Blue Moon

I saw on the news that the full moon last night was called a Blue Moon.  There seems to be some confusion about what that means. 

After doing a little online research, I discovered that some say a blue moon is the second full moon in the same month.  That wouldn’t be the case this time as it’s not near the end of the month.  Others say it is the fourth full moon in a season, which doesn’t happen very often.  This full moon is the fourth in the fall season this year.

Whatever the explanation is, it sure is beautiful.  I took this picture just after sunrise this morning. 

 

 

 

 

Thank goodness the winds finally died down last night.  We were able to go back to our normal sleeping arrangements, and I got a good night’s sleep :)

The weather across the country sure has been strange the last few days.  The strong winds the west has been experiencing are very unusual.  Utah has blizzard warnings posted for tomorrow.  The weatherman said Utah rarely has blizzards, and they’re freaking out about it.  Wisconsin had two tornadoes today.  That’s almost unheard of for November.

Tomorrow we’re headed for Vegas for a few days.  Five years ago when Kevin turned 50 and our son, Korey, turned 21, we took both boys to Vegas.  In a few weeks Kevin will have his 55th birthday so we thought that warranted another Vegas visit.

We’re meeting blogger friends, Janie and John for lunch tomorrow.  We’ve never met in person, but have found we have much in common through our blogs.  I’m looking forward to getting to know them better.

I leave you with two sunset pictures from a few nights ago.  I love how the colors are so different.  Both pictures were taken at the same time, just a different part of the sky.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Unusual Bed

I’ve mentioned before how much I dislike wind.  Well, it’s been very windy since Friday morning.  Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts over 40.  There have been a string of huge storms all over the southwest.  All least we’re not getting hammered with snow like other places.  We haven’t even had rain, just wind, wind, wind!

The wind is just so noisy.  The slide toppers make noise, but it’s more than that; all kinds of noises, flapping, creaking, howling, etc.  I knew sleeping was going to be a problem Friday night.  I took 1/2 of a Tylenol PM which is normally all I need, and I put in the earplugs.  I slept for 3 hours and that was the end of it.  Spent the rest of the night watching late night TV game shows.

It was still howling last night, and I was dreading another night without sleep.  When desperate, you can come up with some out of the box ideas :)

We have an Aerobed for when the kids visit.  I pulled in the bedroom slide and squeezed the air mattress between the bed and the shower.  There was just enough room.  I also pulled in the kitchen slide which is next to the bedroom and that also helped cut out some noise.  I ran a little electric heater in the bedroom which created some white noise.  This time I took a whole Tylenol PM and put in the earplugs.  Success!!!  I slept a solid 8 hours.

Poor Kevin ended up sleeping on the couch.  The noise doesn’t really bother him, and he can sleep just about anywhere.  He said it was fine.  What a great guy to put up with my craziness!

When we bought this trailer, we had never heard of a bed lifting up when you pull in the bedroom slide.  We didn’t find out about it until after we had purchased it and spent the night on the dealer’s lot.  When I pushed the button to pull in the bedroom slide, I was sure surprised to see the bed lift up.  That way it doesn’t hit the dresser across from it. 

I highly, highly doubt our next one will require the slide to be out in order to sleep in the bed.  It also concerns me when we spend a night at a Flying J or Wal-Mart.  We’ve done it a few times and never had a problem, but I’d rather not have to slide it out.

The good news is the wind is supposed to die down tonight or tomorrow for sure.  So I may be sleeping in my alternate bed for one more night.

I’m not complaining, though.  This still beats the alternative!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

How Low Can You Go

On Wednesday we spent another day at Death Valley.  We started out by driving up to Dante’s Peak which is a mile above sea level.  There was a fantastic view of most of the valley and the salt flats.

Then we headed down to Badwater Basin which is 282 feet below sea level.  It’s the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere.

Look carefully and you can see a little blue sign on the upper left side of the picture that says sea level.

 

 

 

 

We took a walk out onto the salt flats.  They cover an area of nearly 200 square miles.  The salt is washed down from the surrounding mountains.  Since there is no outlet to the sea, the salt just accumulates in this valley.  It’s a mind-boggling thing to see.

Nothing grows in this salty soil.  You would think there is no water, but there is Badwater Pool.  It’s fed by an underground aquifer and has very salty water year round.  It is home to the Badwater Snail which only exists in a few springs on the edges of the Death Valley salt flats.  And, with just this little bit of water, there are pickleweed plants growing next to the water.  I am so surprised that any life can exist out here.  We did encounter some flies out there.  They’re everywhere!  I’m starting to despise them even more than mosquitoes.

We hiked 2.5 miles along Golden Canyon.  At the end of the canyon is this large wall called Red Cathedral.

All along the trail the rocks had crusty salt deposits on them.

 

We hiked along Natural Bridge Canyon to see, you guessed it, a natural bridge.  You can see the size of it by looking for the two tiny people below it.

At the end of the day, just prior to sunset, we drove along the nine mile road called Artist’s Drive.  We have seen so many rocks over the last two months, but I am still fascinated by the natural beauty.

We’ve found a nice dirt road behind the casino, so the days we don’t go anywhere, we’ve been walking an hour or more for exercise.  I am so appreciating the great weather. 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Cleaning

We haven’t been doing anything too exciting the last few days.  Sunday was football and laundry day.  Kevin’s been cleaning the outside of the trailer the last few days.  We haven’t washed it since we left Wisconsin, and it was dirty from traveling; bugs and dust all over. 

Most campgrounds don’t let you wash your trailers so we weren’t sure how it could be done.  We met a man in Utah who was cleaning his trailer using auto detailing spray.  He just sprayed it on and wiped it off, no rinsing needed. He told us he got it at Wal-Mart.

We checked it out, but it was rather pricey to buy enough to do the whole trailer.  Kevin had a bottle of 409, so he decided to try that.  It has worked great.  He did wash the awning using the hose.  The campground here doesn’t have any rules posted about washing, but we didn’t want to overdo the water usage.

Here’s our clean trailer with the moon above it.  Next week the truck gets some cleaning attention.

 

 

 

 

The weather has been in the 70s every day.  We’ve been taking a walk each day for 1 to 1.5 hours.  It’s so nice.  Nighttime temps are in the 40s.  Our electric heater takes care of that.

I wiped down all the woodwork inside with Orange-Glo wood cleaner.  It’s all nice and shiny now.  I’ve also been doing some quilting. 

Today my sewing machine was acting up.  Suddenly the tension wasn’t right.  I tried all kinds of fixes, but nothing worked.  Finally, I went online to see what it could be.  One recommendation was cleaning the bobbin area.  I had cleaned it out with the little brush, but I didn’t realize there was another layer of parts to take out.  Wow was it dirty down there.  It’s working like a champ again.

Tomorrow we plan to spend one more day at Death Valley National Park.  Next week we’re going to Vegas for three days.  We got a room at the Imperial Palace right on the strip for only $25 a night.  We’re leaving the trailer here and treating ourselves to a hotel room.  We could camp, but I’m not much of a gambler.  With a room, Kevin can enjoy the casino, and I can go to bed.

I reserved tickets for the Terry Fator show.  He was the first winner of America’s Got Talent.  I’ve wanted to see him ever since he won.  Several websites say his show is in the top 10 things to do in Vegas.  I’m excited to see it.

I’ll leave you with another beautiful sunset tonight.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Wagons Ho!

The 61st annual Death Valley 49ers Encampment was held this week at the national park.  This organization holds the annual event to celebrate the spirit of the 1849 gold rush wagon trains that crossed Death Valley. The five day event includes western-style music, an Invitational Western Art Show, craft shows, cowboy poetry, golf and horseshoe tournaments, a pioneer costume contest, 4X4 tours, wagon train and horse parades, community breakfasts and more.

Yesterday was the wagon train parade so we planned our second day at the park to coincide with the parade.  It was an interesting site to see.  I started thinking about what it must have been like for the actual pioneers traveling through this desert.  I’m definitely happy to be a 21st century “pioneer” with my modern “covered wagon”.

Death Valley is the hottest, driest and lowest area in the United States.  Yet, surprisingly there is a creek that flows through part of it.  It’s called Salt Creek and begins at a brackish spring and marsh.  During the heat of the summer, it is mostly dried up except for a small pool at the spring.  Even with the heat, the salt and the evaporation, there is a species of pupfish (The Salt Creek Pupfish) that live only here.  Nature keeps amazing me.

There are a few other spots in Death Valley that have springs creating an oasis.  The main such area is called Furnace Creek with an inn, a few campgrounds, a visitor center and even a golf course.  The springs gush a million gallons of water per day.  That’s enough to provide water for the resort and to allow irrigation of the lowest golf course on earth!  Greens fees for 18 holes with a cart are $67.50.

 

There are a lot of palm trees around the resort.  As we were walking beneath them, we discovered they were date trees.  The ground was covered with dates.  I never really thought about where dates come from.  Now I know.

 

In 2008 Xanterra, the private company that owns Furnace Creek Resort, installed a solar powered energy system.  The one megawatt system covers an area larger than five football fields.  It was installed in the middle of an existing developed area and is screened by vegetation. The solar plant is expected to generate more than one-third of the total annual electricity needs of Furnace Creek Resort by producing more than two million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. That's enough to power more than 400 average-sized American homes.  The picture is from the back of the panels.  They pivot during the day to follow the sun.  I would love to see other companies follow suit and use more solar and wind power!

 

When I pictured a desert, I always thought it looked like the Sahara Desert with miles and miles of sand dunes.  That’s not the case at all in Death Valley.  I certainly never expected to see mountains, but the valley is surrounded by them.  Most of the landscape looks like dirt and gravel with a few sand dunes scattered throughout the valley.

There are a few areas referred to as Badlands formed by erosion with many layers of colors.  We’ve been to the Badlands in North and South Dakota.  I wasn’t expecting to see more in Death Valley.

 

We drove along a very bumpy dirt road to get to the Mosaic Canyon trailhead.  Some of the canyon walls are polished marble.  Everywhere we go, we find new surprises.

 

Our final stop of the day was at the site of the former Harmony Borax Works.  Prospector’s came to Death Valley looking for gold and silver of which they found very little.  They did, however, strike it rich with borax.  The borax was processed on site in Death Valley and then transported through the desert by 20 mule team wagon trains to the railroad over 100 miles away.

This is part of the processing site.

 

 

 

Here is an original wagon train.  Each wagon train carried a water tank for the long trek through the desert.

This interpretive sign shows one of the 20 mule team wagon trains.  I so remember the commercials for 20 Mule Team Borax when I was a kid :)

We plan to go back to Death Valley for one more day.  There is so much to see!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Holstein Cows in the Desert?

Being from Wisconsin, we are very used to seeing Holstein cows.  We did not, however, expect to see them in the Mojave Desert in Nevada.

This huge cow stands guard in front of the casino and RV park.  In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s not real.  But don’t worry, there is a very large living Holstein steer here as well.

His name is Herman.  He stands 6’4” tall and weighs 2,800 pounds.  I asked the clerk in the lobby why there are cows out here in the desert.  She said it was a gimmick the owners came up with to get people to stop; something to make the place unique.  I’d say it is definitely a unique feature.  Herman has some friends that live with him.  These two donkeys are full grown so you can see just how big Herman really is.

There’s also a goat and the pond behind the casino is home to several ducks.  I get a kick out of hearing the donkeys braying and the ducks quacking.  It almost feels like being on a farm in Wisconsin, but the weather is much nicer.

There’s something else that seems very unusual about this area.  Other than the casino, there is not much else around here for miles and miles.  There are some mobile homes here and there, but that’s it.  The casino has a little mini-mart.  Otherwise, the closest full-size grocery store is 35 miles away.  The closest gas station is 16 miles away.  The entrance to Death Valley is 8 miles away, but then there are hundreds of miles of roads inside the park.  It’s the largest National Park in the lower 48.

But, I digress.  The other thing I find to be very strange is that there are miles of power poles that seem to go nowhere.  There are dirt roads out in the desert that seem to go nowhere.  We’ve been taking walks along such a road behind the casino.  For miles all along the road there are water pumping stations.  I have no idea where the water is being pumped to.  There’s nothing out there.

I took this picture today while we took our walk on the road behind the casino.  You can see the dirt road along the left side.  The casino is about 2 miles back down the road.  If you look very carefully, you can see the buildings in the center of the picture.  The mountains are much further away.  Do you see the snow on top of the one on the right?  There is just a little snow on that one mountain.  Spaced all along this road are water pumps.  If you look in the other direction, the road keeps going.  We’re not sure how far it goes, but eventually there are mountains that are part of Death Valley.  That’s it.  There’s nothing else out there.   Strange!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Revisited

On Tuesday we went back to Ash Meadows to check out some more springs.  The first time we went it was quite hot out, and we didn’t feel like walking on all three of the boardwalks that lead to springs so we only did one.

This week the weather is cooler so we went back for another look.  The refuge is home to several endangered species of pupfish found only here. 

We walked along a very nice boardwalk to King’s Pool to see the Ash Meadows Amargosa pupfish.  They are only about an inch long.  The males are bright blue, and the females are green.

It’s just the strangest thing.  You’re driving through the desert, and suddenly there’s one of these springs.  Here’s what the landscape looks like.

The refuge is called Ash Meadows because Leather Leaf Ash trees used to be prominent trees here along with Mesquite.  Most trees had been cut down for farming and ranching.  The refuge has been replanting them.  The ash trees are pretty in their fall color.

The refuge is about 20 miles from Death Valley National Park.  For some strange reason there is a small section of the refuge that’s actually part of Death Valley.  The area is called Devil’s Hole.  When we got to it, there was a gate across the road with a sign saying it could only be accessed on foot.  The path was short, and when we got up there we were quite surprised by what we found.  There’s a hole in the ground filled with water that looks like part of a cavern.  There is a fence around the entire area with razor wire on the other side of the fence.  They really don’t want anyone going down into that water.

After reading through the information, I discovered that Devil’s Hole is home to the endangered Devil’s Hole Pupfish which are estimated to have been in existence for 10 to 20,000 years.  There are only a few hundred left, and they are only found here.  There is  a great deal of research being done at this site to try and save these fish.  It’s really quite interesting.

One of the boardwalks leads to the Longfellow Spring.  The spring is named after Jack Longfellow and his cabin has been reconstructed at its original location next to the spring. Jack came to the area in the late 1800s and became infamous as a prospector, gunman, gambler and horse breeder.  It sounds like he was quite a character.  The casino we are staying at is named Longstreet Casino.

One of the things I really like about this lifestyle is the ability to discover places we would never have had time for in our old life.  The Ash Meadows Refuge is definitely one of those places.  We are truly out in the middle of nowhere, yet here’s this amazing place. 

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!