Week 84 - Death Valley and Hemet CA - 03-23-2008

He is Risen!

We hope you celebrated the Risen Christ on Easter. We are so thankful for the opportunity the Lord has given us to be able to travel as we do. But more importantly we are thankful for life in Jesus!

1) We left the snow behind us as we left Hesperia, CA and 2) descended through Beaumont and Banning. 3) We returned to Golden Village Palms RV Park in Hemet. We had stayed here for five days in early February. The weather was perfect and every morning 15 to 30 fellow RVers play sand volleyball for two or three hours. 4) Here is "Peacock", the most colorful of players, but everyone here is so nice and fun to be with. Probably 80% of these folks are snowbirds from Canada. They will leave within a few weeks, but we will meet them again next winter.

Our daughter Emily and soon to be Son-In-Law Chad joined us for a few days. We swam, played shuffleboard, pocket billiards, relaxed in the spas and played table games. They will be married in May this year.

On Sunday we went to the Westside Church. The service was over three hours long with seven unscheduled baptisms and several confessions of faith. After lunch we took a 40 mile scooter ride through Hemet, to San Jacinto and past the Soboba Indian Casino.

As promised from last week, here are the photos from Death Valley. The weather was perfect, in the high 70s. In most of our travels, pictures do not do justice to what we see. However, many of these photos do accurately reflect the variety of colors that Death Valley offers.

Isn't the contrast of the road and the hills phenomenal?

This from the view from Hwy 190 between Death Valley Junction and Furnace Creek.

This photo was taken just a few hundred feet past the above picture. What a change in colors!

This view along Artist Drive looks like the ice cream flavors from Baskin-Robbins.

1) More colors from Hwy 190. 2) Hwy 190 may look rough but made for a smooth scooter ride. 3) Our photo of a photographer capturing "Devils Golf Course". 4) Ellen stands next to the wagons pulled by a 20-mule team. Two wagons carried borax and a third carried 1200 gallons of water. The weight of all three was 36 tons; that is more than two of our 40 foot motorhomes. We have 400 horsepower, they had 20 mules.

1) The dry lake at Badwater CA. At 282 feet below sea level, it is the lowest point in the USA. 2) The Furnace Creek Inn can accommodate a couple for only $350 to $500 per night (03-2008). Be sure to get reservations. 3) The road between Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells is the lowest in California (and we believe in the US). 4) What can Brown do for you?

We were only in Death Valley for two days and one night. Our recommendation would be at least two nights. Bring lots of water and take the hikes. We dry camped in Stovepipe Wells and took the scooter for a 100-mile ride. We took a couple hours to climb through Golden Valley along highway 178 between Furnace Creek and Badwater.

There are lots of signs and literature throughout the park that explains the rock formations and the millions or billions of years it took to create them. Have they ever heard that the Lord created our world in seven days? Perhaps He just wanted cool rock colors and made them!

Love, Pete and Ellen

Photos from Mar 2008