Sylvia's RV Journey

Well, the rockin and rolling continued on through this morning, making for some incredible videos and photos. This is officially a haboob sandstorm with incredible winds, probably 40 to 50 miles an hour. Boy, am I glad that I'm in a tin can on wheels, and not in a tent out there!  We have haboobs in Phoenix, however they never seem to get up into the mountains of Cave Creek in the same way as they do on the flat valley floor. Well, here we are in Death Valley, and I'm camping in a flat valley floor, and I'm getting the full effect of what it's like to experience this. Yet, again, another first! Think of it as a blizzard except instead of snow it's sand, white/brown out conditions, and so much blasting dust. I'm sure it's pretty unhealthy, and a little concerning, but there's not much I can do about it. The woman last night who lives just outside of Yosemite said they were expecting 50 mile an hour winds. I guess this time they were right! So my plans obv...

The star gazing here in the darkest place, is amazing. Death Valley is considered the hottest, lowest, driest place in America. A beautiful night and a beautiful morning, as I headed down the mountain from Wildrose campsite. I would stay here again, without any question. I dodged plenty of poop in the road and I know that cattle are not part of this national park, but I couldn't help but wonder what animal leaves these piles, until I came across a herd of wild burros! What a treat to see them, and have them be so close to the road where I could stop and photograph. They could care less that I was there, but still seemed curious. As I headed down the mountain, I  felt my head in this elevation change, and it got a little bit warmer as I finally reached the main highway and headed nine miles east towards Stovepipe Wells. I was at my lowest point of gasoline, just below a quarter of a tank. It was $5.55/gallon, here two days ago, and now it is up to $6.76! Over a dollar per gallon rai...

Like clockwork, at dawn, I woke up and decided to quickly run to take a shower, hoping that I wouldn't have to stand in a long line. There was a full group site, of dozens, nearby, so it was surprisingly quiet. And no others, in the shower...yet. What a treat! Yes, the mornings are plenty chilly and thankfully, there was an outlet for the hair dryer. At this point in time, I didn't care if the hair dryer turns my hair into a frizzy mess, which it does. I normally air dry my hair to keep the frizz away. But not this chilly morning. I thought about my day and wasn't quite confirmed where I would wind up.  There are plenty of times when I am completely spontaneous, and other times I'm planned out to a tee. I keep it loose when I can. There is something so freeing about that. As I headed back towards the central part of Death Valley, near Stovepipe Wells, my former campsite at Wildrose beckoned me to return. It's as if the Sylver Gypsy was on auto pilot. I knew that I w...

Well, the night at Wildrose campsite was very calm, but very chilly. I heard the propane furnace going on and off continuously and it was about 35 degrees this morning when I got up. I made a good start towards the top of Telescope Peak Mountain. I was headed towards the Charcoal Kilns exhibit. The national park service does a pretty good job with describing and informing visitors on what to expect regarding roads or trail conditions, so from what I could tell, these kilns where at the end of a paved road. But alas, they were not. No worries, dirt roads are plentiful out here in the wild west, and I have driven on more than my fair share. I dodged plenty of potholes, and jagged rocks, hoping for the best, as this road continuously took me straight up hill for 2 miles. Finally, I arrived in pockets of snow, nestled in the shadows. I was now at about 7500 foot elevation. I will say that the chill and the stiff winds were painful, as my bum thumb went absolutely numb very quickly. I say b...