December 16, 2013 Death Valley, California

The weather is beautiful, sunny and warm. Especially nice after a few month in the pacific northwest. Finally we have found somewhere warm! I love Death Valley. There is lots of good hiking, great scenery and it is never crowed this time of year.

The bus at Panamint springs campground. Panamint springs is a private resort that is an inholding in Death Valley National Park. The campground is very nice and beautiful.  The power is pretty variable-our surge protector kept turning it off and on- and the water is pretty chlorinated. But what can you expect from a place in the middle of nowhere. It is a treat to even have it here. The power is from a generator and the water comes down a kind of leaky pipe running 2 miles from a spring at Darwin Falls in the middle of the desert.  They gave us half off the campsite price since we didn’t want to trust their power. Here is the view from my bedroom window this morning. Not many people here this time of year.

View out the other window this morning. This gas station is in the middle of nowhere-we are glad we filled up before we came. This is the first time I have seen gas cost more than diesel fuel.

Panamint Springs store, hotel and restaurant. The sign on the road across Panamint Valley said dips ahead. They weren’t kidding, it was like a roller coaster.

It is interesting that they put the campground at Stove Pipe Wells at Burned Wagon Point. It a campground with no shade or hookups. But it is in a pretty place and very reasonable at the base of the sand dunes.  Across the street at the resort for a small fee there is a really nice pool. We are going to come back to Death Valley after the first of the year. Continuing into the valley we dropped below sea level.  The lowest place in the valley, near Badwater is 282 feet below sea level, the lowest place in the North American continent.

The Stove Pipe Dunes. Farther into the valley we are 100 feet below sea level. The valley floor is pretty barren, but the mountains and canyons around it are really nice. Death Valley’s beauty is more of the color , shapes and textures than parks with lots of vegetation. It is the most geologically active spot in the world and as John says there is no pesky vegetation to get in the way of the geology.

The historic Furnace Creek Inn is truly an oasis in the desert. Adobe, palm trees, gardens, flowers, fountains, a spring fed pool, old elegance, beautiful rooms. It was built in 1940 by the borax company to lure tourists into the valley. I  love this place. We  stayed here every spring  a few days for the last 20 years. The scenery around Zabriski point and 20 mule team canyon is really colorful. It is another of my favorite spots in the valley.

The coach parked in front of my sisters second house in Shoshone, Calif. She installed an 30 amp RV plug on the side for us. Notice the lawn chair. It was 74 degrees, warm enough to sit out in my tank top and shorts and work on the latest basket.

Judy and John hiking on the trail above town. A view from the trail.

Street signs in the middle of the new Shoshone park. It has picnic tables, art and trees. A really nice addition to town. Sunset over Shoshone tonight.