The Route from Post Falls, ID to Scottsdale, AZ

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Christmas in Scottsdale

Joan and I were very fortunate to spend Christmas with my sister Katie, her family and good friends in Scottsdale, AZ. On Christmas Eve, after dinner, their tradition is to construct awesome ginger bread houses. Competition is intense. I understand that the judges can't be bribed. I wisely chose to not compete. My niece Rebecca (in green) did convince her friend to compete and he did a much better job than I would have the first time out of the chute.

Christmas day featured the usual frenzy of unwrapping gifts. Here Joanie managed to get all the kids together, from left to right: Gaelyn Rebecca, Erinn, Parker and Jessica. Gaelyn is the daughter of Katie's good friend Lois.

Jessica's two pugs were specially groomed for Christmas. That's Bruce on the left and Buttercup on the right.

Katie's husband John and Parker take their ping pong seriously!

It was kinda tough getting the fifth wheel backed down the drive way behind the gates. We pruned two trees on the way in, then, with John's expert spotting assistance, we managed to tuck it in. It sure was easier to pull it out when we left!

Death Valley - Geology

Death Valley is raw geology on display. The mountain ranges rise on the east and the on the west while the valley floor sinks between them. This is the view from Aguereberry Point late on Solstice afternoon. We stand at about 6000 feet, roughly the same as the opposing range. The valley floor is almost 300 feet below sea level.

We four-wheeled into Hole in the Wall before dawn on the morning after Solstice night. Here we're looking west towards Telescope Peak and Aguereberry Point.

Ubehebe volcanic crater on the north end of Death Valley is about 600 feet deep.

Until this point, I figured it'd take a submarine to get me this far below sea level!

Artist's drive at sunset.

Zabriskie Point at sunrise.

Death Valley - Solstice

The shortest day of the year dawned into a cloudless sky. We began the day by visiting some faint petroglyphs below Skidoo road. This is where we first hit the snow that would shape our day.






These charcoal kilns were the primary goal of the day. After getting the truck stuck in about 1 foot of snow, I aired down and chained up the rear end. We were then able to continue up the road to the kilns. 10 of these kilns were built to provide charcoal to a nearby mill. In just a few years they completely consumed all the available wood in the area and shutdown.




The smell of wood smoke still lingers in the kilns after nearly 100 years.

Joanie filled an insulated silver bag with snow she wanted to take back to our camp on the valley floor in Furnace Creek. (Melinda, this is the bag you gave us over Thanksgiving!)

The day's tour ended with a touch and go drive up to Aguereberry Point. Snow in the S curves of the canyon we climbed to the point was deep enough to give me second thoughts on attempting the drive. Since there was no room to turn around, we had no choice but to keep going and not get stuck! We made it. Magnificent views from the point can be had of the valley floor and distant mountain ranges.

Joanie made a snowthing on our picnic table at Furnace Creek, complete with charcoal features, plastic utensil crown and LED lights. We heard passing children oohh and aahh at the thing, wondering where the snow came from!

This longest night offered great star gazing. I could feel the sweep of the seasonal wheel, Orion rising in the east, Cassiopea over head, Cygnus setting in the west, each of them following the ancient path of the Milky Way across the sky.

Death Valley - Scotty's Castle, the inside story

Water was the key resource that allowed Albert Johnson to build Scotty's Castle. Several springs produce water in the canyon above the house. Johnson not only used the water to meet irrigation and household needs, he also fed it to several Pelton water wheels which he used to power systems in the house.

Here's what remains of another novel system he built - it's a solar powered water heater, dating (probably) from the 1920s.



Tunnels run beneath the house. These tunnels provided ready access to plumbing and wiring. They also look into a never completed swimming pool through stout glass windows. Tiles meant to finish the pool's concrete walls are still stored in the tunnels.

One of the Pelton water wheels is still operational. I had the fun of turning the valves that control it's water inlet. This particular wheel powers a 7KW DC generator. When electrical needs exceeded 7KW, the diesel generator on the right was added. I'll betcha that it made alot of noise!

Power from the generator was routed to two banks of fifty batteries each. These batteries are connected serially and in parallel to produce (I think) 120 volts DC. Electric systems in the house ran on DC, no AC. Surprising to me, the batteries are not lead acid.

Death Valley - Scotty's Castle

Scotty's Castle isn't really a castle and it didn't belong to Scotty. Chicago insurance man Albert Johnson built the place as vacation home. Walter Scott was a Death Valley cowboy turned con man who got along pretty well with Johnson. Joanie and I figured it'd be a good place to spend a snowy day.

The clock tower sits apart from the rest of the place. Johnson may have had unfulfilled plans to connect it with the other structures - he lost his fortune in the Depression and the place was never finished.

Both the exterior and the interior show a strong Spanish influence.

Details on the gate show good craftsmanship. The J/S stands for Johnson and Scott, all the more amusing since Scott had no money to put into the place.

The interior is a museum, maintained for the most part as it when the Johnson's occupied it.

Upstairs there's a music room with awesome sound. On the right there's a machine that plays rolls of music. The lattice on the right conceal the sound machinery, an organ with more than 1000 pipes. I think it's the 1920's equivalent of an awesome entertainment center.

Death Valley - Amargosa Opera House and Transportation

When the storms finally cleared, we headed north from Tecopa into Death Valley. The route took us past the Amargosa Opera House. Local legend Marta Becket still performs here on Saturday nights, though the show may change at any time due to her health problems ... In case no one shows up, she's painted a 150 member audience on murals inside the theater. Really.

The empty parking lot outside had a Twilight Zone feel to it. Sadly, we would miss her performance as it conflicted with our Solstice celebration.

See the URL http://www.amargosa-opera-house.com/

Transportation in the Valley has changed with the times. Initially, 20 mule teams hauled two large wagons full of borax coupled with one water tank many miles to the rail head.

This steam engine replaced the mules in later years. I would think the mules would have been more reliable.

Fast forward to 2008. Someone has painted a Dodge Cummins pink and used it to transport tourists eager to experience the "Natural Side of Las Vegas". I found this one hard to comprehend.

Tecopa Hot Springs

While at Agua Caliente, I asked Joanie where she'd like to spend her birthday. With a gleam in her eye, she said "Death Valley". So ... we left Agua Caliente and made our way north and east towards Death Valley. We drove through a nasty dust storm toward the Salton Sea, then north to Joshua Tree National Park, where we made preparations. The Black Rock campground where we stayed is just outside Yucca Valley, where Joan's Grandfather Basil Starkey lived for many years, so Joanie just had to have this picture.

We left Joshua Tree and headed north toward Death Valley, knowing that a series of storms was headed our way. Uncertain if this sign was a joke or not ... One thing's for sure, there's not that much commerce in the valley. Our plan was to weather the storms at Tecopa Hot Springs just south of the Park, then head in to Furnace Creek when the weather cleared.

The hot springs water at Tecopa feels silky. The "town" is a little rough, the place we stayed was rustic, if you know what I mean. Good folks, though. We seem to meet great people at hot springs. On the full moon, I built a large fire overlooking our camp. We invited the couple camping next to us to enjoy it with us. Eventually they joined us for dinner in our fifth wheel, complete with Joanie and Lisa dancing some country swing together after the dishes were cleared.

We've seen the coldest nights of the trip here. The mountains just north east of us looked like this the morning after the storm cleared. Two days earlier, we endured a severe wind storm. The wind knocked trailer off it's supports, blew down signs, broke open the door of the office. It moved our trailer back and forth enough that one of the chocks between the tandem axle wheels came loose. Good thing I'd chocked both sets!

The morning of Joanie's birthday dawned clear and calm. She walked the labyrinth above our camp, dressed in her birthday finest. Including long underwear, if I'm not mistaken. We had breakfast and dinner in the little bistro down the hill from us. Excellent meals and good company. Limited menu. Closed now until the day after Christmas.

Here Joanie wears a birthday present - it's a glow in the dark tee shirt, stating among other things, that " a good planet is hard to find".

China Ranch

One of the day trips from Tecopa took us to China Ranch, so named for the nationality of the man who began to work this land in the 1800s. It's an oasis on the Amargosa River, sheltered by surrounding bad lands.

Date farming at the Ranch began to really take off when the current owners bought the property in the 1990s. They've developed the date orchards of many varieties.

Darnest thing, to keep the birds from eating the maturing dates, each bundle is covered in cloth. Old sheets seem to do quite fine.

Pull up a sheet and voila, expose the dates within. We sampled several varieties in the little bakery/store at the ranch. Mmmmm ...!

Labyrinth

The flat rocky earth of the Yaga Labyrinth at Tecopa Hot Springs also hosts several pieces of rock art, courtesy of those that visit. Enjoy!