Spring Flowers

SD has had some very nice spring weather before we arrived back home. So it was exciting to see how the flowers survived the winter and if the tulips I planted would make an appearance. The big flower bed needs attention and does not have any color other than green leaves and a promise of something better to come. So the photos are from the smaller flower bed. It was too nice of a Sunday afternoon to spend inside, so I grabbed the garden kneeler, my gardening gloves, a trowel, and a plastic pail and proceeded to de-brown (removing leaves and dried vegetation) the area. I also removed starter plants that were growing where they were not wanted...weeds!

the south half is blooming, not so with the north half

the irises have crowded another plant

it will get moved in the fall

a few sprinkles fell this afternoon

one drop remained

first tulips to bloom

the tail-end of the pasque this year

There is just something about digging in the dirt this time of year and seeing the bright colors of spring time flowers.

Borax???

I thought Death Valley became a tourist hot spot because it was the lowest spot in North America and unique enough to draw people. I also thought so many people had died there that  death was its distinction. (only one known death during the '49 Gold Rush) What I did not know was Death Valley was mining country when borax was discovered there in 1881.

Borax, you say? Laundry detergent or additive? Mineral salts?

Borax is a mineral that can be used for many things, including boric acid, glaze for pottery, flux for welding and soldering, fiberglass, and borosilicate glass. the Pacific Coast Borax Company was in authority for the operation of all the borax mines in Death Valley. 

Chinese laborers were recruited from San Francisco to scrap borax off the salt flats; the process was/is called cotton ball. The borax was carried to wagons which went to the refinery. The Chinese laborers received $1.30 per day, less lodging and the cost of food they bought at the company store. The laborers lived in adobe cottages near the mining area. The Harmony Company folks lived in Furnace Creek, the oasis area some 5 or so miles away.

Temperatures in Death Valley range from 130º in the summer to 32º in the winter. (Temperatures at Furnace Creek reach at least 90º on an average of 189 days a year.) Parts of the valley receive less than two inches of rain annually. 

Special wagons were designed to carry the refined ore to the railroad 165 miles away. A water tank was attached to the end of the wagon 'train' when it went to the mining flats. This was the water supply for the Chinese laborers.

the back wheel is about 6-7' diameter

water tank

A team of 14-20 mules were needed to pull the wagons on the 165 mile trip to the railroad depot. Thus the trademark of the 20 mule team borax.

a view of some of the salt flats

Because the cost of transporting the borax ore was so high, a refinery plant was built in 1882 to eliminate transporting the waste products and the final product. 

the refinery

walking to a borax bed

looks like snow drifts

crystalized salt

crunchy, dirty

In the time from 1885 to 1933, Christian Brevoort Zabriskie was connected to Pacific Coast Borax and Death Valley. In the beginning he supervised hundreds of Chinese workers in the borax mines. Eventually he became vice president and general manager of the Pacific Coast Borax Company. In the end of borax mining he overlooked the progress of changing Death Valley from a mining site to a natural monument and tourist attraction.

Stephen Mather, a sales manager for the Pacific Coast Borax Company, began the use of Twenty Mule Teams as the symbol of their company. Mather left the company and began visiting national parks, but was disappointed to see how bad management led to their poor conditions. He wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Interior with his concerns. The Secretary made Mather the first director of the National Park Service in 1916.  (There is much more to Mather's story than what I have included. It is worth the quick read on the attached link.)

The cost of bringing borax to the railroad centers and the discovery of borax in other parts of the country and world brought about the demise of mining in Death Valley in the mid 1920s. In 1926 Pacific Coast Borax Company invited Mather back to Death Valley to see the beauty and to convince him it should be a national park. The borax company had begun to shift its focus from mining to tourism and planned to build the Furance Creek Inn. (We stayed at the Furnace Creek Ranch which was the housing for the company employees, but not the Chinese workers.) Once Mather visited he realized Death Valley was worthy, but felt his past connections to the company might be controversial in making the area a national park. The borax company, with the help of men like Christian Zabriskie, went about creating glowing articles and a radio program extolling the beauty and virtues of Death Valley. Mather died in 1930. His assistant Horace Albright became the next director and was able to propose Death Valley as a national monument in 1933. On October 31, 1994 it became Death Valley National Park.

Las Vegas vs Furnace Creek ~ The Irony

When we got to Furnace Creek in Death Valley, we had just come from 3 nights in Las Vegas. In the past we have stayed at Harrahs, once at New York New York and once at The Mirage, at least three nights each stay. All of these places are along The Strip, some closer to the action than others. One was chosen because of price. One was chosen because of amenities. One was chosen for location. This trip to LV was a "use it or loose it" situation. Hubby had earned a 3 night stay in a Holiday Inn Club Resort at one of several locations in the U.S. That all sounds great, but all the possible locations required us to get there, thus adding $$$ to a "free" vacation. The time was running out, so we decided to use the Las Vegas location since it would be convenient to get there on our way back to SD. The 3 nights "free" stay involved listening to a presentation about buying into such a club, in other words, a time-share hotel.

The LV HI Resort was NICE! it was a huge complex with 3 swimming pools, a small grocery store, a small cafe, and a recreation center. Our unit had a bedroom with a king size bed, a bath tub big enough to hold a hassle of kids, two 60 inch TVs, a fireplace in the sitting area, a full-size kitchen and a dining area. Internet was fantastic. The only drawback was its location; not along the strip, but within walking distance. The cost was the sales tax for the 3 night stay.

Our next stay was at Furnace Creek. Our original thought was to drive to Bishop CA, in the northwest part of Death Valley. We realized we would not have enough time to enjoy what we really wanted to see if we added another 100+ miles to our ONE DAY in Death Valley. The only option was to stay at one of the resorts in Death Valley. We chose Furnace Creek, based on location, ratings and the price.

an oasis in the heart of a barren land

preserved village of historic buildings

the Post Office

Death Valley cancelled post cards sent to the g'kids

the museum

a general store with just about everything

two restaurants and a bar that serves pizza, all spendy

quaint amenities

our cabin is on the left

no parking, but close to the eating places & store

street showing other cabins

The cabin had two queen beds, a small table, a small TV with basic channels, a working updated bathroom, in other words the basics. The Furnace Creek Ranch Resort was built in 1932. We paid $303 for that one night stay. Ahhhh, the irony of it all. 

Spring Flowers in Nevada

We missed the amazing flower display in Death Valley, but had a pleasant surprise as we drove through the mountains from DV to Tonopah NV.

The ET Highway in Nevada

We traveled and geocached the ET Highway in October 2013 after meeting fellow geocachers Clay & Gus from Las Vegas. These two young guys dreamed up the idea of placing geocaches along NV state highway 375 as it is about 100 miles of very boring road. Check out those two blog posts.
The Middle of No Where ~ Rachel NV  and Geocaching the ET Highway


Completing the caches along the ET Highway is a goal of Hubby. I agreed to 3 days in Tonopah NV (not Rachel...once was enough) on our way back to SD this trip. In October 2013 there were 1500 Clay & Gus geocaches. The total now is 2400 of theirs and another 1000 by other people. We did about 550 in 2013. Read the blog to see what our total was this trip.

Day 1, April 13th

we spent most of the day caching along 2 highways, 6 & 375

snow capped mountains in the distance

mule deer? antelope?

typical hides of the geocaches

small film canister or pill bottle in a pile of rocks

every 526' ~ 10 in a mile

3 highway patrol cars

WTH?

large piece of equipment on the road

very large piece of equipment

That was the excitement for Day 1 between Rachel and Tonopah. Oh, and a record number of geocaches collected by the two of us ~ 425. (Previous record 326) We didn't even work that hard on Day 1. We broke the old record, that is all that mattered.

Day 2, April 14th

no highway geocaching today

sometimes it is more important to know where you have been

somebody spent a lot of time and patience building this cairn

and this is what is ahead of us

more snow capped mountains

I apologize for the extra appendage  

I didn't place it or realize it was there

(hey, there's not a lot to do for entertainment in this area!)

the horse sign and one for cattle are placed along 

the 110 miles of road/highway

cattle are often grazing along the highway

no fences ~ this is open range country

I saw some horses on Day 1, but Hubby didn't think they

were wild horses

we saw several on this day & close enough to get photos

Hubby did his horse 'neigh' imitation and got their attention

in fact this Big Boy started coming to the van

Hubby got back inside...after getting the cache

and allowing me to get some good photos

then just a bit farther down the road some cows were 

grazing and drinking

this one posed with being 'called'

and some more horses

one also was listening to Hubby's horse call

maybe another stallion?????

Seeing the wild horses at such a close range made my day!  There are some great perks to caching back in the mountains, away from the highway. 

Day 3, April 15th

fog? rain?

windy or windy??? short i or long i???

it is coming closer!

snow pellets/sleet

interesting mountains to the west all day

the road moved around the tree

we stopped in Rachel for lunch

and some souvenir shopping

town hasn't grown since 2013

same tourist attractions

celebrating 13,000 caches

and 12,000 caches

we reached these goals somewhere along the ET Highway

and the 1450 caches we found and signed

didn't see any signs for Area 51

this building says it is the research center

I don't think so!

So now we concentrate on getting back to SD. Geocaching will be incidental. Watching the weather will take center stage.