Kathleen Gets Naked With Japanese Women and Greg Finds Heaven For a Geologist

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Today marks three months since we ran away from home! We keep shaking our heads in amazement at the life we are leading. No agenda, we are living in the “now”, something I had difficulty doing in the past. I was always looking forward to future events and unable to truly be in the present. Each day now reveals new vistas and the opportunity to decide to pursue whatever new options present themselves. We are making choices on the fly and it is so freeing to do so.

This morning we awoke in the desert and decided that showers would be in order since Death Valley only has paid showers at the private resort in the park. Greg went over to the bath house at 6:30 and found the doors locked. The showers are located with the hot spring pools in separate buildings for the men and women. There is a requirement that everyone shower before going in the pools. We just wanted showers before we left. Greg returned at 7 and was able to get in by then and shower. He said there were a few men there and little privacy. He thought the women's side was quiet and I should go soon if I wanted some privacy.

I waited too long. By the time I arrived there were several women there. The door opened into a large room with hooks on the walls and benches. There were a few hooks left. I walked into the shower room. There were shower curtains, but nowhere to put anything but your towel. The hot and cold pools were through the open doorways from the changing room. I could see the tops of women's heads in the hot pool. I undressed, grabbed my towel, washcloth, shampoo and soap and made it into the shower without seeing anyone. The water started out cool. The hot spring is 104 degrees, so there is no adjusting of the temperature in the shower. You get the water from the hot springs. It warmed up, but the temperature outside was in the thirties and the windows were open!. Once I turned off the water, it was drafty and I had to wrap my towel around me and go back to the drafty changing room. This time two women were changing to leave. We all said “good morning”, and they were mostly dressed. I had to start from scratch. Shades of junior high school gym class! Not my favorite time of life!

The women finished and left. Around the corner came a Japanese woman in all her glory. The Japanese have a public bathing culture, and she seemed nonplussed by seeing me. She put on her robe and sat for a few minutes, then rejoined her party in the pool. I could hear them chattering away in Japanese. The brochure for the resort says that they have many visitors from Japan and Germany. They have the reputation for having the next best hot springs after the famous Baden-Baden hot springs in Germany. The directions going into the bath house were in English and Japanese. It was surprising to think that this was an international destination. The bath house was clean, but a bit old, run-down and in need of some paint.

On my way back to the site I was approached by a woman named Bridget from British Columbia. She and her husband Carl were camping in a newer version of our RV. She invited me in, and Greg showed up shortly, too. We also met Janice. She and her husband were traveling in their own rig with the other two. We invited them in to our rig too and had a lovely conversation. They were heading to Death Valley, so we may see them again.

Parked a few sites from us was a homemade RV that our hosts called the castle. It looked like a pirate ship on a truck chassis. We didn't meet the owners. After the woman exercised with hoops, they went roaring off on a dirt bike with a pickup truck full of our fellow campers following. See the photos.

We finally left for Death Valley. We still had around 80 miles to go. As we got closer to the park, the geologic features became more and more dramatic. We climbed for a while and then began to descend. We dropped from 3,000' above sea level to 190 feet below. We reached the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center and toured through the exhibits and watched a movie about the park. Then we had to choose from four campgrounds. We decided to stay at Texas Springs that is located on a bluff overlooking the Furnace Creek area. The national park service campgrounds do not have water or electric hookups. We can dump our tanks and fill the water tank at the campground.

After lunch we drove along the road beside the salt flats to Badwater. It is the lowest spot in North America at 282' below sea level. You can walk a half mile out across the salt flats and five miles across if you'd like to. We walked out the half mile and tasted the salt! We looked back and on the rock face high above is a sign designating sea level. The walkway was full of Japanese tourists ! We had the same experience in the Everglades. In fact, there, Americans were far outnumbered by Japanese and Europeans. We did meet two young German men today that asked us to take their photo.

Death Valley is spectacular! The geology ranges from a volcanic crater that is 2,000 years old, to mountains that date back millions of years. The colors and variations in the rocks are amazing. The valley itself was a 100 mile long, 600 ' deep lake in the past. The tallest peak overlooking Badwater is over 11,000 '. It is the driest place in North America. The valley receives less than 2 inches of rain a year. Tonight we stepped outside after the moon had set and viewed the stars and the Milky Way. Although dark enough to see them, the sky is subject to light pollution. We could see the glow of Las Vegas in one direction, and Los Angeles in the other. I have wanted to visit here since I was a little girl and it was worth the wait!