Scotty's Castle and Our Humble Home

Tuesday through Thursday, November 8 to 10, 2011

 Camping in the Texas Springs campground in Death Valley National Park is interesting. It is $7 per night with a geezer card, and the campground is laid out on a hill side with gravel sites. It wasn’t hard to get level, and there is a fire pit and aluminum picnic table. The spaces are spaced okay, not too close together. The thing we find strange is there are a couple of restroom buildings with flush toilets, but they have no lighting of any kind in them. Oh well, you learn to take a flashlight.

 The 49er Encampment activities aren’t in full swing yet, but we didn’t have time for them anyway. Our first stop of the day was at the Stovepipe Wells area, where there is a ranger station, lodging, another gravel campground with RV hookups, and a general store with a penny smasher. The sand dunes are also in this area.  We got our pennies smashed and our passport book stamped, then went on up to Scotty’s Castle.

Old truck in the stable area

Hey kids! Remember this?

Many years ago we did the castle tour, but we decided to do it again, and we also did the underground tour. There were many things we did not remember on the house tour. It was led by a ranger who looked very dapper in his period 3 piece suit. He did an excellent tour.  They do not use the water wall anymore for cooling, and the pipe organ is run by computer rather than the player rolls you can still see beside the control panel. He told a lot about Scotty and Albert and Bessie Johnson and made it very interesting.

Our dapper guide

After the house tour we went back to the cave mobiles to have some lunch, then went over to the enormous swimming pool area to meet our guide for the underground tour. The pool was never finished, but would have been spectacular.   

Unfinished pool area

Barney's going to get us some power

Our underground tour guide

During the underground tour you see a huge pile of tiles that would have been used in the pool. We were led through some of the underground tunnels that accessed all of the plumbing and mechanical needs for the house.  And we got to see the power house. It was very interesting and our guide showed us how the power was produced, with a huge bank of batteries for power storage. There is a spring on the property that provided enough water for all their needs, running water in the house, flush toilets, bathtubs, etc., and was also used to provide the power. They have a solar system that is in bad shape and will be restored.  We all really enjoyed both tours.

It was already dark when we arrived back at the campground, so we just relaxed in the caves.

Wednesday morning we left the campground fairly early and stopped to tour the Borax Works before hitting the road. We went out through Beatty, Nevada, and then on up the middle of Nevada to Interstate 80. We stopped at a rest stop on I80 just east of Winnemucca. It was a long driving day, but it is time to be heading home. More weather is forecast for the weekend, and we don’t want to be driving in snow. There is already a light cover of snow on the hills in Nevada, and it was cold overnight at the rest stop.

Again we got a fairly early start, but stopped for fuel and breakfast in Winnemucca, then just trekked on home. Got the mail picked up, turned up the heat and the water heater and are settled back into life in our humble homes.

The long road home

We had a wonderful trip. We drove about 7300 miles, were in 18 different states, and you never know when the travel bug will strike again.

Hole-In-The-Wall

Monday, November 7, 2011

For sure you are all asking “where are they today” and what hole-in-the-wall place did they find to explore.   Wait a sec and I’ll tell you.

On Sunday we spent the whole day visiting with Pebbles (Fred and Wilma’s daughter) and SIL Chris, along with his son Jason, son  Christopher (grandson of Fred and Wilma) and his girlfriend, Anne Shirley, and Julie, Christopher’s babysitter and long time family friend. Had a great visit, but it came to an end this morning as we hugged and waved goodbye to Pebbles and Chris.

Leaving Victorville, California, we headed out into the wild blue yonder, generally headed in the direction of home, with a few hole-in-the-wall places to see along the way. Our first stop was in Barstow at the Mojave National Preserve headquarters. We loaded up our books with numerous stamps there and were encouraged to stop at Kelso Depot in the middle of the Preserve before going into Death Valley. It sounded like a pretty good stop, so we turned south in Baker, CA, for a quick trip down and back. It was a very good stop. We really enjoyed learning about the history of the place. There is a train depot in the middle of the Preserve about 35 miles from both I40 and I15 in southern CA. All the way out through the desert you wonder why this place is out there and what it is all about.

It was built for the railroad (train depot, duh) They needed extra engines there to help get the trains up a grade, so they had a roundhouse there and built a large depot with boarding rooms for the workers, a small café, in addition to the depot ticket office, telegraph office, etc. until diesel engines became the norm. The round house has been torn down, but the depot has been restored and is a main visitor center for the Mojave National Preserve. There are large sand dunes just a few miles away. There was also a VC a ways down the road that was for the Hole-in-the-Wall area, but that VC has been closed. So we didn’t quite go to Hole-in-the-Wall, but weren’t far away.

The tracks are still a main line, and a number of trains go through each day. One freight train came through while we were there. There is a steam engine train scheduled to go through on November 20 that would be fun to see, but we had to leave the area.

Leaving Kelso Depot, we went back through Baker and headed north to Death Valley National Park. As we got close to the Furnace Creek area which is the main hub in the valley, we noticed a large number of RVs. Sure enough, here we are in the middle of something again. This is the week for the 49er Encampment, and the place is jammed. We found a camping spot out of the main area, and will stay two nights.  

Check back for pictures.
w

Jumbo Rocks and Pebbles

Saturday, November 5, 2011

After a good night of sleep in Black Rock campground in Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, we went back into the main section of the park to look around. After a kind of stormy day yesterday, today was clear and bright. Many of the campers in the campground were in tents, and it was a little cool. Glad we had more protection than just a tent. There was some thin ice on the puddles left from showers yesterday, but the sun felt good as we got underway.

This is our campsite in the park

In the morning before exploring the park

Our first stop was the Oasis VC on the northeast edge of the park. We got our stamps there, and talked to the ranger a little about the highlights of the park, then went out to see for ourselves, planning to do the park loop road. We stopped at many of the exhibit signs along the road, and checked out some of the jumbo rocks. One is designated skull rock, another elephant rock, and we could easily see why.

This is skull rock

This is split rock.

Lots of huge rocks in parts of the park

None in other parts.

Then we drove out to Keys Overlook where you can look out to San Jacinto Mountain, and can see Palm Springs, and several other towns down in the valley. Also quite evident there is the San Andreas Fault which is the major quake line running up through central California. There is a split in the fault line, and the town of Desert Hot Springs is right in the middle.

Continuing on, we stopped in the Hidden Valley picnic area for some brunch. The picnic tables were fairly busy, and it was still just a little cool, so we ate in. The area is a hub for rock climbers and hikers, and was really busy. We went to check out Barker Dam, but decided we didn’t want to take the trail in. Our final stop for the park was the Joshua Tree VC to get more stamps, then we got on our way to Victorville to see Pebbles.

Bear Valley Road was mostly a huge parking strip, and it took a long time to work our way through town. Christmas rush must have already started here. Even Mesa and Oklahoma City weren’t that bad.

Pebbles and her furry pets, Rocco, Rosie, and Daisy were here to meet us, with Christopher and Anne Shirley joining us for dinner. Good to see everyone.

We will spend another day here before continuing on to Death Valley and then home.

w

California Here We Come

Friday, November 4, 2011

Thank you Lee, you are an excellent host. Not only power and shower, but lots of food too. Sorry we didn’t have room to take the salads, they looked yummy!

Driving into, through, and out of the dust storm!

The forecast of snow in Flagstaff and other points on our planned route had us changing our plans. Knowing we would at least see some wind, blowing dust, and rain, we chose that against the snow, and headed west into California. We did in fact get some wind, and a short area where the dust storm was quite thick, and we got a little rain.

Since it is into November now, some RVs are already present around Quartzsite, but many thousands are still to come!

It has been many years since we have been in California, and had forgotten the inspection stations at the border. We didn’t have any problem there, and on we went to Joshua Tree National Park.

California agricultural inspection

We were going to top off our fuel tanks before going into the park, but the only station we found was out of diesel. Oh well, we were okay, so went on into the park. We stopped at the Cottonwood VC and got our stamps and the brochures, but they were closing in a few minutes, so we didn’t get to see the video.

Setting up after dark

Driving on through the park, we checked out the first campground we came to, but didn’t see anything suitable, so went on. We weren’t going to make it to the next VC before it closed, but needed to get through the park to check out a campground on the other side. Indian Cove was full, but we got our stamps there and the ranger called ahead to Black Rock to check on camp sites for us. They had sites available, so we went on.  It was already almost dark, so we quickly got tucked in for the night. It will be another cold one.

Salt River Canyon

Thursday, November 3, 2011

We had to bundle up a bit because it was quite chilly (downright cold) leaving the parking area near ShowLow, Arizona, but the cavemobile fires soon had us warming up, and away we went, down through the Salt River Canyon towards Globe. We enjoyed stopping along the way at several turnouts just taking in the beautiful scenery and taking our time.

In Globe, we stopped and listened to the friendly women in the visitor center, and loaded up with maps and brochures for Arizona. Globe is copper country, with several mines in the area. The visitor center had ore samples you could buy, and some were quite pretty. Nope, they won't be in your Christmas stocking.

We continued on through another scenic canyon, enjoying the different rock formations. As we came down from the hills nearing the outskirts of Phoenix, there was quite a haze in the air. We chose to believe it was dust blowing, but could have just been smog!

Barney's brother was expecting us, so that was our next stop. After visiting a little bit, Betty and Wilma loaded up some laundry and went down the road to find a laundromat. The Wash Tub wasn't far away, and we got that chore taken care of.

Meanwhile, Fred had taken off for Scottsdale to visit the Book Center there. He and the manager had been working acquaintances before Fred's retirement, and he enjoyed seeing her again.

All back at Lee's, we talked him into going to Golden Corral for dinner, then we settled in for the night.

Petrified

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Yes, indeed, it was cold overnight. Our water hoses froze, but we don't think they were damaged. We didn't waste any time getting out of the RV site, and headed west to cross the border into Arizona, then north to I-40 and the Petrified Forest National Park. The Painted Desert is on the north side of I-40, and the Petrified Forest is on the south side. There is a VC just outside the entrance, so we stopped there for our stamps and to watch the video. It was really a good one, and mentioned the theft problem they have. It claimed they lose approximately one ton of petrified wood per month. At that rate, there won't be much left for future generations to see. As you enter the park they ask if you have any with you, and as you leave they ask if you took any. Like someone is going to admit if they took some! It is a $325 fine if caught with some, and that should probably be higher.

The Painted Desert section showed lots of colors, with reds predominant.

We stopped at most of the turnouts, and toured the old Painted Desert Inn, then went south to the Petrified Forest area. Again, we stopped at most of the turnouts.  We took the short walk up to the ruins of the Puerco Pueblo.

There was a sign posted saying there had been aggressive bees in the area, so Betty had to sit that one out. We went on to see the tepees, layered blue, purple and gray cone shaped formations that are colored by iron, carbon, and other minerals.

This is one of the many "tepees" in the park.

The Jasper Forest was next, where erosion of the rocky bluff has strewn petrified logs across the valley.

Many of the logs are very beautiful.

Such brilliant colors.

Then came the Crystal Forest Trail. It was an easy almost mile long trail through all kinds of petrified log chunks that were very colorful. They say the logs used to hold glassy amethyst and quartz crystals, but most have been taken. How sad that we don't all try to preserve these areas.

Our final stop in the Petrified Forest was at the Rainbow Forest museum. They have a slab of very colorful red petrified wood in there that weighs about 800 lbs.  It is probably 6 to 8 inches thick and maybe 3 feet across. It has been highly polished and was beautiful.  We were sort of tired out by then, so didn't take the trails there. They have one log along the path there that is the largest in the park, and they call it "Old Faithful."

This is not "Old Faithful" but is a large petrified log. Betty and Barney checking it out.

From the park we headed southwest to the town of Showlow, hoping to stay in the WalMart parking lot overnight. As we neared town, Wilma had looked it up and found that the Showlow WalMart does not permit overnight parking. We stopped at Taco Bell for some fortification, and went out to WalMart to check it out. There was an area across the road from the parking lot that had several RVs already parked for the night, so we joined them. It was quite cold, but we were happy to have a place to pull off for the night without having to shell out big bucks.

 
On to Phoenix tomorrow.
w

Skid Row Breakfast

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

We got a fairly slow start this morning because we didn't have far to go . We drove the old Route 66 through Albuquerque, but didn't stop along the busy street. Our first parks stop was at the Petroglyph National Monument on the west side of Albuquerque. We stopped at the VC to get our stamps taken care of and went out to a trailhead where there were a number of rocks with petroglyphs.

A character in the parking lot

Two characters checking out the decorations

Leaving the rock pictures behind, we took Interstate 40 to Grants, New Mexico, and stopped at a multi-agency VC for our stamps and information. We watched the video there, and then went down to a little park in the middle of town for our lunch.  We had hardly opened the campers when the first of several probably skid row residents came by to "chat" and ask for a handout. It didn't take us too long to finish up and get back on the road, headed for El Malpais National Monument. That is pretty much a hiking destination, and since we weren't doing any of that, we just stopped at the VC, chatted with the ranger, got our stamps and then headed on to El Morro National Monument. El Morro is not too far from the western border of New Mexico. It was a pretty drive through wooded hills between El Malpais and El Morro, and the elevation is approximately 7500 ft., so it was cool. It was too late in the day to take any of the short trails at El Morro, but we stopped at the VC, got our stamps and watched the video, after taking numerous photos of El Morro.  The ranger told us you can still see the handholds that the Indian women used when they decended from the top to fill the water jugs, then climbed back up balancing the water on their heads. There are ruins on the top, but we didn't get to see them.

Power and shower were needed tonight, so we bypassed the free little campground in the Park, and found a nearby RV campground. I'm sure we've stayed in worse, but can't remember when. At least we have power so we can run our little space heater.

w

Driving Day

Monday, October 31, 2011

Today is a designated driving day, so not much to talk about. About the only semi-interesting thing today was stopping in Oklahoma City for an oil change. We had called ahead to find a lube shop that had tall bays. We found one with 12 foot clearance, and still had to be extra cautious. The Rubble mobile went in just fine, but the Flintstone mobile is a couple inches taller. We told the attendant that, but he didn't seem to hear and hardly slowed down going in. Yep, we made it, but the attendant that was in back watching was gasping at how closely we squeaked in.

While waiting for them to service us we talked to two local women about our trip. One of them commented that we had been in more states in the last month than she had in her life.

There was quite a bit of construction around Oklahoma City, and it was good to get out of there, but this part of the trip is fairly "unscenic" and we have had a strong head wind most of the day.

We did approximately 150 miles before crossing into Texas. It is 176 miles across the panhandle of Texas, and the Welcome Center is about half way across so they only had to build one, not one on each side. You can pretty much count on the welcome centers and the restrooms there being clean, unlike some of the rest areas along the way. We continued on across Texas, and stopped at the New Mexico Welcome Center. Fixed haystacks for our supper and ate in because of the wind.

Crossing into Texas

An interesting sight along the way.

Miles and miles of nothing.

Then we crossed into New Mexico.

This is our third state for the day. We are now back in our own time zone, so feel closer to home, although we have a lot of miles still to travel, and a number of planned stops before getting there.

Driving off toward the setting sun, with it glaring into our eyes, we planned to stop at a rest area for the night. The first two we came to were both closed, and they are about 50 miles apart. The third one we came to was open, but quite unlevel to try to stay in, so we drove another 15 miles to a WalMart parking lot. We will try to relax a little and then get some sleep. I guess the good thing is that we are that much closer to our first stop of the day tomorrow.

Good night from the Bedrock Bunch.

w

A 45 Year Old Knot

Sunday, October 30, 2011

On this date in the year 1966, Fred and Wilma tied a knot that has held firm for 45 years. We hope it will hold for many more years! Happy Anniversary to us!

The shower house was nice and warm as we started out early this morning, but there was a definite chill in the air. We pulled out of the Crystal Springs campground about 15 miles west of Hot Springs, Arkansas, headed northeast to Little Rock.  We took scenic route 70, and the trees were showing a lot of color. Soon after getting on Interstate 30, we stopped at a Waffle House for a quickie breakfast.

Our destination was Central High School in Little Rock, where in 1957 nine students boldly went forward to attend a previously segregated school.  The school is now a National Historic Site. There is a new VC with a lot of displays, and of course the passport book stamps. They are working on a video presentation, and expect it in about a year. There are numerous displays, including video of some news clips during the riots, an interview with news anchor Mike Wallace, and interviews with some of the original nine students many years later.  It was very interesting to see.

It's a huge school building.

Betty and Wilma and Fred looking at the garden momument.

Gas was only 22 center per gallon then.

We then walked over to the school. It is a very large building, built in 1927, and beautifully done. It is still a working school, and currently has about 2000 students. There is a small garden on the opposite corner of the intersection, with lots of pictures on a couple of portals. The original Mobil gas station is opposite the Visitor Center. The gas station is where the news people hung out while covering the story, and is being preserved in the National Historic Site.

It was then time to hit the road hard. We are now headed west, and will put in a couple of long driving days before getting to central New Mexico where there are stamp locations yet to explore.

We made a grocery stop in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, to pick up a few things we needed, and fixed some sandwiches for our lunch while we were there. Two hours from there we finally came to a rest area that actually had restrooms.  Oklahoma facilities are few and far between.

Against objections from some of us, instead of spending the night at the rest area, we continued on to Oklahoma City, where we found a WalMart and are parked on the fringes of the lot for the night, along with numerous other rigs. We had wanted to get clear out of Oklahoma City, but it gets hard to navigate through construction areas after dark, even with Garmin’s help.

More from our chisel tomorrow.

w

Hot Springs, Arkansas

Saturday, October 29, 2011

This began as a clear cool day, and about 10 am we gathered around the picnic table for our brunch. It was just starting to be sunny in among the trees, so we positioned the picnic table for maximum warmth. We even resorted to spreading out blankets on the benches to keep us warmer. The tables and benches are aluminum, and they were quite cool.

Earlier in the day we had some fog on the lake

But by breakfast it was beautiful

After brunch we loaded into the Rubble mobile and went into the town of Hot Springs. As we got closer in we could see what looked like an observation tower on top of a hill. We could not find a parking spot anywhere near the National Park VC, and wound up turning up a road that led to the tower. It is a switchback road that climbs around sharp curves. Vehicles over 30 foot length are prohibited, but we’re a little shorter than that, so went on up. It is a great area for long walks, and pretty with the falling leaves. We stopped at a turnout just below the tower to see the view of the valley, then we walked on up the hill to the tower. We didn’t want to pay the admission to ride to the top, so just looked around and then headed back down the hill to Bathhouse Row.  

Hot Springs from the top of the hill.

The tower gives an even better view.

We had a map showing some parking areas, but they were too tight for the cave mobile. We turned into a city VC, and found a few RV parking spots. As we got out of the cave mobile, a car pulled up beside us and a lady got out and took two large water bottles over to a kiosk type thing where there are spigots and you can fill your bottles with 143 degree water. They are called “jug fountains”, and there are at least six of them within a few block area, and three cold or cooler fountains. Very interesting, and before leaving, we took a couple of gallon water bottles over to fill them up. By the time we got back to the campground, they were still warm.

We were happy to find out about the free spring water that is available in numerous places around town.

Bathhouse Row was a big attraction about one hundred years ago. People came from all over for the therapeutic baths, massages, and hydrotherapy.

We were far enough away to get only a few of the bathhouses in the picture.

The National Park VC is in the original Fordyce Bathhouse, and contains a lot of the original equipment, with bathtub rooms, dressing rooms, massage rooms, gymnasium, and some roof deck areas where they could sunbathe, plus lots more.  Some of the equipment looked sort of like torture areas!

Can't imagine getting into one of these.

There were many of these bath rooms.

Part of the gym equipment.

There were three floors of the bathhouse rooms, and the basement included some of the mechanical equipment, and one spring still running through.  The elevator is still the old interior, but hopefully updated mechanics! We spent quite a while touring the building, and also watched the video and got our books stamped.

It was a really neat old looking elevator.

Bathhouse Row is still a big attraction for the town – quite a tourist trap. The great weather probably contributed to the masses of people out and about.

We weren't even temped to do this!

We walked around a little bit and took some pictures, then got our water and headed back to the campground. We tend to prefer the quieter National Parks, but they all have something different to offer. Visiting them with great friends makes it even more enjoyable.
w