NOVEMBER 08
USA-California-Death Valley
Saturday 1st from Panamint Springs at 1800ft we dr
ove up to Towne Pass at
4956ft and then down to Stovepipe Wells below sea level. From
there we went north to Scotty’s Castle at over 3000ft, it was a dull
day and photos were drab.
While Mervyn was on a tour of the castle Howard saw a Coyote in the car
park. We returned a short distance to the Mesquite Springs camp
site. A couple of Americans took us to see a Tarantula (only two
inches in diameter). Sunday
was a fine sunny day. We made a return visit to the castle for
photos, they were much better in the sun. We
retraced our route to rejoin the main r
oad, we continued south to
Furnace Creek, where there were four camps, in the first two all
hookups were taken, and we went into Texas Spring camp and spent a long
time levelling the van. As we were leaving the first camp we saw
a Coyote strolling alongside the road. Monday we continued south
along Death Valley, although winter was approaching, it was still hot,
in the mid thirties. The scenery was almost the same as the
previous days, but we did descend to 288ft below sea level, at
Badwater. We then turned east to cross into Nevada and camp at
Pahrump, a half price site. Tuesday the sunny weather
still continued but at 2500ft it is a lot cooler. A lazy
day. Wednesday
the lazy days continued, there was nothing to report. Thursday we departed from
the camp and went shopping, then on to a clinic for a prescription for
Howard. How long Howard asked, one hour was the reply. Two
and a quarter hours later we left, and decided to return to the camp
for the rest of the day. Early Friday we set off for Las
Vegas in sunny weather. We arrived in time for elevenses.
At 1330ft it was getting hot.Saturday 8th we caught the free shuttle bus into town at 1030. When we arrived on Las Vegas Boulevard (The Strip) we walked north to Circus Circus and then back to Harrah’s to lunch in a café na
med Burgers, Shakes and
Cakes, all three were very good. We continued south as far as
Luxor passing Caesars Palace on the way. The shuttle back to camp
left from Harrah’s necessitating a return walk. We reached
Harrah’s by 1600, an hour before the bus left. The café
there was very good. Sunday
some rain? Surely not in Nevada. Our plan was to have a
meal out and view “The Strip” after dark. The shuttle bus took us
in, the lights were good but nothing exceptional. The meal was
good again nothing exceptional. Monday we left Las Vegas
spotting a Camping World on the way. A technician worked on the
extra cooling fan for the fridge and now hopefully it will keep the
fridge from overheating when we are in Mexico. We also bought a
Microwave and have to run a 120V wire for it as we blew the half amp
fuse in a 240V to 120V converter. We crossed the Colorado River
on The Hoover Dam to enter Arizona and camp at Kingman. Tuesday we rested. We
have time to spare, so there is no hurry. Wednesday we went to Home
Depot for electrical parts to connect the microwave, then on to
Williams to collect our post and to camp. Thursday Howard spent most
of the day running a 120V wire for the microwave, and putting in two
sockets, one for the microwave and one for an electric heater. Friday as Howard’s back was
still playing
up, Mervyn did most of the work bending into
the large locker, fixing the box for the circuit breakers and a
junction box. He also connected the wires, a few more bits are required.Saturday 15th we departed and called in for the final electrical bits on the way to Cordes Junction, where we arrived in time to have lunch. In the early afternoon we fixed the microwave in place and then relaxed!!! Sunday on our journey to Mesa we visited Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home. Mervyn went on a tour of the buildings. We arrived at Mesa camp, for over 55s, at 1330. Monday as Howard’s back was painful, he visited the Urgent Care Clinic. This was the third Medical Centre that didn’t take our insurance. The bill was, as usual, less than our excess. We went back to our camp. Tuesday our first stop was at Thermo King. Thermo King is the North American firm selling and servicing Eberspacker our diesel air heater. They serviced the heater and fitted a new glow plug and filters. We ordered a timer for the heater, it will be in in two days time. Wednesday a rest day in which we took off the shower door (broken hinge) to try to find someone to make a hinge reinforcement. Thursday we set off to collect the timer, the last three quarters of an hour was spent searching for the firm. We were within a half mile of the firm all the time. Finally we drove eastwards to camp at Globe. Friday designated a rest day, we didn’t do a lot.
Saturday 22nd we drove to Willcox through areas of recently harvested cotton alternating with areas of desert. On Sunday we left the camp to go to the Chiricahua National Monument. We completed the visit quite quickly. The types of scenery were not new. We returned to Willcox to the same camp. Monday was wash day, this took most of the morning. In the afternoon we relaxed. Tuesday on today’s drive we went off road on a corrugated dirt road to visit one of the Cochise Strongholds used by the Chiricahua Apache in their wars with the invading White Man. The road wasn’t too bad but slow going. Then we travelled on to Tombstone where we took a guided trolley tour of the town, including “Boot Hill”. The town has been spruced up since our last visit in 1991 Wednesday we had another rest day. On a rainy Thursday we set off to go to Tucson. We stopped to shop for food and then continued on to Tucson. The rain developed into showers, some heavy. Friday another restful day. As yesterday was Thanksgiving we have booked here for four nights. The overnight rain had cleared when we got up and the sun shone. Mervyn baked the Christmas cake.
Saturday 29th another rest day, we are still waiting for the forms to apply for our International Driving Licenses. Our licenses expire on December tenth. Sunday we stopped in this pleasant camp .
USA-Arizona-Tucson