Happy New Year 2009

All's well in our world here at the hot springs! We had a busy 2 weeks with lots of bathers from LA and LasVegas, many from Korea, where public baths are a tradition, and lots of campers on the way to or from Death Valley. Definitely looking forward to a bit of quiet that should come in the new year.


Father Christmas, as he's known in these parts, made a guest appearance along with Father Time at the annual Community Center Christmas party. The Center is pretty much the "center" of life in Tecopa and this whole area. It's located inside the RV park owned by Inyo County and operated by California Land Management (who Tom works for). The party brought together children from nearly 25 miles away along with RVing "snowbirds" far away from their families and homes in Washington, Oregon and even Alberta. Everybody had a good time. There is a post office two miles away, a library open a couple of days a week and a "Bistro" opened on weekends and special occasions. It's also where we had our new year's eve meal. Something to be said for walking to the restaurant, then returning home and bed by 11pm...I guess new year isn't what it used to be.

After watching the weather for the rest of the country, I realized how
much I missed the snow, but not enough to drive far to see it or touch it. After all, here the ground is white, like snow, year around. However, it's not very tasty or wet. In fact it's pretty salty stuff...alkali in fact. It's in the water and dries and wicks up through the ground. This area was formally a rich mining area for gypsum, talc and borax, along with gold and silver.




And for the real snow, you have to drive a ways into the mountains. Here the view is to the east towards LasVegas 80 miles away. This was about as close as the snow got this year (so far) Today temperatures are in the high 50's. Should be a great day for the Rose Bowl and Penn State!

Happy trails in 2009!