in no hurry, and enjoyed shooting the sh-t, even as the traffic backed up behind me. Told me places to visit and explained the security measures. Said I couldn't transport more than 20 guns and ammo over the dam. Damn, I had to leave 13 of my guns there! I asked if I had to turn off my propane tanks. He said, Nah, don't worry about it. The ride was slow over the dam, as they are building a highway bypass around (ABOVE) the dam. That is tricky construction, to be sure.

Now while all this is going on, Donna is on the phone trying to find a place to stay in Las Vegas. There was no place to be found! Seems this weekend has a bunch of conventions going on, plus a major Nascar event. On top of that, it's spring break and everyone is taking the kids to Las Vegas. There was no room at the inn(s). So she started calling around the Vegas area, and we found a spot ... the LAST spot ... in a place on the way to Death Valley called Terrible's Lakeside RV Park in Pahrump, NV. So we drive through Las Vagas, which is under-construction more than Phoenix, and we climb a mountain range to get to a desert valley where Pahrump lies. With a name like Terrible's, we thought it might be a dump, but it's one of the nicest places we have found, and with our Passport Discount ... even though we lost our Passport Card ... we are only paying $16 bucks a night. The place has a huge lake, and fountains, and a sprinkler system that keeps all the grass lush around the RV sites, and all the spring trees are blooming. Birds and ducks everywhere. First class facilities. Views of snowcapped mountains. How can they afford to do this?

Well, Terrible's has a casino and restaurant at this RV park. You get a coupon book for free hats, shirts, drinks, meals, coffee mugs, etc. etc., if you only pay a visit to the casino. Which we did. And people don't try to win money here. They try to accumulate points gambling. You get a computer card which keeps track of how much you gamble, then if you play for a LONG time, and just break even or lose a bit, you have all these points. You can use these points to buy merchandise, meals, or even pay for your RV sites. So a bunch of people here are just trying to stay the season, break even on the gambling, and get their RV sites and a bunch of meals for nothing. And the place is filled to capacity. They don't have table games here. Just the slot and video machines, and a gigantic bingo hall. But the cost of meals is super cheap, and of course, the drinks are on the house day and night. I slept well after the casino, but I have no idea whether Donna might have slipped out sometime during the night. Guess I'll find out when the credit card bill shows up.

For the record, we are now on West Coast time, and this is the first time ever Donna or I have been in Nevada. Terrible's is a chain of casinos, hotels, gas stations, and convenience stores, and is named after some old west dude who was called Terrible Herbst. You see all these Terrible businesses just everywhere around here. I tried to find the history of Mr. Herbst on the net, but all I could find were casino sites. Oh well ...

Did some business accounting work this morning. We'll have to get ready for Death Valley this afternoon. Donna was eager to do the laundry this morning, and has been out for a while. I think the laundry rooms are located somewhere near the casino. It's raining a little today. It doesn't seem to rain too hard in this valley, but you can get wet when the sprinkler systems come on at 8:00 in the morning.

Over and out from lushly green Pahrump (at least around the RV/Casino Park). If the rain stops, might have to see if I can catch a fish in Nevada. You all have a great weekend watching the B-ball games on the tube.

P.S. BUGS! There are bugs in the desert! The truck and RV are coated with mostly flies of all sorts and butterflies enough for a collection. Wish it would rain hard, so some of the bugs and desert dust might go away. But I guess all the lizards need to eat too. And maybe they all go away once things start heating up in the summertime. Again -- enjoy!

Terrible's RV park in Pahrump, NV	Death Valley signs that make sense

Page 53 - There is life in Death Valley ... WAY TOO MUCH LIFE

This email is coming to you from below sea level in Death Valley, California. We have met up with Diana and Roger and Kinsey ... and their dog and new kitten ... and we are DOING DEATH VALLEY. We did not plan this, but Death Valley has had a record rainfall this winter, and it has caused a very rare condition where wild flowers are in bloom all over the desert. Now to be honest, the wildflowers back home are far more colorful and concentrated, but it seems that this almost never happens in Death Valley. So for the week before we get here, all the major news stations and the weather station are doing special reports on the Death Valley flowers. And because of the power of the media, there are mobs of people and traffic problems in the valley of death. Why, as I look out the RV window, I can see the long line of vehicles and motorcycles waiting for gas, and some of those folks look like they might be dying to be somewhere else.

You can phone the DV National Park, but you can't talk to a human being. Their recorded message says, "There are always plenty of spaces available to camp in Death Valley." Well, until this week that might have been true. But they have exceeded their capacity for campers and for flowers this year. There are several different locations you can camp in Death Valley, but only one takes reservations. Since this is also spring break for half the kids in California, all those reservations are ... RESERVED. All the other camping spots are first come first serve. You buy a ticket from a machine to get a spot. It's dry camping only. For 10 bucks a night you get a parking space in a dusty gravel lot. But there is a bathroom, of sorts, and a water spigot, and trash dumpsters. (Okay, it could be expensive to truck the garbage out of Death Valley, I imagine.) We went to Stovepipe Wells Village. They have 14 sites that have RV hookups, and 190 parking lot sites. Death Valley National Park is larger than all of Western Maryland. One thing they have is LAND. So don't ask me why they made the parking lot camping sites so close together. It was like camping in a WalMart parking lot on the day before Christmas, except with heat and dust.

Hey, we are doing fine! The 190 spots were nearly full our first night, but a Camp Ground Host told me that this was far better than the night before where folks were just stopping their cars and pitching tents in the middle of the "street." One RV traffic accident occurred at 2 am while some bus was trying to fight it's way in. There is a lottery system for the 14 hookup sites. We signed up this morning, at 6 am, and waited around till 11 am to see if anyone was going to leave. Some folks left, and because two other folks didn't show up at 11, we now have 2 hook up sites! Water, electric, sewer, and we are out of the dust bowl. Life is good. And this little desert development has a gas station, store, motel, restaurant, saloon and swimming pool. So we will be here for the week, and see all the desert sites: Sand Dunes and Mosaic Canyon today, then Scottys Castle, Titus Canyon, Furnace Creek, Devils Golf Course, Devils Corn Field, Dantes View, Badwater, etc. etc.

I can't be hard on the Park Service. They never have had this many people show up in Death Valley. And because every day will get hotter and hotter, people will stop visiting very soon. It's 81 today, and supposed to be 90 by the end of the week. The Park closes most of the camp sites on April 15th, because after that it's just dangerously hot down in the hole. So we are getting to see Death Valley at it's peak moment in time. It truly is a different world, and the scenery changes dramatically as you drive through the different parts. A number of roads are shut down due to flash floods during last December here. Two poor folks drowned ... IN DEATH VALLEY.

Wild life? If all the visitor tracks in the sands don't obscure them, you do see the tracks of lizards and sidewinders and kangaroo rats. Their rat holes are everywhere, and the sidewinders (says the Visitor's Guide" ... "Rather than digging their own burrows, they simply move into one previously occupied by the unlucky rodent eaten for dinner." This is a harsh place for sure.

And what birds are tough enough to live in Death Valley??? Looks like the common sparrows and the big old crows are doing just fine.

Oh yes, it's must be a California State Law that if you stay at a California National Park, you must wear a large, funny hat, strange looking hiking boots, and shirts with slogans. Either that, or your brand-new-right-out-of-the-box Harley-Davidson leathers will do.

We are out of cell phone range, so if you need to get us, shoot us an email. Take care!

Donna, Diana, Roger, Kinsey, and of course, Death Valley	This guy tried to sell us what he called the Death Valley Brooklyn Bridge
The wildflowers were NOT growing at Devil's Golf Course	These are the desert flowers that were causing the flocks of tourists

Page 53- A Study in Contrasts .... OR, From One Hell Hole to Another ....
OR, From the Valley of Death to the Valley of Sin .... OR, "Hey, Circus,
it's a circus at Circus Circus."

March 21, 2005

Well, we survived a week in the bowels of Death Valley thanks to our able guides Diana, Kinsey, Emma and Rosie. (And Roger didn't do all that much to endanger us.) We had a great time there with the Russells.

Kinsey discovers the rare formation known to the Indians as AssCrackRock	These trails out of the Valley are why 20-Mule Team Borax went out of business
Donna took this amazing photo of Death Valley Pupfish - we were all surprised that they taste like chicken!	Some evil tourists take a handicap parking spot, and then go off hiking or rock climbing

Death Valley is a unique place. Bizarre natural attractions to visit. Pupfish in the salt creeks. Kit foxes and sea gulls. Lizards. Scenic canyons that you can hike until you drop. Sand dunes and salt flats. Volcano craters that you can climb down into. Wild flowers. Dust storms, then perfect weather, then winds, then a shower, then clear skies and calm, then warm winds followed by cold winds, and all within an hour or two. And the sounds of the desert! Coyote whelps. Diesel pushers. Jet planes having dog fights in the skies day and night (cool!). RV generators starting at 7 a.m. every morning. Barking dogs. Car alarms going off on the half-hour. Vehicles waiting in line for petrol. Motorcycles, dune buggies, Jeeps, and Porsches everywhere. And of course, the constant clicks of cameras and the screams of kids on Spring break. .... And the smells of the desert! The fine dust up your nose. The wildflowers and desert bushes in bloom. The salt and the borax. The diesel fumes and gas fumes and smoke from camping stoves. The overflowing dumpsters and campsite septic pits. And that distinctive smell of burning brake linings as some of the larger RVs finish their long and steep drive down into the valley.

What does it look like? Go here for some representative pictures: http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.death-valley.all.html

So this morning, we departed Death Valley, and we are now just off the Las Vegas Strip at a KOA Campground that is part of the Circus Circus casino chain. And what are the differences between Death Valley and downtown Las Vegas? Well, the parking area here is paved instead of stone. There's more electric lights but fewer stars. And ... well ... that's about the only differences.
No, we really haven't gone out to see the Vegas sights yet. We did go into Circus Circus, which is filled with more kids than I think I saw in Orlando. We will have to go to the Visitor's Center to see if Las Vegas has any attractions that are more adult oriented. But is IS Spring Break!

I can recommend to you a visit to Death Valley. Try to go in late February or early March just before Spring break starts. After April 15th, many of the camping places close because it just gets too hot. I asked a guy who works at Stovepipe Wells if anyone visits during the summer. He said, "You'd be surprised. We get a lot of Europeans during the summer, especially the French during August." So much for Mad Dogs and Englishmen. We didn't see all of the amazing sights in Death Valley. Many of them require off road vehicles with high clearances and lots of spare tires. There are few services in the Valley, so if you get in trouble it's going to be expensive getting out of there. I did purchase diesel fuel at Furnace Springs for $3.03 per gallon. That's a trip high. But, we were in California, and the plastic gallon jugs of water were $2.00 per gallon, so it's all relative. Problem is, it a tough trip into and out of Death Valley. Stuff is just going to cost a bit more.

Easter is tomorrow. You all have a Happy Easter. We will find out how they celebrate Easter in Las Vegas tomorrow.