Wild West day 11

Death Valley Days... After our close call with low fuel, I was a little tentative about heading into Death Valley. Well, can you blame me? But, with a full tank of diesel and a full tank of fresh water, plus ample groceries, we dove in. This plaque briefly identifies the point where a wagon train of 49ers split, trying to get out of Death Valley. One group went north and the other went south. Guess which group made it out...they both did, after abandoning their wagons and walking out with their horses and oxen. This is the lowest point in Death Valley, reported to be 282 ft. below sea level. My super duper, highly accurate, never lies GPS agreed. The red line points to a red bucket surrounding where a sign noting sea level is displayed well above us. Golden Canyon...back in '66 or '67, Vic & Linda Koeneman drove up from Montclair (or was it Clairmont?), Ca. where they lived at the time. They had a VW van and we all piled in for a visit to Death Valley. We drove up this canyon quite some distance and got out to scout around. It was winter, February, I think, and there was a light misty rain, wetting all the pebbles and stones in the canyon. The stones were beautifully colored. We collected as many as we dared and took them back home. The next day, the stones had dried out and were all plain old tan colored. So, we put them in our fish aquarium and the colors returned. Today, Joyce and I visited the canyon. It is now blocked off to vehicle traffic and only foot traffic allowed. Leaving Death Valley From Death Valley, we continued on Hwy 178 toward Ridgecrest, Ca. We passed through Trona, an old nearly extinct boron mining town. It now produces soda ash from the alkaline Searles Lake bed. From Trona, onward to Ridgecrest and the nearby China Lake Naval Base, more accurately known as Navy Air Weapons Station. This is where I was stationed from 1965 to 1967. This is where Joyce says she grew her "core". Or, Joyce hated it there. Probably her only bright spot is Michael was born there. We camped at the base "Famcamp" RV park. It was brand new, no grass and only some newly planted sapling trees. But, it had nice RV pads and a decent shower/laundry. However, it is still in the desert. The desert Joyce hated and the wind we both despised. Wouldn't you just love to live here?