Goodbye Death Valley

Sunrise at Death Valley National Park

In 1849 the California Gold Rush lured many wagon trains to seek a short cut through this region.  Only one wagon train made it out, and according to the story, one of the party said "Goodbye Death Valley" and the name stuck.  I said goodbye merely because we're now in Paso Robles doing some wine tasting - not nearly as dramatic!

Death Valley is a great place to visit.  We pulled into the Furnace Creek campground on Monday, March 16th, and spent the next three action packed days taking in some of the sights.

We set out on Tuesday to see the old ghost town of Rhyolite.  Founded in 1904, Rhyolite was a booming mining town with a population of 10,000.  However, the financial panic of 1907 took its toll on the town, and by 1912 only a handful of people remained.

Train Station at Rhyolite

We decided to go through Titus Canyon on the way back.  Wow, what a surprise we were in for!  The dirt road that winds through the canyon is narrow and filled with hair pin turns up and down the steep inclines that take you through the canyon.  The scenery is beautiful, but Bob had to concentrate on the road so that we didn't go off the edge.  I couldn't get any pictures that do the canyon justice as there were no good turn offs and the car was rattling around too much to take good ones out of the window.  I did get some good video of Bob white knuckling it through the gorge.

Titus Canyon

We took a break going through the canyon to stop at Leadfield, another old mining town that dates back to the 1920's.

Leadfield

On Wednesday we headed out to Badwater Basin, the lowest spot in the North America.  There is huge span of salt flats there caused by trapped water evaporating and leaving just the salt deposits behind.

We continued on to Artist's Drive.  I never expected all of this beauty in the desert.  The pictures don't do justice to the colors in the rocks.

I walked up to Zabriski Point to get a couple of pictures - very scenic!

Zabriski Point

Finally we headed up to Dante's Peak which at 5500 ft. has some amazing views.

Dante's Peak

There were some pretty wildflowers on the way down from the peak.  Some Desert Indian Paint brush....

These delicate little purple flowers are Indigo Bush,

I think the yellow flower below is a Desert Dandilion, but I don't know what the white ones are.

Bob no sooner lit a campfire on Wednesday evening when a sudden storm blew in.  The wind was pretty strong - probably about 40 mph - and lasted for about 20 minutes.  There were a few drops of rain, and then the whole thing blew over, but by then we had doused our campfire and packed it in for the night.

Here's a good view of our campsite - one of the 26 full hookup sites available at the Furnace Creek campground.

On Thursday we went to see the old Harmony Borax Works which refined borax from 1883 to 1889.

Here are some of the old wagons, pulled of course by the "20-mule team" made famous in commercials.  They hauled 10 tons of borax 165 miles through the desert and mountain passes to the railroad in Mojave.  Amazingly, not a single animal was lost nor did a single wagon break down.

We took a drive on 190 to Panamint Springs.  Our navigational system was going to take us on this road to get to Paso Robles, so we through we'd check it out.  Good thing that we did, because it was a pretty hairy drive, full of long steep grades and windy roads.  We decided to take an alternate route to Paso Robles where we would head back out of the park the way we came in and pick up I15.

There was a lovely sunset on Thursday evening.  We had a campfire and gazed at the stars glittering through a crystal clear sky.  The desert can be such a mysterious, beautiful and interesting place.  We've really enjoyed our time here.

Sunset at Death Valley National Park

Wrapping Up Our Stay in Desert Hot Springs

We'll be moving on to Death Valley on Monday March 16, so we're wrapping things up here at the Sands RV Resort.  We enjoyed it here so much, and have already signed up for three months next year.  We didn't get to see everything that we wanted to while we were here, but we did do some more sight seeing since my last post.

The Salton Sea Recreation Area was an interesting day trip.  332 feet below sea level, the Salton Sea is California’s largest lake measuring 35 miles long and 15 miles wide.  The sea was formed from water flowing from the Rockies to the Gulf of Mexico that became landlocked.

We visited the Air Museum in Palm Springs and got inside a B17 Flying Fortress.  I've never been inside any of the planes that flew in WWII, and the dangerous conditions that they flew in are pretty incredible.  Our guide said that her father flew a B17 on 32 missions and came out alive - lucky man!

Our last trip was to the George Patton Museum, which is in Chiraco Summit  (about 50 miles away).  The museum is at the site of the Desert Training Center at Camp Young where Patton trained troops for desert warfare during World War II.

George Patton Museum

The Cathedral at George Patton Museum, Indio CA

Two of my sons and their families visited us last week, and it was great to see them all.  We had a terrific time just relaxing and hanging out.  Hopefully we can have a reunion again next year.  This is a good meeting point, since one lives in Arizona and one lives in California.

I'll be sorry to leave the Sands, but look forward to returning next year.

Sunset at the Sands

A Wonderful Weekend Visit

Bob and I just returned from a wonderful visit in Fallbrook, CA with my son Jeff, his wife Marlene and my grandson Chase.  Fallbrook is only about an hour and 45 minutes away from our campsite here at the Sands RV Resort.  As an extra treat I also got to see my grandson Greg and his fiance Andi, both of whom are in the Navy, and are now in San Diego.  Greg took us on a tour of his ship the USS Essex, which is a an amphibious assault carrier.  It was a bit rough on Bob, since we had to go up so many flights of steps to get to the bridge, but he persevered, and it was well worth it!

On Sunday we toured the wineries at Temecula after doing an olive oil tasting.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures since it was a rainy day out.  It was lots of fun though, and we came home with a couple of good bottles of wine from the South Coast Winery as well as some tasty basil olive oil and pomegranate vinegar from the Temecula Olive Oil Company.  What a great weekend!

Enjoying Our Time at Desert Hot Springs, CA

Well, we finally made it to California for our winter trip, but it certainly wasn't easy.  When we left New Jersey on December 27th Bob had a slight cough and thought he was coming down with something.  By the next day he had full blown bronchitis and was wheezing horribly.  I was coughing as well.  We decided to change our plans and stay in South Carolina an extra day so that we could see a doctor. We were both on antibiotics, but neither one of us seemed to be getting much better. I helped out with the driving for the first time, which gave poor Bob a break - he was so sick!  We continued on to a campground outside of Tallahassee for one night, then pulled into the Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis MS.  Our New Years Eve celebration was a pretty sad affair, but we tried to make the best of it. Bob was getting NO sleep since he was wheezing so heavily.  On New Years day we figured it was time for him to go to the hospital.  There's a large hospital in nearby Gulf Port, so we figured that was the safest place.  The doctor in the emergency room thought that it was best that Bob be admitted because of his heart condition (he has a defibrillator/pacemaker because of a low ejection fraction).  After receiving multiple breathing treatments for two days Bob was released.  He seemed to be doing OK so we continued on.  It was a rough trip the rest of the way due to freezing cold temperatures all across Texas and New Mexico.  We finally arrived in Mesa AZ and stayed at Viewpoint RV Park for a week.  My youngest son lives in Gilbert, so we enjoyed visiting with him and his family during the week.  We took a day trip and drove on the Apache Trail into the Superstition Mountains, and it was as beautiful as we remembered it from our trip in 2010.

View from an outlook on the Apache Trail

Canyon Lake

We arrived on January 18th at Sands RV and Golf Resort in Desert Hot Springs, CA.  We're going to be here for two months, and we couldn't be happier!

We love this park and we really love the weather in this part of the country.  We had a couple of rainy days, but for the most part it's been sunny and in the mid to high 70's.  This week it's been in the 80's, which is just fine with us.  Time for golf, the swimming pool and hot tub!

The Golf Course at Sands RV and Golf Resort

We played golf once so far on the 9 hole executive course.  We're going to try to play at least once a week.  It's a great little course which is perfect for us to try to get our game back since we haven't played for almost two years.

Heated pool at Sands RV and Golf Resort

As far as the pool and hot tubs are concerned, we've been enjoying them nearly every day!  There's a gym in the building behind the hot tubs that we've been working out in.  Perfect!

Hut tubs at Sands RV and Golf Resort

Our campsite has plenty of room, and best of all we have lots of privacy.  All of the sites here have hedges bordering each side, and our site has a great view of the mountains.

Campsite 142 at Sands RV and Golf Resort

Bob enjoying the perfect weather!

View from the back of our campsite at Sands RV and Golf Resort

We've seen some of the sights around here, but we need to do some more exploring.  Here's what we've done so far:

Joshua Tree National Park is only about 45 miles from here, so we spent a day revisiting it.  I love this park - it has its on special beauty.

Joshua Tree National Park

View of Big Bear Mountain from Joshua Tree National Park

We took a walk down the Butler-Abrams Trail which starts from Michale F. Wolfson Park in Rancho Mirage.   The walk borders the Whitewater Wash, and then runs along the Morningside Country Club.

Michale F. Wolfson Park, Rancho Mirage

Butler Abrams Trail

Butler Abrams Trail in Rancho Mirage

Another interesting side trip we took was to Whitewater Preserve.  The preserve includes  a trout farm and some nice hiking trails.  We walked around the paved trail, and enjoyed a lunch by the trout pond.

Trout Pond at Whitewater Preserve

Trout at Whitewater Preserve

Paved trail at Whitewater Preserve

Bob and Mirra at Whitewater Preserve

There's plenty more to see and do in this area, but I think for the most part we'll just be relaxing and enjoying this gorgeous weather!