So Fresh and So Clean

National Park Roadtrip –Days 14-15

Death Valley National Park

We were sad to leave Joshua Tree, but we only had one night reserved in Death Valley.  There was no availability the following night so we knew we had to get there early to have enough time to explore.  With temperatures easily reaching 110 degrees in the summer, it is obvious that the time to visit Death Valley is in the winter.  Peak season is November through April, however if I were to do it again, I would try to time our arrival better to coincide with the beautiful wildflowers that pop up late February.  Not every season is created equal so try to go in a year that has seen heavier rainfall.

We drove across the Mohave National Preserve through Baker.  No self-respecting Las Vegan who is going through Baker would miss stopping at the Mad Greek, at least for a delicious Strawberry Shake.  We had a not so great meal there, but the strawberry shake didn’t disappoint.  And the food was sustenance, so…  I also got a fantastic picture of us “the little” amongst the others “the bigs”.  Not sure why but I love to take pictures that amuse me, not just the ones of the pretty stuff. 

When I was a kid growing up in Las Vegas, my family participated in a Chili Cookoff every year at Furnace Creek Ranch.  I have extremely fond memories of these trips, so I was very excited to be in Death Valley for the first time since I was around 12 years old.  After dropping the trailer at Furnace Creek Campground, we drove over to the ranch and the memories came rushing back; my cousin accidentally touching his eyes after chopping jalapenos under that tree over there, my uncle Don from Australia placing in the Shoot and Holler contest right over there, picking out treasures and candy in the general store right here.  I am so very lucky my family loved doing things like that.  And family was and is still very important to me.  I’m pretty sure most of the readers of this blog are related to me in some way, so here is your shout out.  Thank you for being you!

My cousin and I at Furnace Creek Ranch, circa 1986, sitting in front of what I believe is the booth that made chili plus amazing Beer Biscuits. 

Although not taken at Furnace Creek Ranch, this is the chili cook off set up I remember, with my Grandparents in the booth.  Grandpa holding a bottle of tequila ready to give out shots in a hollowed out jalapeno.  Hence, Shoot AND Holler. 

One more amazing thing about Furnace Creek Ranch is that they have showers and a pool that you can use for $10 a day.  We weren’t going to use the pool, just the shower, but it was worth every single penny.  We hadn’t showered since San Diego so we were fairly stinky by then.  Even though the breeze was whipping the shower curtain open, that there shower was the best darned thing that happened to me all day and perhaps for the past few days.  I skipped out of the pool area to the car with a huge clean smile on my face!

Once clean, we drove up to Furnace Creek Inn (neither of us had ever been there) and had some cocktails and then back down to Furnace Creek Ranch for some pizza at the restaurant.  When we got back to the trailer the wind had picked up significantly, and we were told they were going to see up to 50 MPH gusts overnight.  Our Fantastic Fan ended up snapping in the wind and dust from the storm was getting in the trailer.  Both of us made efforts to keep the fan from tipping open again, but finally a fly swatter, rubber band wrapped GoPro clips and some additional rubber bands kept it in place.  Though each time we got up in the middle of the night you would get hit by the fly swatter so it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns.

The following morning, we drove south through Badwater, the lowest point in North America.  It’s pretty incredible when you stand at the bottom and look up to see the “Sea Level” sign painted way up on the mountain behind the parking lot.  There was a rain storm brewing which cast a dark gray spell across the valley.  With a little help from the sun shining through there was a huge rainbow over the entire valley.  Our bright yellow trailer against the gray sky with a huge rainbow shining was a sight to behold.  Over the hump from Pahrump we landed in Las Vegas, my hometown.

Badwater, the lowest point in North America.

Now is where I apologize to everyone who is reading this from Las Vegas.  I’m sorry.  We just really wanted to get to Arizona and didn’t really want to stay in an RV park in Vegas.  My parent’s neighborhood won’t allow hillbilly camping in the driveway like my sister’s house so we opted just to stop for a quick lunch at CraftKitchen in Henderson.  My dad and Abby the adorable Jack Russell puppy, my old neighbors from Alaska, and my dear dear friend/sister-wife Michelle came to lunch.  I know I’ve said this already, but you have to combine efforts and see as many people you can at one time or else we would have to go from house to house to house just to see everyone we wanted to see.  We are grateful to those that made it out to see us.

Highlights:

Badwater – Made even better by a rainstorm, rainbows (no unicorns), salt flats.

Amargosa Opera House – The day we drove through Amargosa, there was a hugely long line of people waiting outside the opera house.  We didn’t have cell service so I couldn’t look up what was going on.  Marta Beckett ran the Opera House for years and staged ballet shows.  She hand painted an entire audience on the walls of the theatre and painstakingly restored it to quite a beautiful jewel box in the middle of the desert.  Quite an amazing story if you google her name.  After getting a wifi signal at Furnace Creek Ranch, I was able to find that Ms. Beckett had passed away at the age of 92 a week earlier and the line was for her memorial.  I regret never going to see a show there, but I sincerely hope that someone continues her effort by carrying on the tradition she started.  Perhaps we'll take Woodstock to Amargosa one day.  Anything is possible!

Furnace Creek Ranch – and their amazing shower/pool privilege

Zabriskie Point