Badwater Basin is a salt flat in the lowest point in North America, at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level.
A sign high on the cliff indicating sea level:
An info sign listing the lowest places on Earth:
But it’s a dry heat…:
Boardwalk and path:
282 feet below sea level:
Path to the salt flat:
Selfie:
Beard attack:
Death Valley contains several filming locations for the Star Wars movies (episodes IV and VI).
Death Valley is the driest national park… so of course it was rainy:
Twenty-mule Team Canyon, where R2-D2 and C-3PO traveled to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi:
Dantes View, where Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker looked down on Mos Eisley, the Tatooine spaceport, in A New Hope:
A little foggy:
Very hidden:
A break in the clouds:
Artists Palette, the backdrop for R2-D2’s journey through the desert canyon right before Jawas captured him:
Desolation Canyon, where the Tuscan Raiders attacked in A New Hope:
Lots of people on Micro.blog have been posting lists of places they’ve been, so I thought I’d join the fun.
Despite living full-time in a motorhome, I actually haven’t been all that many places yet. But we’re working on it.
My list, with emojis inspired by Jean’s much more impressive list:
We have a map on our coach for places we’ve visited since buying it, which is a shorter list — Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas:
We’ll pick up 10 more states later this year — North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas. Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida (I’ve been to Florida before, but not in the coach):
While traveling around the US in our motorhome, we are continuing to work — we are still over a decade away from retirement age.
This has some challenges, but our jobs make it feasible, since we can both work remotely. I am a self-employed macOS and iOS app developer (Dejal), and Jenn is a technical writer for a big corporation that has a lot of remote employees — something that is more and more popular nowadays, especially since the pandemic.
I recently wrote about our workspaces. My lap desk:
And Jenn’s height-adjustable desk:
Another critical component in our ability to work as we travel is internet connectivity. We couldn’t do our work without reliable internet access; I need it to upload app builds, look up documentation, and communicate with my clients and customers; Jenn needs it to attend meetings and update her documents.
Since it is so important, we have as many options as possible. Including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon cellular connections, two AT&T iPhones (that we can tether to if nothing else works), plus Jenn has an iPhone on Verizon from her job, and we have Starlink satellite internet for when there’s no cellular coverage. And if all else fails, we can connect to campground Wi-Fi, which can be a bit hit-or-miss in quality and availability.
The somewhat messy internet cupboard, with a modem for AT&T and Verizon, mi-fi unit for T-Mobile, and other devices:
The Starlink dish:
When choosing RV parks, we always look at reviews and information to ensure there is internet connectivity; the Starlink dish gives us more options, but if we ended up in a cellular dead spot with too many trees blocking the dish and no Wi-Fi, we’d have to move.
Other than our workstations and internet, we just need the time to work. So we plan our travel days around that; we typically move between RV parks on Sundays, so travel days don’t interfere with Jenn’s workdays, and stay at each location for a week or two, working during the week, and exploring on weekends, and sometimes locally in evenings.
This works well for us, enabling us to continue to work while slowly exploring the country.
Our campground in Death Valley National Park was right next to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center:
Near the Visitor Center is The Ranch, an oasis with a hotel, shopping center, and restaurants:
Buffet at the 1849 Restaurant:
Nice gardens:
We stayed at Furnace Creek Campground within Death Valley National Park, California. (Campground Reviews listing.)
The first time we’ve ever stayed inside a national park in our coach.
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Great campground in the heart of Death Valley NP
There are two things I wish about this place: 1) That they had more full hookup sites, and 2) that we’d gotten to stay longer. We originally booked a dry camping spot but were lucky enough to snag a cancellation for a full hookup and I’m so glad we did. I would have stayed here either way, as it’s truly the best place to stay in or near the park. The pull-through sites are incredibly long and every site is large so you’re not cramped against your neighbor, which is appropriate when staying in the largest National Park in the contiguous 48 states. It’s also very convenient to all the “must-see” places in the park. If you need internet while staying here, you must have Starlink. Cellular data was non-existent for any carrier. There is WiFi at the Furnace Creek Ranch. We camped at Furnace Creek in a Motorhome.
Tip for Other Campers: Gas in Stovepipe Wells was quite a bit cheaper than at Furnace Creek and the food was better at the restaurant there, too.
Interactive map:
The campground map:
Death Valley National Park is interesting in that it is mostly below sea level. The campground has an elevation of -190 feet:
Our site:
Death Valley is the hottest and driest national park… so of course it was cool and rainy:
Entrance:
Dishwashing station:
Other sites:
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 121 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California.
We drove our coach 121 miles, about three hours of driving, from Las Vegas, Nevada to Death Valley, California.
Here’s the map route, heading west:
An interactive map, with our stops marked:
Horses artwork:
Driving past the buildings of the Vegas strip:
Overpass artwork:
Snowy mountains:
A snack while driving:
Paladin in his safe space:
Mountain:
We stopped for lunch at the Area 51 Alien Center:
It’s Nevada, so there’s also the Alien Cathouse Brothel:
The Area 51 Alien Center:
They have a cafe, but it was closed, so we grabbed packaged sandwiches for lunch:
Cow artwork:
Leaving Nevada, entering California (no welcome sign, just “click it or ticket”; real friendly there, California):
Bumpy road:
Enering Death Valley National Park:
Most of the park is below sea level; passing sea level elevation, heading down:
-5 elevation:
The Ranch at Death Valley, at -190 feet elevation:
Last week I wrote about my lap desk. This week, Jenn’s solution.
When we first bought our coach, our first signficant modification was to remove the existing couches. And not long after, we added a desk for Jenn, along with adjustable arms for a laptop and monitor.
She used that for several months, but ultimately decided she didn’t need the big second screen, and didn’t like the desk situation (in particular the slope of the slide-out carpet with the chair), so we replaced the desk with some storage cabinets.
Nowadays, she works at the dining table, using an adjustable standing desk riser, which lets her either stand or sit on a stool. And as with my setup, she also has a SideTrak Swivel 12.5” display that can be attached magnetically, giving her more screen space.
Here’s her setup in sitting position; with her laptop on a riser stand on top of the adjustable desk, in turn on the dining table, with a stool:
And with a quick toggle, the desk can be raised up to standing height, with a standing mat:
A closer look at siting height:
And standing height:
A peek underneath, showing the simple spring-based raising mechanism:
There is room behind the desk for us to eat lunch at the table, and at the end of the day, she can easily move the desk off the dining table to give more room for dinner.
This setup isn’t perfect, but it works well enough for her at present. Who knows, we might make further adjustments in the future.
