March comes roaring in

Tecopa continues to enjoy southerly winds bringing clouds and some warmth. Spring is definitely here and even some disparate wildflowers have been observed nearby.

Death Valley National Park is relatively close so we've made a few forays there to observe the bones of the planet and "long time"...the geology of periodic ocean, lakes, layering, uplifts and faults over millions and millions of years. It is a really humbling experience. Here's one of Ms. Nancy at Badwater, 232 feet below sea level and the lowest point in continental US.


Tom has been rediscovering car camping with a recent trek to Death Valley with Priscilla Prius, queen of the desert. He recently took off for Death Valley again and ended up driving all the way over the Panamint mountains on the west side of valley. Here the Panamint range is to the east near sunset at Panamint Springs.

The little Prius is proving to be quite a comfortable ride and a geat sleeping berth. More to follow as he's hoping to venture out again in a few weeks.

The time is running on our stay here and we're looking to leave around the 22nd of March for Arizona. Hope to make it to Las Vegas at least once more. Happy trails...

The redwing blackbirds are here!

Spring sounds are everywhere, and temps are daily in the 70s+. Today its windy with scattered rainshowers. The redwing blackbirds and doves provide daytime sounds, and the peepers in the nearby "lakes" provide the night time chorus.

Took a trip recently to China Ranch, a date farm about 5 miles from our hot springs home. This is an oasis located along a tributary wash of the Amargosa River.



It was first settled by a Chinese immigrant near the turn of the last century. That immigrant "disappeared" mysteriously and a series of Anglo ranchers have been the owners ever since. Gypsum and talc were mined nearby for many years. But access to bountiful springwater nearby apparently sparked an interest in developing the oasis into a working date ranch. I've developed an apetite for this extremely sweet fruit. This is also a great place for hikes into the badlands (as seen behind the date palms in this picture) or along the Amargosa River and the old trainbed of the Tonopah and Tidewater Railroad. Tom especially looks forward to the "date shakes" after a good walk...sort of the prize for looking at all the scenery and actually getting exercise in the process. (BTW, the cloths seen in the picture at left are protecting the date fruit from the birds...they like the sweets, too!)

All else is well with us. We'll look to be here another 6 weeks so hopefully will have more to share. Nancy continues to enjoy the daily baths. Tom does too:)
Happy trails

It feels like spring, and it's just Tom's birthday

Well it's now official that Tom has begun the last year of the 6th decade, and so far so good. (Not so for Penn State at the Rose Bowl, and that's too bad after a great season) The day was spent in subdued reflection with the high point a great brunch at the Crowbar Cafe in scenic nearby Shoshone, a wholly-owned private town. The evening was spent greeting patrons at the hot springs and later cleaning the pools.

This town was founded to service the Tonapah & Tidewater RR in 1909. There is the Charles Brown General Store (and gas station), the Amargosa River Conservancy office (a "river" runs through here and Tecopa ending in Badwater Lake at 232 below sea level in Death Valley), the Shoshone Museum (home of a composite mastadon skeleton), a post office, motel, land development office, clinic and a French restaurant. Not bad for the middle of the highway and halfway to Death Valley (from Baker, CA that is).

Nearby are some cave dwellings from earlier inhabitants and likely prospectors and railroad workers. These dwellings were carved into the mud hills on the outskirts of town.





The view here is along the well-maintained Hwy 127 between Tecopa and Shoshone. The Lake Tecopa Yacht Club does a wonderful job keeping the roadside free of litter. This whole region was lakebottom real estate millions of years ago and the mudhills and mineral rings around the area are testament to that time long ago.

Weather has been incredibly sunny and balmy with temps in the 70's and almost no wind. The smells are of spring. (It was in the 80's earlier in the week in SanBernardino with wildflowers blooming along some of the roadways!) All else is well here as we look forward to January 20, 2009 and the Inauguration. Be well and keep in touch...

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!

A funny thing happened on our way to winter travels...

We’re writing again from Tecopa CA where we’ve taken up residence for the winter. Not so much a change of plan as more a change in outlook. Normally, we’re quite positive about life and our prospects, and like many this year, we’ve had our spirits lifted by the election outcome. Yet we’re challenged by our perceptions of the economy. Nancy and I have debated at length our travel plans, various budget scenarios and family responsibilities. Perhaps like many, we decided that a cautious approach to spending was in order, along with serious reconsiderations for our travel plans and ways to reduce expenses/maintain income. We see it as trying to be realistic and not panicked by the very real drop in projected income. While stopped for an overnight drycamp and a soak at the Tecopa Hot Springs and armed with a resume, a smile and willingness to work I asked if they needed any help for the rest of the season. I was greeted with a “maybe, but you’ll need to check with the supervisor in the morning.” The long and short is here we are still after my first full week in the campground and hot springs operation business. Who knows where it might lead, but for the time being we’re both feeling relieved by reducing expenses because our site costs are included and it’s 40 miles to anywhere, increased income for a few months and daily hot springs soaks, a good area for bikes and hikes, and all of Death Valley to explore. Did we mention date shakes at the nearby China Ranch Date Farm?

We just spent the winter solstice and our 29^th anniversary in nearby LasVegas, a long way from where it all began at our little cabin in the woods at Big Pond, PA. We’re not gamblers but did enjoy some good meals of Ethiopian and Thai food. We also did some food shopping, watched stormy clouds on the snow-capped mountains surrounding the LasVegas valley, enjoyed(?) the famous (and hideously inefficient) casino lights and watched the many families with children from around the world descend on our hotel (Circus-Circus) and the many family-centered activities available there. There was still a lot of gambling and shopping going on, too! We also had a great visit with old friends, Kim and Rick Swords, who are in town visiting their daughter’s family for the holidays. But, it's nice to back home where it's quiet and the stars are brilliant jewels in the black desert sky.
Happy trails, and holidays, too!

Fall, 2008 Update

Live from Tecopa, California…gateway to hot springs and the DeathValley NP

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is upon us. I’ve often thought of a blog update and as many times done something else. Perhaps it should be fewer thoughts and more frequency. Just do it. Let’s see if 2009 is any better:) Not sure if anyone is still out there to read these updates anyway. No matter, if you’re there, we hope you’ll enjoy these musings.

Our European trip seems so long ago, but the other night we pulled out the CD and relived that trip again. With the economic and financial turmoil we’re all experiencing, it makes us doubly grateful that we went in spite of the expense. The money would have disappeared by now anyway, even if we’d stayed home! Same can be said for our purchase of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Prius. And with the many trips to visit a convalescing mother it was really a saver @ $4.50+gasoline. We remained in the Corona, CA area through the middle of November. And there was plenty to do there, too.

Tom worked on many energy efficiency and water wise type projects around the park at Glen Eden and still managed to enjoy the pool, spa and hiking. He also worked at a nearby organic garden at Glen Ivy Hot Springs and was paid in fresh fruit and vegetables all summer long! He was even able to work with his sister Mary’s husband, Bruce and help out with his garage door business. All the while Ms. Nancy participated daily in hydrotherapy, pool-time exercizing and improving from her back and sciatic difficulties. Yes, we’re all feeling the weight and wear of the years.

We also found time early in the spring to get to our annual dental and drug checkup in Algodones, BC, Mexico. We joined the rest of snowbirds flocking to the relatively inexpensive (but quality) dental care and prescription drugs over the border. The irony is never lost on us as we venture there to exploit the difference in standard of living, while thousands of Mexicans struggle to come here to do the same…work for a more decent wage. However, our passage across the border is a lot easier and safer than theirs. Ah justice, or is it Just Us?

We also managed a trip through the four corners area to visit daughter Cathy in Cortez, CO. She’s set up in a new restaurant and bar business with her father there and appears to be making a good go of it even in the off-season. It was also near Mesa Verde National Park where we spent a day touring a few of the many Anasazi ruins from the 7^th to 13^th centuries. These ruins were of the probable ancestors of the Pueblo peoples of modern New Mexico and the Hopi of Arizona.

And what a year for a presidential election! We both kept busy with GOTV(GetOutTheVote) in the Corona area and online, helped with canvassing and phone support. Needless to say, we were both rewarded with the result, the first in too many years!

Thanksgiving was great this year with continuation of the "trash can turkey" main course. The main event was hosted by Gerry and Sally, long time friends from Alberta with 7 other fulltimer RVers in attendance. They did the most work dressing the bird and preparing it for the "can". The sequence shows the 17 lb bird in preparation with its aluminum foil "coat", under the thoroughly clean and degalvanized can with charcoal atop and around and those late comers who arrive for the feast!

Back in the soutwest, still traveling but...

Where has the time gone? We just returned from Europe and here it is 2 ½ months later and not a blog update. I should be ashamed! It’s not like we just stayed put after those 2 busy travel months. Today we’re in one of our favorite RV parks here in southern CA near a mother with a broken leg (and a baby sister with some health issues). We expected to spend time in the deserts of AZ again this winter, but plans change. “Wherever we go, there we are.” An old saying that aptly describes our travel and life philosophy. We’re very grateful for our lives and this lifestyle which allows us this flexibility to change direction and location so easily and conveniently.

(Home at Hole in Wall CG, Mojave National Preserve, Californina)

By way of a recap since returning from Amsterdam in November, we’ve enjoyed friends and travels through Phoenix, Prescott, Ft. Mohave/Bullhead City all in Arizona., the Mitchell Caverns and Hole in the Wall campground near Kelso, CA, southern CA and the Yucaipa/SanBernardino area for Christmas, and Quartzsite, AZ for our annual meetup with fellow baby boomer RVers and the big RV Tent show, flea markets and Rock and Mineral Shows, many thousands come through here in winter for the warmth, humanity and the good bargains, and most all in their RV’s.

We now are enjoying well-needed rains and enjoying the smell of fresh foliage and flowers as spring and the birdsongs return to southern California. Golden CA poppies are beginning to show on the medians and hillsides, while snow-capped peaks are clearly visible on the San Bernardino mountain tops. As we wonder about this change in plan and direction, we’re reminded of the importance of family in our lives and are so grateful to be able to be here for them. It’s also a pretty special place when looked at for shear beauty and opportunity, too.

We’re an hour from Newport Beach area and 1.5 hours from the ski country of Running Springs and Big Bear. Tom even has a big bruise on his backside from a cross-country skiing encounter with an icy hillside track! First time in 18 years on a pair of skis, and no broken bones, just black and blue this time. We’ve also changed vehicles and added a Toyota Prius to our on-the-road travel package letting go of our long-time Mazda pickup. It was a difficult decision but the truck was showing wear and the clutch was proving more difficult for Nancy’s (and Tom’s) back. This is our first automatic auto in nearly 30 years, and at an average of 50+mpg, a pleasure to drive both in comfort and cost:) It’s also our first time without a pickup truck:(

We're getting to learn about a new computer educational system with our XO laptop computer. This is a newly designed laptop from the “One Laptop per Child” program, an educational foundation dedicated to introducing educational opportunities via the internet, collaborative learning and lowcost technology into the developing world. These machines are still in development and were only released in December 2007. They are lowcost, <$200.00, rugged and durable with some great features, a child-sized keyboard and wireless networking capabilities. It’s a new system built on a Linux platform with all open-source software and operates differently from the more traditional MAC and PC-windows systems we’re familiar with and is a bit of a challenge for Tom. But, if a child is supposed to operate it, perhaps there is some hope for him yet J Well, that’s it for this installment. We’ll keep you up to date on the Roadshow as we move along and situations and locations change. Thanks for the feedback and encouragement along the way on this blogspot. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Be well and keep in touch…tom and nancy, solarnomads@aol.com

Total Lunar eclipse, 21 February 2008 near Corona, CA…the clouds opened for just a few minutes allowing me to take this photo. Next time visible in US 2010.