• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to footer navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Young Snowbirds

RV Travel Blog - Our Motorhome Adventure Through the US and Canada

  • Home
  • About Rob and Darlene
  • Places Visited
  • Sitemap
Home » Blog » Day Trips » Day 7 – Death Valley California Part One

Day 7 – Death Valley California Part One

December 21, 2009 by Darlene 12 Comments

After a quick stop in Beatty for gas (we crossed the CA/NV border 4 tines today), we were on the way again, this time to the sand dunes.

14 square miles of velvet soft sand – just smack in the middle of the valley.   It was stunning to see the dunes on the horizon and as we drew closer they become even more ominous.

At this point because we had stayed longer than anticipated at the ghost town, we were chasing the light, and the sun was setting fast.  So no sooner than Rob had stopped the car, Dar took off at a run, camera in hand.  Rob brought up the rear, with extra lens and tripod – he makes an awesome assistant!

Dar didn’t really get “the” shot she was looking for, as we really needed to arrive there about 30-45 minutes earlier and get out to the dunes further off in the distance, ones without so many human footprints on them.  It is what it is though, and she still thinks she got some good shots, including some of us together on the dunes in the setting sun.  Yay for self timers and tripods.

Death Valley Sand Dunes

Death Valley sand dunes

The obligatory shadow self portrait.  In this shot, Dar and Rob are the same height!

Death Valley sand dunes

Death Valley sand dunes

Death Valley sand dunes
Rob, showing perspective on how high the dunes are

Death Valley sand dunes

Death Valley sand dunes

Death Valley sand dunes
Yeah for self-timers on cameras
Death Valley sand dunes
A spectacular sunset

Death Valley sand dunes

You can’t tell by the photos, but the sand dunes were filled with people. They were everywhere. It was quite tricky to get a shot without someone in it. Rob is convinced that at least one of these photos has had multiple people edited out of them, but I’ve assured him that they’ve not. He’s right though, there were people literally everywhere in the sand dunes.

Stovepipe Wells for Diner

A stop in at Stovepipe Wells told us there isn’t much there besides a hotel, gift shop, saloon and restaurant.  The restaurant didn’t open for another 30 minutes, so we had one drink in the saloon then moved over to eat.   The lady bartender told us there is about 50-60 people that live there, some full time, some leave in low season.  Not much to do here if you aren’t working – I can’t imagine living there.

Dar took the driving duties back to Pahrump this time (in the 90 minute drive we only saw 22 other cars between Death Valley and Pahrump) and after stopping at Walmart yet again (we need a membership there apparently) to find they have NO mens swim trunks this time of year – we were back “home” by about 8:15pm and off to the showers and hot tub for some R&R after a long day.

***Things we saw:  tumbleweeds actually tumbling this time, volcanic rock, rabbits, a house made of bottles (in Rhyolite)

Lessons learned:

  • even in Nevada it gets chilly at night (around 0c) and a heater or propane is really helpful
  • when the photographer/ranger says to be at the dunes by 3pm to set up for sunset – listen to him!   3:45pm means you have to run across the sand and don’t make it far enough out.
  • That many other more experienced RVers have electric space heaters and don’t use their furnaces and propane for heat.  They run the cord outside the RV and plug in directly, so as not to use any of the precious few 30 or 50 amps of power you’ve got inside.
  • That the guy at the RV park gate when we checked in lied to us!  He told us the campgrounds right IN Death Valley had no services (power, water, etc) and were the same price or more, so most people choose to stay in Pahrump.  NOT!   The campgrounds at Stovepipe Wells had full service, we could have stayed right there. But it is what it is now, and it’s all good.

This was the final page of a 5 part series on Death Valley. Click here to read our Death Valley trip from the beginning, starting with the Amargosa Opera House

Images in this post are available for purchase on the Her View Photography online gallery at Zenfolio.com.

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Filed Under: Day Trips Tagged With: amargosa opera house, borax works, California, classic cars, Death Valley, desert, ghost town, Nevada, Pahrump, photographer, rhyolite, RV, sand dunes, snowbirds, travel, united states, zabriskie point

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jan says

    December 24, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    Hey, where are the dunes photos?

  2. Rob says

    December 25, 2009 at 9:57 pm

    Dar will put them in eventually Jan. With our travel schedule and stuff, the biggest challenge right now is time for her to do the photo editing. To be honest, she’s not even done editing our own wedding photos!

    as soon as she’s got them done, they’ll be put up.

    I’m assigning her a “photo of the day” and we’ll soon have a gallery up as well. Even if we dont post a trip log for the day, we’ll have a photo of the day

  3. Jan says

    December 28, 2009 at 4:21 pm

    Hey. love those photos…thanks! I really like the angle on the opera house, inside and out, and the wagon wheel and the dunes, and…you get the idea! Places like that are really awe-inspiring. Thanks again. And I do know how hard it is to get the photo stuff done. Since we got home from Malawi I have made only one post to our blog. However, it’s a philosophical one that needed some time to process before posting. Check it out at http://nesscafe.wordpress.com

  4. Darlene says

    December 28, 2009 at 4:43 pm

    Hi Jan, there’s still more coming for this day yet, including ghost town and sand dunes. Check back again tomorrow, I hope to have them finished. Just downloading 300+ from my memory cards now.

  5. Darlene says

    December 28, 2009 at 4:44 pm

    Jan I tried your link but it just goes to a “how-to” word press page.

  6. Rob says

    December 29, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    Dar, I edited Jan’s comment with the correct link now

  7. Nazima says

    December 29, 2009 at 9:05 pm

    Pictures are gorgeous as usual. You should be tweeting this.

  8. Darlene says

    December 31, 2009 at 9:37 pm

    thanks, I think Rob is but he still wants to add some more stuff to it before he advertises it

  9. Dawn says

    May 28, 2010 at 7:28 am

    Thanks for sharing your stories! They are great! I am a young snowbird too so I have had some of the same challenges. I would like to know how you were getting internet service in these remote places?

  10. Rob says

    June 6, 2010 at 12:24 am

    When we book our sites, we ask about wifi. All our wifi is provided by the parks. Most are free, but we’ve had to pay for some Tengo at times. Next year we’re going to get our own wireless modem and hook up with “Clear” who provide a signal in both Arizona and Texas

  11. Wendy R says

    June 8, 2010 at 11:10 am

    On another trip to Death Valley, it is most worthwhile to visit Scottys Castle. The story of Scotty and the castle and how it came to be built is fascinating. It is a US National Parks historic site. Good luck with your continued snowbirding (we are young ones too).

  12. Darlene says

    October 19, 2010 at 5:13 pm

    FYI for all Young Snowbirds readers: Road Trip calendars for 2011 are now available on my site. I had so many images and requests to have them that I have created a calendar of some of my favorites from the road. You can see all the images in the calendar and order one on my photography blog at: http://www.herviewphotography.com/2010/09/30/road-trip-2011-calendars.html

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Time limit is exhausted. Please reload the CAPTCHA.

Primary Sidebar

It All Starts Here:

  • Our First Day in the RV

RV Travel Thoughts

Free Stuff .... sort of

You never know when your luck will draw to you free stuff along the road. 6 months, roughly 22 states and a smattering of Provinces puts a person in enough situations where free stuff, just seems to come your way. While we didn't play poker, we did put $5 into a nickle slot and win $104. That's free money in my books. In Tombstone, we walked into Big Nose Kate's, saddled up to the bar and are asked "would you like a margarita?" and were given a free drink. This happened again in Texas. We also got a free months electricity at an RV park that will remain nameless (wont say why either, and no we didn't "unplug and run")

Pee Before Driving Through Cities

When you're driving an RV, you travel with your toilet, but while the passenger has the luxury of peeing while you move, the driver does not. I've learned that before entering any city limits, it's a good idea to find a place to pull over and pee because while on the Interstate, there are no pull outs to be found. They say the human bladder can hold 18 oz or 1/2 a litre of fluid, but I would wager it to be a lot more.

RV Travel Video

  • Dawg House Diner on Route 66
  • OK Corral Blacksmith
  • Tombstone Biker Bird
  • Doc Holiday Drank Old Overholt Whisky

Dar & Rob on the web

  • RobCooper.com
  • Learn How to Take Better Pictures

Travel Blogs

  • Everything Everywhere

Footer

COACHING & MENTORING

Imagine…finally discovering a coach and mentor, someone who truly cares about your success and believes in you. Someone who has the knowledge and a step-by-step approach to help you get clear, confident and focused on your vision and dream as an entrepreneur.

Learn More

BOOK US FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT!

Rob & Darlene is available for your next conference, leadership event, or gathering where people are looking for motivation and inspiration in their lives and businesses.

Learn More

CONTACT ROB & DARLENE

We would love to hear from you! We’re here to help you realize your Big Idea.

Young Snow Birds
Edmonton, Canada
123.456.7890 | Contact Us
  • HDR Photography
  • Travel Photography

Copyright © 2019 · utility-pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in