Have I got a deal for...

You.

For a mere $5,000,000 (chump change for The Donald) you can own your own unincorporated town in California. 

Nipton comes with 80 acres of prime Mojave Desert real estate. You are not just buying sand and mesquite bushes. No Sir or Madame. This giveaway sales price includes the famous Nipton Hotel. 

But wait! There's more! The present owners are so swell, they will pitch in the Whistle Stop Cafe, the Nipton Trading Post and my temporary residence-the Nipton RV Park all for the same low price. Such a deal! 

So what if the campgrounds rest rooms has dirt floors? The local cats have discovered this substrate makes an excellent litter box as well. It's these simple touches that enhances the overall wilderness experience of being in the high desert. 

The asking price doesn't include the six residents who call the zip code 92364 home. You might have to deal with them on a one on one basis. As the saying goes, "Everyone can be bought." You can always go across the border to Nevada to purchase a pound of flesh. (Legalized prostitution.) 

It's a quiet town. The only traffic is the Union Pacific trains that toot their way through every so often. The railroad tracks are so close to my Van, I can practically hand the engineer an IPA as they head to who-knows-where. (Maybe Salt Lake City to Los Angeles and visa versa?)

Yet, the moon is rising and the stars are shining. It's all good in Nipton, California.

Good night from RV site # 4,

Jeff

Parting is such...

Sweet sorrow. 

With an end of game full moon silhouetting Death Valley and it's Super Bloom, it's time for me to get along Little Barley. 

I spent my time in this vast park hiking to places where a twisted knee would allow me to get to. http://jeffsambur.blogspot.com/2016/02/as-i-was-falling-over-backwards.html

There's just a few real trails, so I was pretty limited. Fortunately, flowers don't mind being neighbors with paved or dirt roads. I scored many oh-ah moments just the same. I just wish I could have seen and done more.

I'll make up for this the next time I venture this way. There will definitely be a next time.

Today, I'll be heading to Nipton, California. A place famous for not much. The town (if you can call a hotel, general store and campground a zip code) prides itself as a place of sloth. I plan on icing my knee, resting it and looking out into the Mojave Desert void.

I read about Nipton in the now defunct National Geographic Adventure magazine. Maybe that's why the monthly tabloid died a sudden death. They gave too many Nipton-like recommendations. 

There will be a full report with photos ASAP. 

Wish me luck on the knee. I won't be doing much wandering or wondering if I need a surgery.

Cheers,

Jeff 

 

Sometimes it's best...

To let the pictures do the talking. 

While I was hanging out at an scenic overlook, a woman opined "Well, now it's all about the flowers."  

I beg to differ. Its about the vastness, the wildness, the extremes, the sunrises and sunsets and cool stuff in between.

The more time I spend in Death Valley National Park the more enamored I become to the place. If this park were a woman, I would ponder matrimony. It's that good.

A full moon good night from Death Valley,

Jeff

How do you like that selfie?

Whether you look down from the top...

Or up from the bottom, Death Valley National Park is one Mother Lode of a gem. It tops the acreage scales at 3.1 million.  That's about five Rhode Islands. It's the largest Park in the Lower 48. It resides almost entirely in California, the most populated state in the USA. There's a smidgeon of parkland that somehow snuck across the border to Nevada. The Nevadans must have been distracted by a "Girlie" show in Vegas when this happened. 

Here you can still get far away from the maddening crowds. I love that part of this desert wonder. Today I sat alone on a mountain top for about an hour. I smiled a lot as I took it all in. There's so much to see and explore here. If I had a 4X4 Barley the Van, I would really be able to do it justice. (And hope not to get stuck or broke down). 

Barley II will be a tricked out macho 4X4 van. 

Ahh! The Super Bloom. The budding beauties are marching north and up the slopes. 

The rate of travel and type of bloom seems dependent upon altitude and latitude. What can I say? The flowers march to the beat of a different drummer, and I'm OK with that.

On my way back to Arizona, I'll do my best to follow these peaceful soldiers as they make their way across the desert landscape.

From Furnace Creek, CA,

Happy Friday,

Jeff

PS. The last shot is how you ice a bum knee in the desert.

I'm Bloomin' in...

Love with Death Valley's Super Bloom. 

In a park with so many touchy feely names like the Funeral Mountains, the Devils Golf Course, Dead Man Pass and Dante's Viewpoint one wouldn't expect so much life!

But here's proof positive. Death Valley NP is in the midst of a rare ohh-ahh event. The last two Super Blooms were 1998 and 2005. I drew the Flower Lottery on my luck for being here. 

Death Valley is a stand alone inspiring park of crazy extremes. It's a cerebral beauty that you need to think about. (Like Baseball). 

My favorite: From Badwater (at -282" the lowest point in North America) you can look up across the valley to Telescope Peak. Its over two miles above you. Your mind cannot absorb such a scale. Don't even try to. Just except it and smile. 

Despite a bum knee, I'm still smiling. 

As far as the names of the flowers goes, there's pretty yellow ones, the lovely purple varieties and the exquisite orange kind. The botany lesson is now over. 

From clean Barley the Van, I even washed the sheets. 

Cheers,

Jeff

Super Bowl vs. Super Bloom...

OK. The Super Bowl scores more viewers. The commercials are funnier. The half time show can feature Ms. Jackson and Justin Timberlake in a "wardrobe malfunction." Sometimes there's a great football game. I.E. NY Giants beating the NE Patriots twice. You can drink lots of beer if the party is at your own pad. You can bond with buddies and family members.

All these cool things aside, I'll take a Death Valley National Park Super Bloom any day. Look at those freaking flowers! They are Mother Nature's attention getting device. Even a curmudgeon like Andy Rooney would smile below those frowning white eyebrows. 

I loved the artist palette of color so much, I purchased properly nearby. It needs works, there's rooms with a view and it's a great starter home. All those wonderful realtor cliches. But! Location! Location! Location! In a quiet neighborhood. I'll take it.

Cheers from the National Park that nearly did me in,

Jeff

As I was falling over backwards...

on the cusps of a cliff. This is what I was thinking.

A) So this is how it ends.

B) Those petroglyphs I scrambled up to take photos of weren't worth dying for.

My leg snagged on something, interrupting physics from pushing me to my final tipping point. My lower appendage decided to bend and not break. It torqued. Now I possess one very swollen knee. 

The whole incident scared me. Bad things can happen so fast. 

I'm not a patient patient. I've been told this a number of times from my too many orthopedic doctors and unfortunately surgeons too. 

The healing process takes me out of my retirement routine. Wake up, drink coffee, eat, take a hike, relax and wait for Happy Hour. The getting better time leaves me too many hours to think of my reality. I'm really alone out there and here. As I continue to age this will become more of an issue. That scares me too. 

Hey! Its a beautiful day in Death Valley National Park. I've got a bag of ice on my knee and an cold IPA in my paw. 

It's near record heat at Furnace Creek too. April temperatures in mid February. Go figure.

Here are the petroglyphs I nearly became a buzzard's kosher appetizer for. 

I dodged the great inevitable and got to see another Death Valley sunset.

I'll be more careful in my future. The blog must go on.

Cheers!

Jeff