March

Arrived in Desert Hot Springs the end of April and I was glad to be out of the bone chilling cold.

First 3 weeks of we did not do much as I was still trying to recover from the hip surgery. I have to admit that I am very impatient because my hip feels so good, I just want to run – well, not run exactly but hike the 4 miles uphill or ride my bike. Instead, I had to hold back on the hiking settling in for walking around the RV park building up length endurance.

 

Bored: the first couple of weeks so I got out the beads and made a bunch of jewelry that I have no idea what to do with.  Pondering while beading comes to the forefront. For those who have electric toothbrushes (I do) do you ever find yourself scrubbing away instead of letting the brush do the work?

Death Valley National Park

Bucket list item checked off although we did not see any blooms because DV did not get any significant rain. Understand that this occurrence only happens every 10 years and the last was in 2016. It did snow the first night and that was unexpected. I had this vision that DV was all sandy with dunes like the Sahara but it is not like that at all. Death Valley is a small valley (20 miles wide or so) nestled in-between to huge mountain ranges, Greenwater Range and Last Chance Range. These ranges were created by ground upheaval and volcanos, plus the area was a large lake (Lake Manly) 10,000 years ago. All of this creates a geological dream for rock hounds and a beautiful, rugged, harsh, and colorful sight for us gawkers. There is actually very little white pristine sand, rather it is a lot of strewn rock, gravelly sand and some dirt thrown in for good measure. And of course, there is lots areas that consist of borax or salt. Some of the mountains are so colorful that they are aptly named “Artist Palette” with blues, greens, yellows, and reds. All of this colored rock is minerals, but I couldn’t tell you which is which. Then some mountains are nothing but dirt and bland grey rocks looking like the bottom of an old lake bed that has been heaved up. Throw in some scrub bush, cactus here and there and you have the desert, not to mention that most of DV is below sea level with the lowest point at negative 282 below sea level. And it is the hottest place in North America. Recorded temperatures at 134 degrees. And I would wager a bet that it has the highest gas prices and only Super Premium was available – we got 4 gallons

Hikes in Death Valley

We did 2 very spectacular hikes. First was the Red Cathedral, a 4-mile hike through a canyon up to a point with wonderful views. I was unable to go the entire way as it was very steep and very rocky/sandy and I was afraid of falling so I did not go up the last 100 yards. Ty did. But again, we were rock scrambling as there was a 6 foot and an 8 foot fall. “Fall” is a new hiking term for us meaning you have to climb up and then also “fall” down. That was fun

Darwin Falls was only a 2 miler but it packed it all in. Stream crossings, 6 ft falls, open space, then very lush all leading up to a beautiful water fall which surprised us as we are in the desert.

Tourist Attractions

On the way to Death Valley, we gassed up at Baker; sad little town that sprang up along Route 66 and use to be the gateway to Death Valley. But times change and people can go farther so no need to stop overnight at this place. Plus, Covid must have really taken a toll on this place as there was only 1 gas station operational and 3 fast food places. All the mom&pop places are shuttered. One tourist attraction is the world’s tallest thermometer and it is still accurate! Built in 1992 at a whopping 127 ft tall and still operational! Interesting tidbit, the gift store sells snow globes with the thermometer inside. Think about that….

Once we got to Death Valley we had 2 1/2 days to try and hit all the hot spots (get it?) but just couldn’t although we did see the place of the famous Borax 20-Mule Team (site) where borax was made then shipped out via the mules. Of course, Dante’s Furnace the hottest place; the lowest elevation in North America (we had a lot of oxygen there!); and Artist Drive (9 miles wandering thru the colorful canyons) where Star Wars A New Hope and Return of the Jedi were filmed.

Ryolite is a “ghost town” that was originally a “booming” mining town. It is fitting that artist, Albert Szukalski, created these ghost figures. These were created by draping models in gauze and plaster of paris which the model had to stand in for at least 20 minutes for it to harden enough for the model to vacate and the remaining form remains. It was pretty eerie to see these statues just outside the ghost town and close to Ryolite cemetery (we also went there).

A Ponder while in Ryholite: what do you do there? Drink? And what do you do with all those bottles? You build a house of course! This entire house frame is made out of bottles. Just think of all the ready made hangers on the inside!

We can attest to the fact that it does snow in Death Valley! First night it snowed about an inch all total, all gone by morning.

Entertainment on the Homefront

Watching hummingbirds come to our feeder. Have about 4 different varieties of both male and female. Most spectacular is the one with the very iridescent purple head. These little guys guard their stash sitting in the trees behind us and when an outsider comes up, they swoop in to move them away. It has been very entertaining and keeps me occupied refilling the sugar source 3 times a week. Learned that they do not like red colored water, just plain old fashion sugar water.

Then Ty’s brother came to visit and I was entertained watching them all bundled up, sitting on the lazy boys (aptly named) on their phones. I on the other hand was outside in the sunshine in my shorts and tee top.

Friends and Family

Joan Blue: Able to look up Joan Blue who is my idol of ping pong. She hated the manner (ha! Another ponder: Manor and Manner) of the way I served so she taught me how to do it with my backhand. It looks like a very weak serve, but just as it reaches the opponent it takes a dive one way or the other. Divas – if you are reading this and hate my serve blame Joan. It was a nice visit; she has a lovely home in Palm Springs and is very settled and happy especially since she is with her siblings. So good to see you Joan!!

Paul Fouchey: made his 3^rd annual trip (interrupted by Covid for 1 year). Always fun to have him around except for he ate all my Dove Ice Cream sticks. The guys spent a day going up to Idyllwild CA, went to the Living Zoo in the Desert, Joshua Tree, hiked Whitewater, had a bonfires and hotdogs in the desert one night and loaf around at night watching the stars. Lot of laughs. Thanks, Paul, for coming out.

Chet Honey

Sad story with happy ending. Tamara (friend camper) was at the gas station at the corner of where we are staying and saw this truck stopped at 4 way stop, open his door and toss this little guy out and off he drove. Tamara rushed over and picked him up as he was tumbling around. She was unable to take him in as she has a cat (know how that goes) so she asked if we would. I said yes!!! Next day we posted signs all over the area, hoping the owner would claim him (but really? If you toss something you are not going to claim him) and I was hoping to keep him. He was the sweetest Chihuahua that looked like a miniature German Shepard. He was housebroken but it was obvious he was never on a leash nor ever wore a collar. A couple of days went by, me falling for this little guy more and more, when a lady called who said she was looking for a dog and if owner is not found she will take him. She sounded like the perfect match for him so took him over and they both fell in love with each other. She named him right away to Honey (I was calling him Chet) – it was a match. Chet Honey has found his forever home.

Not Going Anywhere

Month of March has ended and we had planned to head for Big Bend Texas, Austin, Frederickburg and Waco for the month of April but that has all been squashed. We had a squeak in our rear axle and when the repair guy came out it turns out that the brake seal was leaking. BUT when the tire was removed it had a big bulge and very worn (only 7 months old). So we haul the rig into Big O tires to get new tires (Ty hated these tires and we have had 2 blow outs with these new ones) and when they looked at our axle they said it was bent. Don’t drive long distance till fixed or replace tire every 100 miles. Ouch! We found a place to look at the axle but not till April 19 and they are not sure if they can repair that day or what.

Here we are stuck in Desert Hot Springs for at least till April 20^th. It is getting very hot here, the pool is a hot spring which is nice in winter not so much when it is hot out and we have seen just about all there is to see. Oh well, all part of the Great Adventure!