December 14-16, 2015 Through Death Valley to Shoshone, California

We drove from Lone Pine through Death Valley to Shoshone, California today. Wow, warm, dry desert after all the cold and wet is wonderful.

The poor coach has not been happy. First the windshield cracked, then the furnace went out. Hopefully insurance will pay for the crack and John will get the furnace fixed. The sand was blowing out of the dry lake bed of Owens lake on the way by. Owens lake had water in it before the LA water wars when LA stole the water away from here and made it a desert. All the water goes by aqueduct to LA. Looked like snow on the road.

Welcome to Death Valley. We just drove though, but would loved to have stayed. You better hope you have filled up before you get to Panamint Springs. Look at those prices. They kind of have you over a barrel the next gas is not for another 50 miles at Furnace Creek and it is the same price. There are no other stations for a long way.

Driving into Death Valley. Warm and dry. Love it. Folded hills in Death Valley. Not much pesky vegetation to hide the geology here.

Afternoon light on Death Valley. Heading into Death Valley you go below Sea Level. The lowest spot in both of the Americas is here at Bad Water at -282 feet below sea level. Pretty windy today in the valley, lots of sand in the air. The sand dunes will be beautiful tomorrow.

Sunset through the sand. Here is the bus parked in front of my sisters house in Shoshone, Ca. She installed an RV plug on the outside for when we visit.

I love the light this time of day, above Shoshone. Downtown Shoshone. 

John on our afternoon stroll today on the desert. Evening light on Lake Tecopa- a dry lake bed outside of Tecopa.

U-We-Wash.  Florence the Freightliner home of the Gypsy Time Travelers is parked in Tecopa. There was a hula hoop party.

I whipped out my hoop and joined them. I started hooping after hooping with them a couple years ago after their performance. Christie does story telling while Michael the blacksmith  fires up the forge behind her in the castle and makes trinkets they raffle off.