Death Valley Adventures Part 1

From Park Sierra, we drove two days to Death Valley National Park. The largest national park in the lower 48 states, Death Valley offers serene views in every direction. From 200 feet below sea level, the mountains on either side of the valley rise as high as 11,000 feet. The park offers many hikes, natural wonders, and historic places. This was our second visit in three years.

We stayed at a new quiet campground, 200 feet [sea level] above the valley floor.
Just a handful of RV and campers here, mostly due to the prohibition on generators. Our trailer is the longest in the campground, even bigger than the hosts'. All the more apparent with 15 foot travel trailers parked on either side of us. I didn't say that we were the quietest tho, due to the presence of you-know-who's-big-mouth.

We also greeted friends Steve and Sandy one day after our arrival. This is just our latest rendezvous on the road. We have met them at different times in Washington state, California, and Arizona.

The first day, we met two new wannabe fulltimers, Bill and Terri. They were enjoying their maiden voyage in a truck camper. At breakfast, they were talking about learning about liquidating and living on the road, for, as we agreed, "It's a rat race and the rats are winning." Suddenly we were telling them about fulltime RVing and the Escapees Rv club. We may hear from them again.

Then the fun began. The morning of day two, the aforementioned quiet is shattered by a construction crew breaking ground on a new bathroom building. One hundred feet from our RV, we hear the beep-beep of heavy equipment, see the haze of desert dust, and smell diesel fumes. We decide to see how things go on day three.

That afternoon, we learn of a wind storm approaching the park. Two days of blowing dust with wind gusts to 70mph.

Day three we move our RV down away from the construction. Would move to a different campground, but the other ones will likely see worse winds than we will. We pull the slide in, then go out with Steve and Sandy for a nice day at Scotty's Castle and the Furnace Creek [fancy] motel. We return to our RV, which is shaking so badly in the wind that we hitch it up to the truck for added stability. Also want to avoid damage to the newly repaired hydraulic jacks.

"What, you don't have any RV repair dealers in the middle of Death Valley? Or a bus size tow truck?"

Bruce