2013 Death Valley Mini Rally

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Betty Brewer

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Well  the 4 rigs who left the Quartzsite Rally as a group have reconvened at Sunset Campground in Death Valley.  A group of RVForumites were here in 2011 so we (Jerry /Ardra and Terry/Betty)  "know the  ropes."

Happily Henry and Margaret are newbies to Death Valley.  We left  Parumpf this morning after using lots of water and 50 amp electric at Lakeside Casino and RV Park getting  Q dust off selves, rig  and  our hair. This is a very good  Passport America Park!

We arrived in Death Valley around 1:30 and after setting up, made a fast trip to the  new Visitor Center.  We got maps, paid for our dry  camping ($6 per night) and then took off for  lunch.  In Henry's words, "this group knows how to eat!"  The girls made a fast shopping trip in the General store.  New  shirts were purchased!

We then  returned to rigs and set out to  photograph Artists  Palette.  We had planned  a sunset  Happy Hour at Furnace Creek Inn, however we missed the time of sunset due to  high  mountains in the way!  We perused the menu and decided to return another day earlier so  we would not be too cold during Happy Hour.

We returned to our rigs for a  happy hour watching my new light. ( Thank you Ray)  We decided to  tour Beatty and Titus Canyon tomorrow.  We leave at 9 packing lunch ( or Terry will buy a Subway sandwich along the way)

So much fun to extend life's adventures from Quartzsite!  Photos to  follow if they are any good!
 
Highlights  of our  mini rally day  one. 
 

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Todays Pics...
 

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    Wish I was there with you guys.  I'd like to re-shoot a couple of places.  Make sure you go to Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes, especially after a wind storm, so all the foot prints are gone.
 

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Wendy and Mike turned us into Death Valley nuts - it was not a destination we would have normally picked without her input (like Betty getting us to Yellowstone the first time).

We did not get enough pictures taken in the short week we were in Pahrump in November, but it's high on our list to spend more time. I almost had Christi talked into boondocking  where you guys are, but maybe next time! We were going to come out for a couple of nights and catch the stars, but.....

Living vicariously through your lenses! Have fun and we'll see everybody in Moab!
 
Some pics on today's run through Titus Canyon...
 

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Seems like all we have been doing is taking group shots and eating.  If I have time this morning after making lunch  I will post some  photos of our eating events at The Candy and Nut Company and  sunset at Furnace Creek Inn.  Nice Mojitos were order of the day.

Today's agenda is a  nine am departure for Echo Canyon. 

Betty
 
Is Henry still having trouble with his high speed rear end?
 
In order to make us all feel better about the price of gas where we are, how much is gas at Furnace Creek ?
 
I was going to post a picture of the prices in November when we were there, but all the pictures on this post have disappeared, and I cannot get the attachment function to work.

Wassup????

OOPS! did not read the new message list far enough - attachments are disabled temporarily...my bad!
 
  Liza, my high speed rear in is doing great, now it's my high speed internet that giving me trouble. Hopefully I can post just 1 pic.
 

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We have missed all of  you during the Forum upgrade.  We are finally taking a day off from  off roading and Jerry and Ardra will leave us and return to Las Vegas for some dental work.( That is a Jerry story only he can tell!)

Terry and I plan to  join Henry and Margaret for Brunch at the  Furnace Creek Inn at 11 am.

Fuel in Furnace Creek is $5.48 while in Stovepipe it was only $4.38.  Panamint Springs was $5.98 per gallon.  Guess where we got fuel?

 
It will take a while but  I  hope to give you updates on our past few days.

Today (1/31/13) was another wonderful day in Death Valley with RVForum friends.  We set out at 9 am to hit  Echo Canyon.  We saw Eye of the Needle and had lunch and hiked at  Inyo Mine. Terry demonstrated lunch  on the manifold with his hot hot dog.

We then traveled to  one of the  top 3 most difficult drives in Death Valley. It is rated a 5 out of  6.  Terry cruised  right up.  Henry in a stock Wrangler with street tires,  climbed right up.  Boy was he thrilled to have completed such a challenging waterfall.  Then  Barb drove right up. Frank watched with a careful eye.  Go girl Power!

We cheered all the drivers and then  began the traverse over Funeral Mountains and into Lee?s Camp.  It was a long drive, a long day and  we topped it off with Happy Hour at our place and the to Wranglers for an all you can eat buffet and we all included dessert.  Yes we do know how to eat!  Photos  here.
 

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If you get to Scotty's Castle and see a Ranger named Lacey, please say hi for us. She worked at Old Faithful last summer.
 
Some pics of Echo Canyon & Inyo Mine,
 

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Some pics of yesterday's Race Track run.
 

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Statistics from yesterday's run out to  Ubehebe Crater, The Racetrack ,  Lippencot Trail and  Panamint Springs.

Left at  9:30 am.  Arrived home at 6:45 pm in the dark!
Altitude gain  13,721 feet Max height 6106 feet. Lowest elevation -331 feet below sea level.
Average Moving Speed  20.9

I think we have covered every trail in Death Valley. The Lippencott trail was a hair raising challenge with  high, narrow ledges that many of us did not appreciate until we had completed them.  Good drivers all!  What a fun run that many or most visitors to Death Valley probable never ever see.

At the end of the trail when we were airing up there were big ROAD CLOSED signs.  Good thing we did not see them at the start of our trail. 
 
Betty, there are LOTS more trails in Death Valley for you to experience - Hunter Mountain, Hidden Valley, Saline Valley, Eureka Sand Dunes, Johnson Canyon, Darwin Falls. You're just getting started.
 

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