Friday 2/16/17

A slice of life on the road: On one day in Death Valley (more on that later) I was up at 6:00 am hiking around the hills taking in magnificent views of the valley below. When Kate awoke she prepared for us a tasty breakfast of (vegetarian) chorizo and eggs. We then made our way 35 miles round trip (in the rig, thank God) to Badwater Basin where we participated in the ranger walk, after which we hiked on our own a couple of miles out onto the valley floor. For lunch we drove to the Tibisha Shoshone village where 30 members of the tribe continue the centuries of Tibisha habitation of the valley. We ate delicious “Indian tacos” there (like regular tacos but much bigger, with fry bread instead of tortillas). Then we proceeded to the ranger walk at long-defunct Harmony Borax Works (which only operated for five years in the 19^th century, but that was long enough to produce the “20 Mule Team Borax” ad campaign and ultimately to bless us with trickle down economics). Back to the slice of life. Late in the afternoon on this day Kate turned to me and asked “How are you enjoying your down day?”

But I’m ahead of myself. When last we checked in, we were leaving Palm Desert and Joshua Tree National Park. Our next stop was the San Diego area. We camped at San Elijo State Park campground in Encinitas. 

The weather was beautiful (as it always is in Southern California). Lots of surfer girls (and boys) on hand. 

We explored Encinitas, and the SoCal vibes from my youth got to me. I felt like saying “Mom, I’m home….” 

Also while in Encinitas we found another Westfalia Airstream Sprinter! This was the second one we’d seen on our travels. Well, we thought it was the second one. We had caught a glimpse of one earlier while driving in Palm desert. It turned out that this Sprinter is owned by our new friend James, who lives in Seattle and is out on his first five-month adventure in the rig. We told him we’d only seen one other Sprinter on the road, in Palm Desert. “That was me!” he said. So we’ve only seen one. His rig is the 163^rd of the 237 total Westy Airstream Sprinters ever manufactured. He showed us how to find this information on a doorjamb label (We’re number 65). 

James and his Westy Airstream Sprinter

While in the area we visited Fran, the widow of Kate’s brother Mike. Fran took us to a wild sort of old folks blues jam at the Downtown Café in El Cajon. It was good to see Fran, and a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

Kate and Fran at the Old Folks Jam

After our Downtown Café stop we dined at Tribute Pizza in San Diego, where Anna, Fran’s daughter (Kate’s niece) works. We managed to recruit other customers to cheer madly when Anna expertly tossed pizza dough in the air. Anna: "I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.” Don: “Great. That’s what we were going for.” 

                              Anna

Fran, Kate, & Anna

The next evening we took Anna out to dinner at a restaurant she picked. We had a great meal and a lot of fun getting to know Anna better. She’s planning her own road trip with a friend in the fall, to try out as many restaurants as they can. Anna is a foodie, and is building a career in the restaurant business. 

Dining Out with Anna

While still in the San Diego area we were able to arrange a long coffee date with Kate’s niece Vanessa. It was a really good connection with Vanessa, one of the five daughters of Kate’s late brother Mike. We sipped coffee in an Encinitas park and talked about old times and future plans. 

Getting Together with Vanessa

In the San Diego area we also were able to arrange a lunch with Billie and her daughter Kim. Billie was part of an inseparable group of friends of Kate’s mother Dorothy, who played bridge together for four-plus decades. Billie is 95 and has just moved from northern California to a new home near San Diego where her daughters live. She was elated to tell us she had just passed her driver’s license test and is approved to drive until she’s 99! 

Kate and Billie on the Threshold of Billie's New Home

Our next stop was in Orange, CA for a visit with Andrea. Kate has known Andrea since Kate was 16 and Andrea was 9 months old. Kate was Andrea's babysitter during a challenging time for Andrea (she was born blind) and for Kate (her mother had recently suffered life-changing injuries in a car accident). Andrea works as an instructor at a nonprofit organization that teaches tech skills to the blind. Devoted readers (if any) will remember that we visited Judie, Andrea's mother, in the Sun Valley area in October. 

Kate and Andrea

We parked our rig on the street at Andrea's house for two nights and managed to sleep there without getting arrested -- opening vast new possibilities in our minds of ways to stay overnight for free. During this visit Kate and Andrea had a chance to remember old times together and to catch up on current events We also got to sample some great down-and-dirty Mexican food and Argentinean empanadas from local restaurants.

While in Orange at Andrea's suggestion I had my first ever pedicure. Not bad, but I'm not particularly vain about my feet. This one will probably last me for the rest of my life.....

Lovely to Behold.....

 On a day trip while staying at Andrea's we paid a visit to our friend Kathie in Newport Beach, CA. Now retired, Kathie has led a fascinating life culminating in a career as a gourmet chef. While learning that art in the kitchens of various starred restaurants in France, Kathie befriended and was befriended by Simone Beck, co-author of Julia Child's first cookbook. When in France Julia lived and cooked in her house adjacent to the Beck estate in the countryside outside of Cannes. Late in Julia's life Kathie bought Julia's house, where for decades Kathie operated a fine cuisine cooking school.

Kate and I were lucky enough to stay in the house as Kathie's guests 20 years ago. Kate joined Kathie's cooking class and I provided a valuable service as diner, eating all the wonderful stuff they created during class. Years later I returned with Sarah and two of her college friends during Sarah's year abroad. The girls learned some cooking techniques from Kathie and I again helped out by eating everything.

 Our Friend Kathie, the Gourmet Chef

On our current visit with Kathie we spent a brief but wonderful time reminiscing and laughing, and laughing some more.

Continuing our tour of Southern California, we visited Jim in La Canada, near Los Angeles. Jim and I have been good friends for the past 60 years, beginning in junior high school. These days, spending time with Jim often means spending time with Kate’s longtime friend Dawn. Kate and Dawn met through a mom’s group when their first-born children, Laura and Joseph, were toddlers 33 years ago. The mom’s group has continued to get together at least annually since then. More recently (a few years ago), Jim and Dawn “found each other” with a little help from us, and they’ve been an item ever since. 

While the ladies spent time admiring the cactus gardens at the Huntington museum.....  

.....Jim and I had a day at Santa Anita racetrack. 

Jim and Don with Seabiscuit at Santa Anita

Santa Anita is easily the most beautiful sports venue I’ve ever seen, and Jim and I are expert handicappers. Each of us could easily make a handsome living just betting on the ponies. Not. But on this trip, we both came away big winners. This was a first, and probably a last.  

After a great visit and several good meals, we said our goodbyes to Jim and Dawn and Headed toward Death Valley. 

After crossing the mountains on the Angeles Crest highway and passing through Lancaster and Palmdale, our first stop was the Panamint Springs Resort. Panamint Springs is situated in the Panamint Valley at the foot of the Panamint mountain range – technically within Death Valley National Park, but one valley short of the actual Death Valley. Kate was initially unimpressed with the Panamint Resort. 

But after we settled into our campsite and awoke the next morning, we realized we were in a beautiful place. 

Moving on, we arrived in Death Valley where we stayed several days at the Texas Springs campground, which we used as our base to explore the valley. 

Early Morning View from Texas Springs Campground

Among our Death Valley adventures:

Hiking Mosaic Valley. It’s been a while since we’ve been truly on the road, long enough for me to forget the true meaning of an “easy” hike. Mosaic Valley is beautiful, no doubt about it. 

 But easy it’s not. The hike involves four miles round trip with a 1200 foot elevation gain. At several junctures there are narrow, smooth, slippery marble chutes requiring something very much like rock climbing to negotiate them. On the first one we encountered I had made it about half way up the 45-degree incline with no handholds when suddenly I felt I was walking on a large hamster wheel.  Then I fell to my knees with a painful thump and slid back to the bottom. Finally, I succeeded and trudged on. When we reached another such chute a hiker who had just conquered it helpfully told us not to feel embarrassed about struggling there. “I’ve been a rock climber for 25 years, and I had a hard time with this one.” This made me feel much better. 

Kate negotiating one of the tricky spots

I’ll admit though that the hike yielded some spectacular views. 

When we finally reached the end of the climb, we found that someone had thoughtfully created an opportunity for photographic proof of our feat. 

Viewing the sunrise from our rig. We haven’t quite figured out why some sunrises and sunsets are gorgeous and some aren’t, but we were treated to some early morning beauty from our Texas Springs campsite. 

Ubehebe Crater. “This hike will be easy. It’s just a mile.”  This was my introduction (enticement) to exploration of the crater. It entailed a 50 mile drive into the desert – 50 miles away from the nearest gas station, water, food, cell tower, etc. The crater itself resulted from a volcanic explosion about 2,000 years ago. It’s a half mile across and 500 feet deep. 

The hiking path around the crater requires a steep climb of about 300 feet followed by a meandering path around the crater’s edge and beyond to the edge of a smaller crater. More than three miles. I only say this for the record. The path was scarily narrow for a while, but in all it wasn’t too difficult. The crater and the surrounding desert offered food for the soul, as we say. 

Walking in Badwater Basin. One of the unintended themes of our travels has been rain. Seemingly we have a knack for finding rain where few others have done so. Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, at 282 feet below sea level. 

Kate points way, way up to Sea Level (the tiny white spot on the slope above) 

Badwater is also the site of the highest temperature ever recorded on earth – 134 degrees. But when we arrived for our visit at, it was raining. 

Nonetheless we trekked out with the ranger for an interesting talk about the forces at work shaping Death Valley. In a few sentences: The earth is stretching east to west hereabouts due to tectonic plate movement. It’s also sliding south to north due to a different variety of plate movement. The result is an up-thrust of mountains to the east and west, and a stretching and collapsing of the valley floor. Mountain rains and snowmelt wash rocks and minerals into the valley. Because the valley is so low and hot – shielded from rainstorms by several mountain ranges to the west -- the runoff water evaporates, leaving the minerals (salt, borax, chlorite, etc.) to form a crust on the valley floor. Get it?

Looks like snow, but it's salt.

Walking in the Moonlight at Salt Creek. On the night of the February full moon, we walked into the desert with Ranger Mike. Flashlights were not allowed, but moonlight was quite enough to illuminate the trail. Mike led us through various exercises designed to help us experience the nighttime desert through the eyes, ears, and noses of the animals inhabiting the area. It was beautiful and informative. 

Kate using her eyes, ears, and nose in the moonlight.

Hiking in the Daytime at Salt Creek. Later during our stay in the valley, we returned to Salt Creek to explore in daylight. In the midst of dry, parched desert Salt Creek somehow holds its own. Ten thousand years ago all of Death Valley was a 600-foot deep lake. Today Salt Creek is the only Death Valley wet creek still in existence. When we looked close we could see pupfish swimming in the stream. 

Pupfish must be the toughest fish anywhere. They have evolved to survive in water with three times the salinity of ocean water, at water temperatures varying between freezing and 120+ degrees.

When you hike the Salt Creek Trail, you know you’re in the desert and on your own. 

Still, it could be worse. In 1849 a group of would-be miners tried to take a shortcut through the valley to reach gold country and got lost. Eventually they had to kill their oxen and burn their wagons to make jerky to survive and escape on foot to the gold fields. We escaped by eating grapes and Zone Bars from our pack.

 Hiking Golden Canyon. At Golden Canyon we took a half-mile walk with a ranger-led group and learned a bit about the geology of the area.  

After the ranger-led portion, we hiked on for another 4-plus miles. Ranger Mike had assured me that this is the easiest hike in the park. Easy peasy. Well, no. There were some unbelievably steep and narrow passages. Enormous blasts of gusting wind nearly blew us over the edge from time to time. 

But as usual, the rewards (above and beyond survival) were wonderful scenic vistas. 

Hiking Mesquite Dunes. The dunes are formed by a combination of winds carrying sand and a mountain barrier acting as a windbreak. We first spent time with Ranger Chris on the dunes, learning about the abundant wildlife that somehow thrives in the valley. Coyotes, kit fox, kangaroo rats, beetles, grasshopper mice, sidewinders, and more. Chris taught us to spot the tracks of each type of animal and then turned us loose to find evidence of the denizens of the dunes by spotting tracks on our own. It was fun. We also saw the pure art created by wind and sand. 

We returned at sunrise the next day to witness another aspect of the beauty of the dunes. 

Our neighbors during our week at Texas Springs were Randy and Trudy. Hailing from the state of Washington, both had careers in the military. Randy maintained B-52's on the flight line in Greece and Greenland, among other assignments. Trudy had a shorter military career; until recently she worked for a university – as one of those people who call to remind you that you're an alumnus and you really need to give money. 

Randy, Trudy, & Kate at the campfire that never was.

We spent a very pleasant evening with Randy and Trudy having cocktails at our campfire (except we forgot to light the campfire). They gave us lots of information about great campgrounds in the Southwest, including one in particular from which you can walk into a town in Mexico, eat great Mexican food, and get FREE margaritas! Sign me up. Hold off on building the wall.

Leaving Death Valley, we backtracked a little to travel west and north into Owens Valley, notable as the source of much of the water supply for Los Angeles, via the Los Angeles aqueduct.  Under way we were treated to stunning views of the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.  

In the valley, we walked along a canal that feeds the L.A. Aqueduct.

Our next stop was in Bishop, about half way between the Mount Whitney Portal Road and Tioga Pass (to Yosemite).  In Bishop we were referred by Chuck at the Chamber of Commerce Information Office to the best restaurant in town, the Back Alley. 

Favored by locals, the Back Alley is a combination restaurant-bowling alley located behind a motel. We arrived at 5:30 without a reservation, and the place was full. Turns out it’s a very popular Valentines Day venue for the locals.  Eventually they found room for us. Kate and I had the excellent lamb chops and lobster tail respectively, and enjoyed the special Valentine decorations and the red carnation at our table. Not clear if the red lighting was special for Valentines Day or just standard for bowling alley restaurants. 

We spent a couple of nights at the J Diamond RV Park in downtown Bishop. 

Home Sweet Home at the J Diamond

Interesting person note: While at the RV park I briefly met a fellow overnight RV’er – so briefly that we didn’t even exchange names. He was visiting because he had taught at the Bishop Paiute reservation in the 1970’s for a few years. He had returned to look up a man who had been his favorite young student back then, only to discover that his former student had been murdered this past year in a drunken bar fight.

The J Diamond RV Park is next door to the justly famous Schat’s Bakery. If you’re ever in Bishop, Schat’s is the place for breakfast, lunch, and/or a million fabulous bakery items to take out. Not that Schat’s needs our recommendation. They really are famous. 

While in Bishop we visited niece Teresa, one of the seven children of Kate’s late brother Mike.  Teresa is a school psychologist for the Inyo County schools, and has lived in this Eastern Sierra town for six years. Kate and I had a nice dinner with her and her boyfriend Uncle Jerry (in-joke). Jerry is a public health inspector for the county; he and Teresa are both avid hikers and rock climbers. It was fun to connect with Teresa in her home area. Our children, nieces and nephews are scattered so widely that it’s sometimes hard to stay in touch in person. One of the benefits of our current adventure is that we can visit and stay in touch. 

Teresa, Jerry, & Kate

Back on the road again, we’re headed we know not where – probably south and east, staying as warm as we can.