Out Our Window

We are headed west out of Denver on I 70. We, as in modern man, have it easy compared to our pioneers for we have highways to cross the Rockies and we have our cars and RV’s to travel them at a decent rate of speed so that we don’t have to worry about food and water as we travel. Think about those things as you look out the front window at some of our pictures. Yes, we will show you those oasis that we stop at. But it’s the roads we travel that did not exist then.

The climb out of Denver is brutal with its pinnacle being the Eisenhower Tunnel, then a monstrous drop over a 5-mile span. Once we had completed that we found a pull over view area to rest and recoup with a grand view of the Dillon Reservoir.

We then pressed on to a favored little stop on the other side of Colorado along the Colorado river. As we approach the campground, we are concerned that the river may be too high and the campground might be closed. But, no problem everything was fine and the campground was high and dry. I wonder how many days the pioneers would have taken to travel the same distance?

Next morning, we were up early and stopped to let the oxen feed in Grand Junction. Then Back on the road crossing the border into the Beehive State. Sure was a lot of “big sky.” If you look ahead, you would think those pioneers would have to be carrying a lot of water to cross the next set of miles.

Of Course, it does change and you start seeing some geological changes that allow you to see how the flat rock has been pushed up forming some of those little hills you see in the distance

And you’re not always looking away in the distance at the rock formations. Sometimes, you are right down in them as you pass through a pass cut by the highway.

It was a long day through the geological wilds of Utah as we stop for a rest you can see our motor home “Miss Naughty” is still looking good after traveling this country for 17 years.

We are nearing Beaver, UT. Our stop for the next two days.

You may be asking, “what is in Beaver?” It’s a good question with an answer we got from the locals as follows. Number one was the golf course, number two was the ski resort and number three was the cheese factory. Okay, we’ll take them in order.

You know how I love golf, but why would a nine hole golf course rate so high? Because it has a race track in the middle of it, horse track that is. And yes, the horse has the right of way.

The 7^th hole is right in the middle of the oval of the track and you play the ball where it lies. Golf carts may only cross the path at two points. If a ball lands on the track, play it where it lies. We did have a first with Pat riding the course with me. And, you can thank her for the pictures taken on the course. 

We then continued on past the golf course up the mountain the ski resort which of course was closed. We were looking for that spectacular view, but found nothing that was outstanding. Yes, we did go to the top.

And found much the same as we saw in Colorado, more mountains, a lot of Aspen and when we go higher a tree line. This picture was taken at the 10,000’ level. Back to the bottom and look for lunch at the number one rated restaurant in town. You guessed it, the truck stop.

Ok, the last of the Beaver experiences, the Cheese Factory. We did buy some interesting cheese, nothing outstanding. The ice cream was good and they did have a flavor, Licorice, I had never seen before. I did taste it, but did not buy it. So, that was the town of Beaver!

Back on the road, next stop Las Vegas, “HOT” Las Vegas.

We have just passed through St. George and are entering the Virgin River Gorge. Sorry if the picture looks a bit blotchy, we did have a few bugs hit the windshield and I tried to clean them off with the picture Software. We are on the uphill side and for the next 11 miles we will be more or less coasting.

Of course, as downhills go, this one was not too bad. Notice that the sign does not have a percentage on it. That means we can probably keep the speed between 45 and 55.

It was hard to get a picture that really represented going through the gorge itself with all of the twists and turns, but perhaps the above gives you some idea.

We passed through Mesquite, NV and on into Las Vegas where the temps were headed north of 100. We parked in the Oasis RV park (very fancy) for our one night at the Passport rate and then hopped in the car and went out and hooked up with our friends Mike and Robin who were in town to get their car repaired. Later back at the rig, we listened to the air conditioners struggling away just to keep the inside somewhat cooler than the outside. We’ll have to get used to it, for our next stop is to follow Mike and Robin towards Death Valley for a three day stop in Shoshone. They live nearby in Tecopa.

As we climb out of Las Vegas, our worry is that the rig might overheat climbing the pass to Pahrump. We left early, but the temp is already in the 90’s. The rig pushes over the 200 mark and approaches 210, but does not go over, thank goodness, we made it. Pahrump is actually a little bit cooler because of the elevation, but as we turn towards Shoshone, we start our decline to, you guessed it, Higher Temps!

This picture gives you the feel of downtown Shoshone. Oh there’s more, a gas station, restaurant, motel, and some local support things. Population was less than 100. The RV park had a swimming pool that was fed by a natural spring with a constant temp around 88 degrees.

They had a nice nature walk with some pools where there were some Pup fish (endangered). We were able to choose the best spot where we had shade at certain times and the front window was not in full sun keeping the rig at reasonable temps.

Our first night there we followed Mike and Robin out of the campground into the outer fringe of Death Valley to Salsberry Pass for a view of the night sky. This is one of the darkest places on our fair planet to view the sky at night. Even though we are close to Las Vegas one of the worst sites of light pollution on the planet, there is a ridge that blocks that light source giving this pass its darkness. Mike brought along a telescope for us to look upon the planets of Saturn and Jupiter. What a thrill to see the brilliance of the milky way spread out across the sky. Also, to have such knowledgeable guides pointing out star clusters as Mike and Robin. I wish I could have found my tripod to have taken some pictures.

The next day we stopped at Salsberry Pass and took this picture. We had been star gazing over that rock you see in the middle of the picture. Just imagine the milky way coming up on the left and working its way towards you.   

We are starting our Death Valley tour early hoping to be back no later than noon. Our next stop will be in the Badwater Basin the lowest point over 200’ below sea level.

This is just a snippet of what we saw. Often, I look at a vista and just enjoy it and do not try to capture it in a picture because I know I can’t. other times, like here, I just have to try. This is a panoramic of the salt flats in Badwater basin.

Here are some snaps from the view area. Oh yes, the temp was still on the cool side, about 100.

There is always water just below the surface and sometimes above.

This is an area that you are allowed to walk out and touch. It’s not as smooth as it seems from afar and you certainly would not want to drive on it. You never know how far below the surface the water is, so the surface could be quite soft but appear to be solid.

As we drove on a sign for Devils Golf Course caught my eye. Being the golfer that I am, it was a left turn and off we went. I hope you can read the sign we found, it truly explains what we found.

By the way there is a nice little golf course with good greens and fairways in the town of Furnace Creek here in Death Valley.

We then passed through another area called the Artist Palette where you can see the wonderful colors in the rocks caused by the various chemicals contained within them.

The sign explains the colors a bit better than I did.

We continued on to Furnace Creek where the main visitors center was located and viewed the film and looked over the various displays. The town has a small population that lives there full time, but there are many people that work there, stay while working but live in nearby Pahrump. The town does have a rather large resort that seems on the fancy side, a smaller one near the Visitors center and of course the golf course I mentioned earlier. Many of the permanent residents are Native Americans. I’m sorry that I didn’t take any pictures after leaving the Artist Palette.

We continued back towards Shoshone with one more stop at the opera house. The opera house has a regular ballet during the fall and winter months. When we got there, everything was closed down.

When we returned to the campground, we needed a soak in the pool, some lunch and a nap. The heat certainly takes a lot out of you. Late afternoon, we got up from our naps and headed over to visit with Mike and Robin in Tecopa. Pat and Robin went out and about and came back with some pictures I think you will enjoy.

First you have Pat and Robin after walking a labyrinth, both smiling.

No Mary, we don’t have a lake to enjoy the sunset over, but here is a good desert sunset.

This is Tecopa Peak in the background and the Amargosa River in the foreground.

The next day I went into Pahrump and played a round of golf. I left as early as I could and by the time I finished a round, it was mighty hot. On the way back to the campsite, I stopped and took this picture.

I loved the design across the mountains. Of course, we all know that those lines are geological lines in time.

This is the scene outside our restaurant in town. Looks like this guy never got the gas he needed. Maybe this was the guy that started the restaurant, he had nothing better to do? This was our last night in town, so we did it up big by eating out in the only restaurant in town. Basic fare but good. We’ll be glad to get out of this heat.

Next morning has us up and out of the campground before 7am. Even with the early start we know that by the time we get to Mojave, we will have to drop the car. The temp has again gone north of 100 and there is no way I want to pull the 13 mile run up the Tehachapi Pass dragging the car. Pat will follow to our next stop which is on the other side of the pass in Bakersfield, which is only 39 miles.

Again we are in the extreme heat with the temp around 110. We put on our suits and head over to the pool for a much needed cool down. Our departure is again very early in the morning. We are really looking forward to getting over to the coast where we know the temps are going to be on the cool side.

As we are exiting the Bakersfield area we drove through this area.

If you look closely you will see that all of those items on either side of the road are oil pumps and we are better than half way through this farm. And no, this is not the only one of these we will see on our trip across CA. Each of these pumps are on what looks like a small house lot. Next group of farms we started going through are almond groves. I guess those almond trees like this heat.

We have just crossed CA and turned north on 101 and now we are starting to see a lot of vineyards.

We are many miles south of Napa Valley but here are the vineyards giving meaning to the fact that California now has a larger output of wine than any country other than the USA. As we approached the 101 the temp dropped into the 80’s. As we got closer to the coast it dropped into the 70’s. Then at Salinas, we turned west towards Castroville and watched the thermometer drop into the 60’s. As we pulled into Watsonville, the temp was 67 and we were almost ready for a coat.

We had called Pinto Lake Campground in Watsonville to make a reservation for our 2 week stay and we got the dreaded message “the number you have called is no longer in service.” I found another number which I called several times but only got an answering machine and nobody returned the call. We knew that they did keep a few sites for a first come basis, so we took a chance and came in. This park was owned by the city of Watsonville and the campground was a concession run by a woman named Pat, I don’t know her last name. When we got to the campground there were plenty of sites available. It turns out that Pat had suddenly passed away about 2 months ago. The city closed the park for a month while they figured out what to do. They reopened it, operating it themselves. While it was nice to have our pick of sites, the downside was that the cost for 2 weeks went up by over $200, they no longer supply wifi and the laundry is closed. Fourth of July weekend, which is normally full, only 6 of the 28 sites were taken.  

We have spent a fair amount of time here in Watsonville in the past. Our son lives in the area with his wife and daughter. Grandma was here when granddaughter Anouk was born, helping wherever she could. It was like a return to one of our homes. I was looking forward to playing golf with some old friends from years past.

 So, while grandpa was out playing golf, you know where grandma was.

Ok, Grandpa did do a few things with them. We expect to watch the fireworks with the family then pack it up and head north to Washington. Stand by for the next installment, eh?