Bullhead City,Lake Havasu and Blyth Ca.

Mar.2 to Mar 10th Bullhead City, Lake Havasu and Blyth California Larry and Lori decided to head west and north after our visit to Death Valley and Alvina and I traveled east to Bullhead City where we stayed for a couple of days. Heading south we boondocked for a night in a beautiful spot overlooking Lake Havasu near the Bill Williams river. We are currently in Blyth California camped on the Colorado river and will stay here until March 12th.

Death Valley Day 3 Scotty's Castle

Mar.1st Our last day in Death Valley. We went north to Scotty's Castle, a remarkable mansion built for his wife by millionaire Albert Johnson. Although construction started in 1922 it would take many years to complete. The story goes that Mr.Johnson had invested in a mining venture with a man named Walter Scott who claimed to have discovered a very rich gold mine on a mountain in Death valley.

One of two swimming pools that were never finished

The entry

Palm trees along side the worker's quarters

Entrance to the garage and main house

After a couple of years and not earning any returns on his investment Mr. Johnson decided that he and his wife would take a trip to see this mysterious gold mine first hand. It didn't take long for the Johnsons to find out that there was no gold mine and they had been conned by Scotty. Thus, a curious relationship was formed between the millionaire and the con man. It seemed that Mr.and Mrs.Johnson, despite being conned,took an instant liking to Scotty and would later tell reporters "All Scotty showed me was a few dry holes" But, Mr. Johnson explained "Scott has repaid me every dime in laughs.Plus he's a darn good cook."

The door to the main House

The sitting room

The parlor and adjoining library

Mr.Johnson loved the desert and would return to visit Scotty every year. Mrs. Johnson also enjoyed the trips but grew tired of sleeping in tents and told her husband that she would not accompany him unless he built her a house. He agreed and the construction of Scotty's Castle was started.

Balcony looking down on the sitting roomCourtyard separating the main house from the guest quarters and garage

Tile and mosaic fountain in courtyard

The mansion was built in a valley literally in the middle of nowhere by Shoshone and Mexican craftsmen. No expense was spared from the hand carved redwood beams and iron chandeliers to the custom crafted tile floors and handmade Majorcan rugs. Some of the innovations built into the house include passive solar heating for hot water,flush toilets, a generating system for electric power with huge battery banks,rock gas cooking stoves,one of the first refrigerator freezers from Kalvinator and an enormous pipe organ.

The music room. Note the beams and inlaid tile on the ceiling

Death Valley Day 2 Badwater Basin

Feb.28th we traveled with Larry and Lori down to Badwater Basin the lowest part of the valley at 282 ft. below sea level which ironically is located close to Telescope Mountain the highest point in the lower 48. Due to the extraordinary amount of rain that had fallen in The desert this winter a lake had formed over the bottom of Badwater Basin. We found out later,from a park ranger, that this was something that had not happened since 1926 and very few people had seen water there.

The lowest point in the desert

A walk through the salt flats

A Lake on the salt flats for the first time since 1926

Unusual Rock formations

Alvina Mountain climbing
A Natural Bridge

Returning to Furnace Creek we drove through a area called Artist's Drive,a winding one way road that took us through mountains and canyons. The colors of the rock formations were unbelievable with shades of red,yellow,purple,green,pink and blue. A MUST SEE. It was indeed like a Artist's palette.

Salt flats and breathtaking views of the Mountains

The Beauty of the Desert

The camera does not capture the colors that the eyes see

If you ever get a chance you Must visit here

The Mountains look like they were painted

Borax Crystals on the Valley floor

Death Valley Day 1 furnace creek

Feb. 27 Death Valley. Our destination in Death valley was the Furnace Creek campground located in an oasis on the valley floor 196 feet below sea level. We spent the first day exploring the area around Furnace Creek, visiting the Museum and learning about the history of Death Valley. The discovery of gold,silver and borax in the 1850s led to the creation of boom towns and mines throughout the valley. Mining continued in the valley until 2005 when the last active mine closed. The climate in the valley is very harsh with temperatures between 90 and 115 degrees for seven months of the year.

The Furnace Creek Museum

Old Mining Equipment

We finished our day by visiting an Old Borax mine complete with the old mine and milling machinery.

Tacopa Hot Springs

Feb.26 We traveled with Larry and Lori from Quartzsite Arizona to Blyth CA.and headed north to Death Valley. Our trip took us through the Mojave Desert where we passed several dry lakes. As the lakes evaporated from the desert heat they left a thick carpet of salt that stretches for miles and miles across the desert floor. From a distance the salt on the old lake beds looks like snow and must have fooled the early travelers as they passed through on their wagons.

We camped at a RV park on the shores of a dry lake bed in a place called Tecopa Hot Springs, that turned out to be most peculiar.

When we arrived at our campsite there was a drizzle of rain falling that mixed with the salt on the ground, resulting in a slurry of salty mud covering the area where we were parked.
No big deal, because after all, there was a Hot Spring and the idea of a warm mineral soak was definitely appealing. What? Wait! you're kidding, we have to be nude to get into the water and the men and women are segregated to different areas. Now as much as I like and enjoy my brother-in-law's company the thought of sitting nude with him in a hot spring was a little too much for me and I'm sure he felt the same way.

No big deal, there was still the restaurant on the premise and after a long day's travel we were all hungry. So, full of good cheer and anticipating a great meal we set off to the Bistro. As we entered the front door the interior was dark and dingy with the only light being a small candle in the centre of each table. Still optimistic we asked for menus and a flashlight so we could see to order our food. Now, if there was ever a menu specifically designed to make hungry customers flee in sheer terror this was the one. There was absolutely nothing palatable to eat on the entire menu. We all glanced at each other, got up in unison, and left the restaurant. There was something decidedly off kilter about this whole place and it would be a perfect setting for a Stephen King novel.

Tombstone and Bisbee AZ.

Feb.18th to 25th. Visiting Tombstone is like entering a time machine and traveling to the American west in the 1880s . The merchants and the people of the town do their best to keep the town as authentic as it was a hundred years ago. This was the old west where such notables as Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson and Johnny Ringo did their thing. We had dinner at The Longhorn Saloon where the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday gathered before walking over to the O.K. Corral for the famous shootout with the Clantons.

The Courthouse where they would give you a fair trail,

And hang you in the morning.

Museum and home of the worlds largest Rosebush.

The World's largest rosebush is a white Lady Banksia. From a single trunk it spreads over a arbour that covers over 8000 sq. feet with millions of blossoms.

The Tombstone Epitaph,dating back to the 1800s.

THe Longhorn Saloon--A Great place to eat

The Silver Nugget Salon. We were told that gun fighters used to get drunk and make bets about who could shoot flies off the ceiling with their six shooters

Larry,Alvina and I at Boot Hill--Happy to be alive.

Lori at Boot Hill---Notice the sign lol

You have to read this grave-marker. Talk about having a bad day.

Lots of souls in Boot Hill. The headstones tell a lot of stories

The great thing about visiting a Graveyard is being able to walk out.

Interesting Reading

Man were they ever hard on their kids in those days

Alvina at the bar. I said a double dammit.

I don't know what Larry did to this lady but when she couldn't stuff dollar bills in his shorts she stuck them under his hat.What a guy?

The site of the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

The infamous Bird Cage Bordello where Ladies of the night would entertain their clients in small tent like enclosures suspended from the ceiling

Adobe Building

Downtown Bisbee just as it was a hundred years ago

A Shop in Bisbee that made Artwork out of skulls and bones

The Queen mine in Bisbee

Open Pit Mine at Bisbee. What a price the Earth pays for our plunder.