Tecopa, CA

Tecopa is known for its hot springs and many resorts have sprung up around them. This is the "Wild Tub" which is the only one in the area, besides the mud spring, that is free and not enclosed in a building. It really is in the middle of nowhere and Brad is thoroughly enjoying himself.

In a small valley outside of town is the China Ranch, a working date farm. Its name comes from the Chinese man who originally owned this piece of dirt beside Willow Creek. He raised cattle but either sold or was run off the land around 1900. The name "China Ranch" stuck.

The date farm, seen here surrounded by the dry hills, has a very interesting history. The palms were planted from seeds in 1920 by Vonola Modine (ancestor of Matthew Modine, the actor) having never seen a date palm before. Many of the original trees stand today, as do their offspring.

Many hiking trails surround the China Ranch, and we hike much of the Amargosa Canyon Trail to the slot canyon and waterfall. Here, I am standing just inside the slot canyon which is only a few hundred yards long, but still interesting with the porous, volcanic rock.

Brad climbing the dryfall at the "end" of the slot canyon. He would pick today to wear grey.

Brad standing over top of the lower waterfall. Another one just above him falls about three or so feet. This is the Amargosa River providing much needed hydration to this parched landscape.

On the highway to Pahrump, Nevada is this interesting roadcut. Note the streak of black obsidian, a glass rock created by volcanic activity. Brad is fascinated with this and spends part of a day climbing it and collecting a few small specimens.

Well, we do see the strangest things in the desert. In the "town" of Tecopa Hot Springs we find The Gypsy Time Travelers. We don't see their show of story-telling and blacksmithing, but what does intrigue us is their RV which was custom built by the owner. It is fantastic, complete with wooden turrets and porthole windows.

This micro-brewery and restaurant are owned by the fella who owns the town of Tecopa. We stop for a burger and beer (both great, by the way) and eat overlooking the pond. It is a lovely setting, except for the mosquitoes! Afterward, we enjoy a half-hour chat with the owners around their campfire. Only in the desert...

Mojave National Preserve (not yet a National Park), CA

And thus begins our trek back east! We leave the California Coast and busy highways of Los Angeles behind to seek solitude in the desert. This is the exact spot where we camped in January 2011 (our first season RVing) and where we met our friends from Quebec, Jean et Denyse. This is our view of the Kelso Dune.

After a day and night of rain, we awake to thick fog, which starts to burn off at about 7:30 am. The dune crests are just peaking over the top of the rolling fog, with more fog behind them.

The mountains to the east behind us with the fog spilling out onto the valley floor.

Kelso Dune is about 600 feet high, the third highest in America. This is the American Thanksgiving long weekend and many people come to climb and sand board. Yes, that's a person standing to the right of the peak.

On our first night, we are treated to this beautiful sunset.

An artsy photo of the shifting sands and the swirling impressions left by the wind and grass.

When we were here before, we didn't climb the highest dune. This year we are determined. It's a very, very, very difficult climb in soft sand that rolls you back half a step with each step you take. That's me, slowly making my way to the top (I actually crawled on hands and knees part of the way to save my aching feet!) Did I mention it's a very, very, very difficult climb?

Success! Me finally making it to the top.

This family is enjoying sand boarding with the kids and dogs. They sure have a lot of fun.

Can you find our trailer in this series of photos from the top of the dune?   Ahh, there it is!

Brad loves playing in the sand. This is the way down, which is a LOT easier than the climb up!

The first scorpion we've ever seen on our trips. We've seen tarantulas and many snakes, but never scorpions. He is very tiny, about 1/2 the length of my baby finger, maybe a bit more. Not sure what kind he is though, even after a bit of research on the internet. Apparently, they all look alike! This one is hiding under a rock that Brad moves (of course!) and immediately takes an attack posture. He is ready to kick Brad's butt!

No Grady! These huge holes are all over the desert and Grady would easily fit. We figure they are fox dens, although we see no wildlife other than a few birds (cactus wrens?) and the scorpion above. But there is much evidence of wildlife with small, mouse-size holes and these. There are also numerous ant hills in the sand, but they are all abandoned. Strange.