Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Changing a bad tire in the desert!

How do you spell spoiled? National Treasure Rv Resort in Pahrump Nevada. Wow, it was great! We joined a club called Passport America. We get to stay for 50% off at different campgrounds.

We were on our way to Beatty, NV (after Hawthorne, and one night in Goldfield, NV). The weekend we were coming to Beatty happened to be totally full for their craft show! So, we called Amargosa Valley. There was an opening there, but no grocery story. The store in Beatty was so tiny and had 2 packs of diapers neither the right size!

So, on to Pahrump. The National Treasure RV Resort was only $20 a night for 4 nights with our Passport America discount. It was incredible. We had two pools, one was heated, the other not.



















There was a huge hot tub that we enjoyed. Shae and I even had a little date night in it. It was great to spend some time alone!

There is a bowling alley inside where we bowled 2 times. Shae won, then Cody, Naomi, Hanna, Me, Gabriel, and Josie. Naomi and Hanna were both better at it than me! I have the moves, just can't seem to keep it out of the gutter! We played horseshoes and shuffleboard. The restaurant was good and had good prices. Most of the workers were so friendly.







We made a trip out to Death Valley National Park from here. It was a little bit of a drive, but not bad. It is nothing like I expected. I pictured some huge, flat desert with sand dunes here and there. Instead there were huge mountains, ravines, washes, salt flats, salt sculptures, natural bridge, and that is just a few things.




We drove the 21 mule team road. It is not made for large vehicles, but that didn't stop us!
We think our van is 4 wheel drive and
can go anywhere and do anything!
We loved it. The road is now one of our favorites! Yes, I did get nervous a few times. Our van is not 4 wheel drive and is really long - it is a 15 passenger van! Shae loved that it was hard to drive. He had that fire look in his eyes when we rounded each corner and almost scraped through the rock. We stopped and the guys and Hanna climbed a big rock formation. They were up pretty high. Hanna really wanted to go, but I was not so sure about that as I watched her slip on the loose rocks on the way up. I kept yelling, "Hanna, you don't have to go!" But, she was determined and finally made it to the top. I am not sure if it was worth the trouble and all the work to get up there, but hey, they conquered yet another mountain in another National Park!



From there, we headed to a beautiful look out, something like - Zawleiski's look out. It was a breathtaking view of the mountains and rock formations. We hiked up a small hill to see the remains of what was once an underwater ocean bed. Usually by the time I get all the kids ready to get out of the van and hike to the destination, Shae and Cody are already on their way back. This time was different. Shae and Cody stayed and helped us get shoes on, diapers changed, and children carried up the walk. Just before we headed out, Shae noticed the tire on the back of our van had a huge bulge in it. He had known it would need to be replaced soon, just not in the desert! So, after enjoying the view, we headed to the gorgeous oasis resort in the middle of Death Valley. It was so beautiful as we drove through the gates and headed for a shaded spot for the guys to change the tire before it blew! The kids and I played on the playground.  Shae and Cody changed the tire. I'm not sure if we were supposed to be in there. We weren't guests of the resort, but just passing through as we switched tires in their shade. The kids had a blast feeding the birds while Tytus watched. We finally continued our journey to the lowest elevation in the western hemisphere, Badwater. It is in the middle of salt flats. We took our pictures and then headed home. We were all real tired from a long day of heat, hiking, and bad tires.

Sheri

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