Day 32: Red Rocks Canyon

View of Red Rocks Canyon near Vegas

Day 32/Oct 30, 2013  Weds

Despite cotton in my ears our stay at the casino wasn’t all that quiet.  We were right by the road and that means road noise.  Would I stay here again…probably not. 

The rocks really are red!

The Walmart down the street might have been only slightly better.  On the way out of town (southbound on 160) we noticed that the casino across the side street Had a bunch of rv’s  parked there and that would have been further from the road.  Our Nugget Casino had no rv’s in it…

 

walking...

Pahrump Station (strip mall) has laundry and a bakery a few doors down….East Postal Street.  Very convenient going southbound on 160 from the Casinos or Walmart.

 






 

Calico Rocks and stone spiral

After laundry, we headed off to Red Rocks near Vegas to stay the night.  We did not know exactly where Graham (son) worked but on the way into the Red Rocks Canyon campground we saw a BLM station. THEN, I noticed the guy working with the bushy beard and there he was. 

Yeah, fall colors!

We are to spend four nights at his “house” (fifth wheel parked in vegas at a unoccupied home).  The visitor’s center was our main stop for today to get info on hikes to do tomorrow before we head out to Graham’s house.

 

Red Rocks

The Red Rocks campground is $15 and offers no services.  All we needed was a place to park our vehicle.  This is where we stayed the night before heading out to Graham's place.

 

Day 31: Death Valley to Pahrump, NV

Early morning walk in Golden Canyon

Tues, Oct 29

We left our campsite at first light to have breakfast at our first stop.    Golden Canyon provided us with a short 2.25 mile round trip walk.  Enjoyable while it was still cool and we had it all to ourselves until we were almost out of it.

 

Golden Canyon

On a whim, we decided to drive the Artists Drive.  This is a one way road that is forbidden to vehicles over 25 feet in length...fortunately we are just under 25 feet.  It did not disappoint.  The colors of the rock back there are simply amazing especially in an area they named Artists pallet….rocks  in many colors in the landscape.  We stopped many times to take photos so I hope they turn out okay.

 

Golden Canyon

Natural Bridge is a walk David went on...two miles round trip.   The 1.5 mile gravel road in is a little rough but we managed without knocking anything out of the cabinets.  I cooked up some lunch for my vegan feast while he walked.  

 






 

Glorious time to visit Death Valley National Park; I wouldn’t dream of coming here in summer at any cost. We stopped to see the Badwater area only to find out that the road beyond was closed to flooding.  Somewhere there had to have been rain but it surely wasn’t here; they say it doesn’t take much.  I can see why because there are run offs and washes everywhere around here.  This rock, rock dust, nothing much looks like dirt…just doesn’t hold/absorb water.  We had to reroute our way out of Death Valley and David assured me we had enough gas to make to it Pahrump (cheap gas).   Gas in Death Valley $4.97; Gas in Pahrump $3.22.

 



Artist's Drive in Death Valley

Pahrump…shopping at Walmart.  Golden Nugget Casino for Two for One Buffet…cost $13.00 with tip.  Gambling in the casino $1.00 plus the $6.00 free they gave us for getting a players card.  Penny slots…oh yeah.  I never win anything at these things.  David has some better luck than I do.  We dreamed of paying for dinner.  I don’t think that was asking a lot but alas, it was not to be! 

 

The colors in these rocks is phenominal

It seemed that the Golden Nugget Casino didn’t allow for us staying overnight in the parking lot but when we asked at the front desk, they told us we could.  They have security so we were okay with it.  The other choice would have been Walmart.

Green rocks

More Artist's drive

Natural Bridge in Death Valley

Water shoot in DV

last of Death Valley

Good by Death Valley

 

Day 30: Death Valley

Monday, Oct 28 



Scotty's Castle in Death Valley National Park

We awoke to the sound of a vehicle idling near our motorhome.  This was not out of the ordinary as there were two water tender tanker trucks in our parking area; we assumed it was a worker. 

Fabulous gates

 After maybe 20 minutes David got up, went outside, and talked to the man.  He clearly was waiting for someone outside his truck.  It turned out this pleasant chap was a union guy contracted to operate some heavy machinery for work being done on this road. 









Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley

The crater

 We pointed him to two miles down the road where the bulk of the heavy machinery was and off he went.  Maybe 30 minutes later we got on the road and stopped to see him.  He was still waiting for some other workers to show up. We postulated that perhaps 7 am meant 7 am go to the diner (in some town that wasn’t too close) and then mosey along after breakfast. 

Dust storm near Stopepipe Wells

Leaving him by the roadside, we let him know that if anybody was down the road we would send them up to him.  There was no one down the road  but I don’t think he was going to leave in a hurry as this job promised him 3 – 6 months of work during a time when little work was to be had.

 
 


Sand Dunes near Stovepipe Wells

 



Trees???

 

Bottle House in Rhyolite

 

Bottle House with other glass/cement art

 

Old Merchantile building

 

Old truck

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 



rhyolite more views

It was a down, down, downward drive to Death Valley National Park…going from 4000 feet to sea level or below.  The drive took us through Grapevine canyon; I will call it a drive through canyon.  It was a pretty neat drive. We stopped at Scotty’s Castle and shot some pictures but it was not to open for another hour and we didn’t wish to pay the $30 to see the inside.  Also, we weren’t 100% sure that it would really open in 1 hour and we were the only people there.  Scotty’s Castle was a oasis in this canyon with palm trees and a very neat structure.

Rhyolite

Our travels took us to a volcanic crater called Ubehebe Crater…6 miles in all directions of very little growth and what appeared to be gravel…like a parking lot with varying elevations.  Somehow we lucked out and the normal 90 degree days that existed this time of year were not present.  The cold front that moved in gave us high winds and 70+ degree weather…perfect temperatures with a reasonable 50 degree night. 

Why is this 1906 stone building falling apart?

 

Next stop was Stovepipe Wells village for an ice cream and walking on Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes…except it was so windy that we couldn’t go far.  The wind was carrying sand with it and we needed to protect our eyeballs from the sand.

 

Rhyolite was our next stop...a brief trip up and down another pass and out of Death Valley National Park.   A ghost town in Nevada. I have to say that this site was a little bit disappointing.  The bottle house was pretty neat and the Goldfield Open Air Museum had some interesting sculptures but I was expecting more buildings and in better condition.   

 



View of Rhyolite

Next, in this action packed day we headed back into Death Valley National Park (yup, up and over the pass again).  We had hoped to be able to overnight in Rhyolite but that was not allowed.  So we decided to book into one of the campgrounds in Death Valley. 

Goldwell Open Air Museum



Goldwell Open Air Museum

 My first choice would have been Mesquite Spring but that was too far back into the park.  We took a look at all the furnace creek area campsites and settled on Texas  Spring as that one had the least amount of occupants in it and plenty of open spaces to choose from.  There were no trees or anything between sites…think parking lotbut for tonight that was okay.

 






Stone Spiral

 

Death Valley has some inspiring scenery.  The weather for our visit is a perfect 70 something degrees compared to the 90 degrees of last weekJ

Wild West views - Rhyolite area

Day 29: Spencer Hot Springs/NV to Death Valley National Park

Stokes Castle

Sunday, Oct 27

As planned, today we left Spencer Hot Springs…much to David’s disappointment.  I had to drag him out of the cattle tub!  We had a brief soak just before we left.  Ours was the coolest pool so it was not as hot as I would have liked on a 35 degree morning but perfect for most other times for me.   Four nights was enough soaking and lazing around.  I did manage to get him to take a walk each day.

  

Sift for mine

 

I wanted to see Austin so we made a brief trip to Austin and had breakfast at Toiyabe Café.  It was tastey to me as my current gluten free vegan diet lacks in some ways.  So what did I have?  Bacon, eggs, hash browns, and whole wheat toast with butter (a supreme rarity in my life)…delicious and back to normal tomorrow.  We did a  brief stop to see Stokes Castle in Austin as well.  This "castle" was built by Anson Phelps Stokes in 1897.  It was only occupied for briefly and not even for a year. 



Interesting train entries in Goldfield

We then headed south on route 376 to Tonopah to take advantage of some services. 


Gas, veggies, and finally got wifi at the Library.  Our mifi was not getting much of a signal in town (anywhere in town and I can tell you we drove all over town seeking a good signal).   

We also stopped in Goldfield, NV to take some photos of this quasi-ghost town with some really neat old time vehicles, buildings, etc.  I purchased some cabochons for making jewelry from Hidden Treasures/rock shop in town.

 

David thought this could be renovated into a NICE rv....

When we left this a.m. we weren’t sure where we would end up spending the night.  The main requirement would be that it be free and it be far from the coming rain/snow that was to come (depending on elevation). 



 Death Valley probably wouldn’t be free as they have paid campgrounds and we had no research on this.  So we settled on route 267 in Nevada and just before entry into California/Death Valley National Park…a pull off really on this lightly travelled road as the sun was setting.  It served its purpose but it was windy as could be.  It was rather scenic as well.

Day 28: Spencer Hot Springs

David spotted these elusive mules about 2 miles off

 

Saturday, Oct 26

A quiet night last night after moving away from donkey hot spring.    We didn’t hear a heehaw from them all night and believe me we would have because they are LOUD!

 

Early morning we drove back up to the hot spring for some soaking.  It was 31 degrees this a.m. when we woke up…no internet or cell here…only text via Verizon.  Our cooler hot tub was just making it warm enough…just.  Pancake breakfast and off to do some walking…find those darn donkeys to see where they are hanging out.



Views during our donkey hunt

After walking a mile or so, David saw two mules off in the distance and those are the only two we saw…but at least we found someJ  Happy to have completed my mission we hit the hot springs again....a common theme.  We are leaving  the hot tubs tomorrow.  As if 31 degrees is not cold enough at night, some snow is predicted for the passes and I don’t intend to be anywhere near the snow…heading west and then south.

 

For slumber time, we moved the rv about 200 feet away from the hot springs/donkey drinking bar.  They obviously approved of our location because they were pretty quiet and no loud bursts of HEE HAW right by our motorhome.

Day 27: Spencer Hot Springs

Friday, Oct 25

Donkeys from hell!



Prime camping spot with a vew

We only heard one donkey heehawing it up from our camping spot down below the night before.   Now I didn’t really think there was only one but we decided to go camp up at the top.  JUST as I laid my head down to sleep, last night, it began.  A LOUD hee-haw-hee haw and it sound like it was right outside my window!  Now some of them, start softly and work up to full volume.  Then there are some that start right out with full volume.  No less than five times during my 8 hours of “sleep” did I hear one of those blasted donkey hee-hawing it up!  They would run off if we shined the light on them.  The mules were another story...stubborn asses just looked at us…until we waved at them and made noise.  We only did that twice and then let them have their water…because the overflow is their water source and I won’t begrudge them water in this harsh environment.   I am not sure if their honking was because we were there in their space and they wanted to let us know or we just didn’t hear them the night before (although I find that hard to believe).

 

The bigger picture

 

Our very own Koi pond

At dusk I began watching for the arrival of the heehaws.  Before we relocated our rv away from them and just before dark, I saw one lone donkey making his way in.  He saw me or heard me (big ears dontcha know) and stood like a statue and then disappeared from view.  We moved down to the other area (about ¼ mile away for the night) which would ensure a quiet night’s sleep…lesson learned.

There will be no donkey/wild burrow pictures because you know what they look like and they only come out at night!

Day 26: Spencer Hot Springs - relaxing and working

Thursday, Oct 24

Our private hot pool with great view of mountains

Today was spent mostly relaxing. David went into the hot tub; I waited for the cool night…since I missed the morning coolness.  Going into a hot spring when it is too hot is like having one big continuous hot flash that you cannot get away from!  We took at walk to another spring up the hill to see what that was like.  There was a lot of algae in it and a bit cooler (yup that one is mine).  It was decided that we would move our rv up on the hill and clean out the tub…yup.  We cleaned it out.  Borrowed a brush from someone (more on him later) and a pipe to drain it.  I scrubbed the sides; David scrubbed the bottom while he sucked out algae with a siphon hose.  We also pulled the plug to drain it.  It took several hours to drain.  But I knew in the morning I would be out there at first light soaking….ahhhh!

Since we were going to be working on the hot tub pool at the top, we moved up there.



One of our campsites with rock spiral art

We have two characters that are hanging out here.  Both are full blown eccentrics.  One works when he needs money and he has arranged his life to not need much; he finds music gigs when he needs money or sells goods at a flea market.  The other doesn’t work but careful buying/reselling of land in California has given him money to live on.  He lives in a homemade rv.  One of them maintains the springs here and people give him “things” (like money, fruit, etc)…like cleaning, adding improvements, etc.  Both are just beginning to collect social security.  Neither have brick and mortar houses.  Interesting lives…but nothing like we would adopt.