Wednesday, March 16, 2011

TODAY (MONDAY) WE DESCENDED INTO THE VALLEY OF DEATH

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DON’T FORGET ME MOM & DAD

I stood outside for awhile late Sunday night taking in the beautiful moonlight on the towering Sierra Nevada mountains.  Snowy peaks took on a luminous glow as passing clouds parted letting moonbeams playfully dance across the ivory slopes.  I could hear a lone Coyote somewhere in the distance.  It was just one of those moments that will remain with me forever.

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HEADING SOUTHWEST ON HIGHWAY 137….JUST BEFORE THE FIGHTER JET BUZZED US!!

Lone Pine California with it’s Alabama Hills will go down in our travel books as one of the best places we have been fortunate enough to have spent time in.  We definitely hope to return there one day & spend an even longer time exploring the many mountains, canyons, hiking trails & Jeeping roads.  Two thumbs up for Lone Pine:))

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MY SLEEPY LITTLE NAVIGATOR

It was with my usual mixture of sadness & excitement that I began stowing things away & getting organized for today’s travels.  Happens to me every time we move from one location to another.  Leaving behind old memories on our way to creating new memories.  It is the beauty & emotional side of an RV lifestyle.

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A LITTLE ACTIVITY ALONG THE ROAD ON AN OTHERWISE QUIET DRIVE…NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON HERE BUT A HELICOPTER HOOVERING NEARBY WAS IN ON THE ACTION TOO

At 8:20 Monday morning with Kelly leading the way in the Jeep I rolled the big rig out of site number 76 & headed out of the the Tuttle Creek campground.  But, not before speed bump number 2 re-arranged most everything in the cupboards & of course….scrambled my shorts!!

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First stop was the Boulder Creek RV Park just a few miles south of Lone Pine on the east side of highway 395.  Dumped our tanks & took on water here for a cost of $10.  Nice looking Park with lots of trees, pool, spa & a mini store.  Lots of space & I’d say the Park was only a third full.  From there it was back on 395 heading north towards Lone Pine & a right turn at the Visitor’s Center on highway 136 heading east into the Valley of Death, or more commonly known as…..Death Valley.  The time was 9:15.

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We had checked our Mountain Directory & there was an advisory pertaining to steep grades at this end of the drive.  Other RV’er bloggers have traveled this route & said it’s a bit of a Wowzer so that is why we did not have the Jeep hooked up.  Figured it would be easier on the Motor Home’s engine & brakes if we weren’t towing the Jeep.  Easier on Al not having Kelly gasping & ramming her feet through the floorboards in the mountain passes as well.  Hardly any traffic on this road & it was a greatly peaceful morning drive…..except that shortly after turning onto this highway we were buzzed by a fighter jet so low that Kelly saw it flash through her rear view mirror.    The roar sure scared the be-jeebers out of the Bayfield Bunch.  We figure it was a Navy jet based at China Lake a few miles south & it had maybe electronically targeted us in a mock bombing run.  I never did see the plane but it was so low I think it may have scared some paint off the Motor Home’s roof.

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There are several mountain ranges to get up & over before getting to & going through Death Valley with the Inyo mountains being the first hurdle.  Not quite as bad as I feared but then again we were the one’s who accidentally took the Motor Home over Mingus Mountain & down through Jerome Arizona a few years back so anything after that is not so scary.  Lots of tight curves & grades today but the secret is to stay off the brakes as much as possible & let the engine & transmission take you down the grades.  We have an Allison tranny coupled with a Chevy 8 cylinder 8.1 Vortec engine on a Workhorse Chassis.  Not as strong as a diesel rig of course but it’s the next best thing in gas.

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Sweeping scenery as we climbed over the Panamint Range & descended into the Panamint Valley.   Across the Valley floor & it wasn’t long until we were laboriously climbing up & over the next mountains called the Amargosa Range.  Slow going on the heavy grades but we finally made the summit.  Called Kelly on the Walkie Talkie & suggested we pull over into a brake check area before we began our descent into Death Valley.  Kelly was about as white as a sheet of paper when she got out of the Jeep.  This was her first mountain driving experience plus she was having difficulty with the tricky 6 speed Jeep transmission.  There’s a lot of gear shifting to be done in mountains like this & Kelly just wasn’t as familiar with the pattern as I was & she doesn’t have a lot of driving miles logged in the Jeep either.  Suggested we hook the Jeep up but Kelly said ‘nope’ she was a gonna do it.  So, with that thought in mind we pushed ourselves off the mountain & in single file tumbled all the way down the other side to a little place called Stovepipe Wells on the Valley floor far below.

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With the worst of the driving behind us we hooked up the Jeep in Stovepipe Wells & headed northeast for the town of Beatty in Nevada.  Crossed the State line at 12:10 p.m. steadily climbing again over the Grapevine & Funeral Mountains.  Not as bad as the two previous ranges & we finally reached the little town of Beatty Nevada somewhere around 1:30 p.m.

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Found us a spot in a gravely vacant lot just south of the Stagecoach Casino, pulled in & called it a day.  Later walked up the road to the Casino thinking there might be a cheap buffet.  Ya right!!  Didn’t take us long to get our cans out of there & stopped at a Subway on the way back to the rig.  We have a very poor Verizon signal here so don’t know if this blog will publish.  If not then I will try again tomorrow morning as we bear down on the City of Lights where the Verizon signal should become stronger.  There is no Verizon coverage in Death Valley so that is why we wanted to get across it today in one fell swoop.  Kelly & I have been to the Valley of Death before but it was many years ago.

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Tuesday morning we will suit up & prepare to do battle with the Las Vegas traffic!!!!

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OUR DIGS FOR THE NIGHT….WE’LL BE HAPPY TO GET ROLLING IN THE MORNING FOR SURE

NO GROANER TONIGHT……CONNECTION IS TOO SLOW:((

15 comments:

  1. Hey Al you probably really confused that Navy jet when he saw your Maple leaf on the back of your rig, He probably thought oh, oh heres an international incident in the making. Glad to see your rig had no trouble in the mountains, that 8.1 is as big as a gas V-8 gets,the Ford V-12 might be stronger but you can't get it with the Allison, I love my Allison with the Duramax, especially the way it holds your speed down on the downhills.Have safe travels. Sam & Donna.....

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  2. Can't believe you're taking pictures while driving the mountain roads!

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  3. you are very good at multitasking or was that the little 'motormouse' taking the pictures!??..very talented little dog you have there..at least her paws don't reach the floorboards!

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  4. So Kelly does the thing with gasping and trying to stomp the floor out of the motorhome?? Glad you all made it safely down the mountains. Things are going well here on the FlyingW.

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  5. Nice Blog Al, Felt like I was right there with you. That jet scared me too!! Been to Death Valley ourselves a few years ago.

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  6. Yup, they call it "Basin and Range", more like "up and down and up and down". You might like to read John McPhee's book of the same name. It's a fascinating story of the geology of the true west. Mingus Mountain!!! OMIGOSH! back in my truck camping days I drove up that hill and lost my transmission just about 3 miles up from Jerome. sigh. I was broke and stranded in Prescott Valley for 2 weeks trying to get it repaired after the expensive tow bill. Whew! what a trip that was back in 1997, in the days before I knew Mo and only dreamed of someday traveling with a motorhome. I can't imagine you drove down that road.

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  7. Those pilots said "let's say goodbye to the Canucks.". Back in the 1980's I lived near Mather AFB here outside Sacramento, where they had a Navy navigation school. The pilots all lived in our neighborhood, and they routinely buzzed the rooftops of their own houses to say "hi" to their wives.

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  8. We've been through Jerome AZ, hanging off the side of a mountain....but not with a camper. We did, however, take the Cougar right through downtown Las Vegas...and lost a side mirror on one of the median signs that was sticking out to the inside lane...Luckily, Dennis didn't have his arm hanging out the window...That could have been REALLY BAD!! Drive safely!

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  9. Death Vally is one of my all time favorite places. But we have never driven in or out the California side. But it's good to know that your rig made it, because we have a 2008 Challenger with the Allison and Vortex and Workhorse. Love our rig.

    I could not believe you drove that road through Jerome. I can't even imagine what that would be like in a motor home. It was horrible in the car.

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  10. Al, now you know another reason why it's called "Death Valley". They don't post this, but I believe they enforce the highway speed zones from the air. You're fortunate you weren't speeding. Those fighter jets can really pull over a motor home if they want to!!

    We had a similar experience there, so we know what you're talking about. Those pilots must get a big kick out of all the tourist vehicles traveling through Death Valley. They know you don't have many options for road travel, so you're at their mercy! No place to hide, so obey the speed signs, please!

    Sounds like Kelly rides like Donna.
    We went through Jerome, AZ in our Sienna, and that was bad enough for her! I doubt that she would let me take her there in the motorhome!

    You're a very good driver, Al. Add that to your growing list of accolades from your devoted followers!

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  11. I was thinking the same thing Judy said! Maybe your navigator was taking the pictures??? We got buzzed by the fighter jets when we went through Death Valley a few years ago. Scared the stuffing out of us. Proud of Kelly for making the drive in the Jeep. Have fun negotiating that Las Vegas traffic- UGH.

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  12. In the days before we remembered to check the Mountain Pass Directory, we did that drive - on a 90+ degree day - going the other direction (Death Valley to Lone Pine) in our 40' diesel MH with the toad hooked up. It was the scariest drive we have every done, and the one that showed us we had a lot to learn about mountain driving! We damaged the sidewall of one of our rear tires somewhere along there and had to have the tire replaced.

    It is possible to drive it in a big rig, but I surely DON'T recommend it!!

    Take care in Vegas. :) Geographically close to Lone Pine, but light years away!

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  13. We've driven around Jerome by car and I can't imagine it with your large rig! Interesting place though isn't it?

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  14. Ya we won't do Jerrome in the MH either! Bad enough in the car when the MH is in the RV park.

    Since we have never done the death valley trip, your account and pictures is all we have for now. Thanks!

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  15. We were in Lone Pine last November (both Tuttle Creek and Boulder Creek). What a great place. We have vivid memories of the speed bumps at Tuttle Creek. We did the drive (in our car) from Lone Pine to Death Valley. We also were buzzed by a low-flying jet in the valley. Scared the bejeebers out of us.

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