The Death Valley Experience

So there we were, sitting on the side of the road in 110 degree heat with a dashboard that was blinking like we just won the jackpot on a slot machine. The car wasn't running, our phones weren't working, and the sun was going down in the desert. Tobi and I sat silently in the car for minutes that seemed like really long minutes. Just moments earlier we were racing the sunset in Death Valley, pushing a rental car to its extremes, and loving life. Now we were stranded, uncertain about how we were going to get the car back to Vegas on time, where we were going to sleep tonight, who was going to help us, why had this happened to us, we thought we were untouchable. We tried to turn the car over once every fifteen minutes, but there was nothing. We were stuck, and we didn't know what to do.

When it looked like we would have to wait for the next mornings tourists, and camp overnight on the concrete, one last car came from Badwater returning towards the middle of town. We decided they were our only chance of salvation and we flagged them down. It was a nice retired couple and they were extremely friendly. They cleared out their back seat and Tobi and I filled our backpacks with food and hopped in. They were kind enough to drive us down to the center of town. Now when I say "town" I mean a hotel, a tourist information building and a gas station. The gas station would have been the most likely place for us to go since we needed a mechanic but it was closed. Second would be the tourist information building because we were tourists and we needed a lot of information on what to do at this moment. But it was closed too. So instead we found ourselves talking to the midnight shift bell boy at the Death Valley hotel.

First things first, we needed to call the rental car company and figure things out. Easy enough, right? Nope, we left the rental car phone number back in the car. Nice move on our part. The nice retired couple drove Tobi back to get it, and then they left us to deal for ourselves after we showered them with thanks (Thanks again if you're out there, thank you so much!). So now that we had the rental car phone number calling should be easy right? Wrong... We had to use a payphone. A payphone. Did you know these things were even still around? Luckily Tobi and I had a decent amount of change but if the phone ate a few quarters we might be totally out of luck. But I made the call and it actually worked, thank you AT&T. As soon as I got through to the rental car company I was sure that our worries were over.

Boy was I wrong about thinking our worries were over. The night shift at the rental car company was even more clueless than the bell boy. Here is an almost word for word account of our conversation:
Me - Hey, our car broke down in Death Valley. What should we do?
The rental car guy -You shouldn't be driving in Death Valley. It's hot our there. Probably like 105 degrees.
Me - Thanks it is actually 110, but we're out here and our car has died. We bought insurance and we want to know how we can figure things out.
The rental car guy - Insurance don't cover that. Were you running the AC?
Me - Did I mention how hot is was today?
The rental car guy - Aww damn, you can't run AC in a car in that heat. That's crazy.
Me - Interesting, they didn't mention not using the AC when we rented the car in 100 degree heat in Vegas. Thanks for you information, now how are we getting out of here?
The Rental car guy - You gotta get back to Vegas.
Me - Did I mention the car was broken down?
The Rental car guy - Just get that thing back here.
Me - Tow it?
The Rental car guy - I don't care.
Me - Will you pay for towing?
The Rental car guy - We don't pay for that.
Me - Will you come get us?
The Rental car guy - Out there in Death Valley? We don't do that.
Me - What do you do?
The Rental car guy - Hold on. (He then proceeded to put the phone down and tell our story to a friend while I can hear him. They were laughing and making jokes and I honestly was laughing my ass off while describing it to Tobi.) Hey man, it's late we can't do anything for ya. Good luck getting it back here.
Me - Thanks for all of your help, you've been a life saver. Enjoy the rest of your night.

As I told Tobi about this phone call we realized that we might have been better off spending a little bit more money for a rental car company that we had actually heard of before. That being said, we could not stop laughing. Even the bell boy got a kick out of over hearing my phone conversation with the rental car company. The sun might have been down but our spirits were still up. We tried to swing a deal with the hotel for a free overnight stay, but they weren't having it. We were now without a place to sleep.

We had our tent, but the ground in Death Valley is about as comfortable as sleeping on a barbed wire fence. But we remembered that the Tourist Information building had a nice green lawn, if we could only get there, we might be able to actually sleep tonight. We asked a French man who was driving a convertible if he would give us a ride. Talk about a strange situation (An American man who is traveling with a Swiss man asked a French man for a ride in his convertible in Death Valley). After explaining our situation to him he said he would want someone to do the same for him, so he took us a mile down the road and dropped us off at the Tourist Information building.

Once we were there we felt like we had struck a gold mine because they didn't lock the bathrooms at night. So we were able to have running water, light, and we were able to brush our teeth. That stuff alone already makes it better than some of the other places we camped. We set our tent up near the side of the building and climbed inside. Then it REALLY hit us. We were not lucky. We were planning on camping in the "coolest" part of Death Valley, and not on the lawn of the Tourist Information building for a reason...it's unbearably hot.

We laid there in our tent together recounting the days events. I still remember this conversation as one of the funniest conversations I've ever had. In retrospect we were both a little delirious. We thought everything bad that happened would just be a great story someday. Until we tried to get some sleep and we had to silently think to ourselves about all that could still go wrong. This is when Tobi sat up and asked me, "Do you think, if you were to die in your sleep, would you wake up first? Or just die?" I laughed out loud until my stomach hurt when he said this in his German accent. I told him I don't know, but I hope we don't die. But in this dry heat, death was definitely a possibility.

Then when you didn't think things could get any worse and we were dieing of heat when the unthinkable happened. The sprinkler system came on. It as if we were in the middle of a bad sitcom and no one told us. We ran out of the tent in our boxers and got a freezing cold shower at around 2 in the morning in 110 degree heat. This sign that someone was watching out for us from above was all we needed to get some rest. We didn't even move when the sprinklers came on for their second session at 4.

We woke up and had the car towed out of Death valley to a town about an hour away. A town that we later learned is famous for its prostitution (just a side note), but when we got there we talked with the owner of a car dealership that told us we should be fine. We called the rental car company again and this time the morning crew was much more helpful. They sent us a beautiful car to bring us back to Vegas, payed us for the towing and in the end they only charged us for 3 days because of all the hassle they caused. Tobi and I walked out of "Giddy UP Car Rental" with the biggest smiles on our faces. We really were invincible...and I think it really did make a great story.

Near Death (Valley) Experience

It's been a while but recently I've been trying to find a job here in Tennessee and I've gotten away from my blog, but one of the reasons I wanted to spend time her in the dirty south was to have more time writing, so I'm focused on getting back on it. This chapter of my trip picks up after visiting Joshua Tree National Park, and after seeing much of the west coast of the United States. The Climax was the Grand Canyon, but little did I know then, that after the finale there would be a crazy twist ending...

We left Joshua tree really pumped. It was exciting because we didn't have to return the rental car yet. While we had planned on getting a rental car for only 5 days, the friendly, fast talking, teenager behind the counter at the airport rental car dealer told us that 5 days is the same price as a week so we'd get two additional days if we wanted them for no additional charge. So instead of rushing back to Vegas in a hurry we had 2 more days to leisurely head to the pleasantly named "Death Valley" and take in all the sights there as if it was an unexpected cherry on top of the Grand Canyon cake that already had Joshua Tree icing on it. Looking back it should have seemed obvious that getting "extra time" to see a place called "Death Valley" is not so much of a cherry on top, but more like a death sentence. But in the moment we took our worry free traveling smiles to the road and put the petal down in the direction of the hottest place in the United States.

Driving to Death Valley was an experience in itself. Growing up in New Jersey it's not uncommon to share the road (and I use the term "share" lightly) with about 10,000 other cars all going in the same direction. Yet here, on these open roads in the west it was the norm to be the only car in sight. Heck, we were the only man made object in sight for hours on end. It was just road, dirt, cactus's and us. Without too much to look at our attention become fixed upon the car dashboard. Why you might ask? Well in the high heat even the littlest things can become entertaining. Our entertainment was watching the temperature gauge go up degree by degree, each time getting a little cheer out of us. Again, our ignorance in hind sight seems obvious, but in a new rental car with the AC going full blast we weren't feeling the ill effects of the rising temperature, well, not yet.

Our map showed a little town called "Shoshone" a ways outside of the Death Valley entrance but we thought we'd stop anyway because we were hungry. The Famous Crowbar Cafe and Saloon, seemed to be the only restaurant in town. It was next to a museum that looked like an old barn, and across the street from the post office that doubled as the towns reminder that they might actually be connected to other people, even if only by mail. We stopped at the Crowbar. It was Thursday so I went in an asked for 5 beers for 25 cents, but sadly this Crowbar did not have the same "Thirsty Thursdays" drink specials that my Crowbar back at Penn State had. Oh the good old days of drinks for a nickel, I guess it was a bit of wishful thinking, but it was worth a try.

After lunch at the Crowbar we figured we'd hit plenty of tourist places before and after the Death Valley entrance but we could not have been more wrong. While I know I pictured a large overhanging sign across the road, maybe even with large doors like Jurassic Park, the entrance to National Park was much less theatrical. It was a small booth on the side of the road. One that even a one hour Kodak booth might spit on. No people, not Ranger to tell us good information and give us a map, just a slot to take our money, give us a receipt, and we had to begrudgingly take our own map from a stack of maps.

But we were there! Death Valley was real, we were in it, and it was HOT! We stopped all over the place. Trying to take in everything we could. It was interesting seeing the names they gave to the different parts of this deserted area of land. Death Valley is just strange area after strange area, but they are all strange because they are completely deserted and under some of the most extreme temperatures on the planet. One area looks like a desert, one like a dried up ocean, one like a waste land, another like a desert, some like hills of different color sands, but they all had one thing in common...HEAT!

We took plenty of pictures during the day we were there. Please check them out. But one picture we never got to take was one of the sand dunes during the sunset. You see, we were at the lowest point in North America, a spot called "Badwater", one of the furthest spots in Death Valley that you have to drive to. And when did we go there? Of course right before the sunset when the number one thing we wanted to see were the sand dunes during the sunset. As we realized the sun was going down faster than we had expected we jumped in the rental and pealed out of there. Tobi was being a bit aggressive as the car started to reach the fastest speeds that we had seen all week. We both sat silent as the speedometer raised, and the sun fell. The bright yellow ball in the sky was coming closer to the horizon every second and we were racing it to the sand dunes.

It may have been that "invincible" feeling that we had as travelers to think we could beat the sunset, but it was invigorating. As the car hit ninety-five not a word was spoken but we both thought we were going to make it. We were certain that we would be sitting relaxed in the desert as the sun set beautifully on the horizon, there was no doubt. Then, doubt didn't just creep into our thoughts, it smacked us in the face. The cars dashboard began to light up as if we had won a jackpot on a slot machine in Vegas. Only the car didn't spit out money, instead it started coughing and seizing, and we had to pull it over. The five or six cars that we recently flew by all slowly drove by us pulled over on the side of the road with a new appreciation for the childrens book "The Tortoise and the Hair". We were stranded. Not stranded like you think about being stranded today. Today if you pull over on the side of the road hundreds if not thousands of people will see you, you have a cell phone to call help, and if you really needed to you could walk to a gas station. No this was not our definition of stranded, we were in a whole different situation.

We are now on the side of one of the longest roads in Death Valley that only leads to a lookout spot called "Badwater". A lookout stop that is worthless during the night, so during a sunset we are pretty certain that no more cars will be coming this way until the next day. We are miles away from anything, it is 119 degrees out, and our cell phones ceased having service back in Shoshone. The sunset was no longer a race but a ticking clock for our survival.

Icing on the Grand Canyon Cake

After seeing the waterfalls 12 miles deep in the Grand Canyon everything else was just icing on the cake. When we left the south rim we headed in the general direction of Joshua Tree National Park. Yup, just the general direction, no plans, the sun was going down, no reservations, just an idea. We knew we had a tent, and by find a way to camp the Grand Canyon when we were firmly told it was impossible we actually felt like we couldn't really do anything wrong. We were more right than we realized. As night fell we watched a beautiful sunset on the highway in Arizona. After following the Atlas for hours it showed us there were camping sites on Lake Havasu that wasn't too far out of our path. We thought that since our stop at Havasupi Falls went so well it'd be stupid to pass up a chance to go to the Lake Havasu (completely unrelated places).

We went and camped but because we came so late and left so early the night was FREE!!! That's always good price for travelers. We did wake up and take a dip in the water, were able to get showered up, and took in some of the beautiful scenery. It's too bad we didn't hang around long enough to meet some of the locals, I've since heard that Lake Havasu can be a pretty crazy place to party. Eh, well maybe next time.

We were only a short drive from Joshua Tree from there and we were able to get to get there and spend the whole day hiking. This place is strait out of the Flintstones. The rock formations make you feel like your back in the day of the dinosaurs. We went everywhere we could, and that purchase of 80 bottles of water (for $3.50 a 20 pack, thank you Walmart) way back in Vegas was still paying dividends.

I was amazed that I felt the beauty of this area was comparable to that of the south rim of the Grand Canyon, but there was no comparison in the amount of tourists. Joshua Tree seemed empty, while the south rim was like a crowded super market. I liked the openness of Joshua Tree. We ended up camping there beside some huge boulders strategically to be in the shad when the sun rose the next morning. Thanks to Cousin Billy I was able to teach Tobi how to find the North Star and even though I never thought it would come in handy, then next morning waking up in the shade felt so good temperature wise, but even better as an accomplishment for the both of us.

Joshua Tree is a hot place, but it's amazing to see all the different types of plants that can survive in that environment. It was also a place for mining many years ago and you can take a short break from the heat inside some mine shafts if your lucky.
One of the coolest experiences at Joshua Tree was when we met a couple riding there motorcycle through the area. They were very friendly (as most travelers tend to be) but they were just completely taken by the situation of Tobi and I. They were many years older than us and had been to some amazing places but they couldn't believe that a guy from Switzerland met a guy from Jersey, in Vegas, and that we were having such an amazing time traveling around together. It kind of made us feel even better about an already good situation. Like I said, everything was just icing on the cake from here on out.

The Best Choice I've Ever Made

The next morning when Tobi and I woke up in our 19 dollar Walmart tent beside the Colorado river while surrounded by the cliffs of the Grand Canyon it's safe to say we felt slightly untouchable. This rush of over confidence led us to wake up early and head to secret waterfalls in the Grand Canyon even though the day before we were told we were not welcome. We were told there was no room, we were not allowed to hike or camp there, and we needed reservations. We also had to drive an hour out of our way to even get to the places parking lot, which if we got turned away would waste more than 2 hours of prime daylight time at the South Rim. These aren't things you really think about when you're untouchable. Sure there are risks but do you think Superman worries about finding the oven mitt before taking brownies out of the oven? Of course not. Sometimes you know what you want when you want it, so Tobi and I began our 18 mile drive out of the Grand Canyon at 7am to hopefully make it to the parking lot of our next destination by 10am, an hour out of the way, just in the hope that they might let us hike their trail.

I will never understand how perspective can switch so much inside my own head. My head stays the same, relatively. I mean besides bed head, which I've now taken care of thanks to shaving my head, and a huge spider bite scar, my outward appearance stays pretty much the same from moment to moment. But inside my head I can go from feeling like a million bucks to 10 cents in no time at all. When I met Tobi I went from feeling that the end of my trip would be a failure to thinking the end of my trip was going to be the best week of my life in the time span of an hour. Yet on the road, when I was told we were not welcome to the Canyon waterfalls because we didn't have reservations I was depressed again. It's terrible to have great hopes, dreams, and desires that someone can put an end to over the phone, "Sorry, we're booked solid." Those simple words made everything we were hoping to see impossible. But one nights sleep and the impossible seemed possible again.

It was mostly a silent 3 hour drive to where we were headed. Tobi and I didn't say much outwardly and inside we were in knots. We knew what we were doing was crazy, but we just kept thinking that if we believed it would work out, it would work out. We reached the parking lot and it became obviously clear that the person on the phone wasn't kidding when they said they were full. Cars were parked everywhere. I mean, there was a "parking lot" but the lines drawn on the ground did only about half the job for all the cars there. For a moment while driving in we got behind a line of cars thinking it was traffic before realizing they were parked there because the lot was full. Lucky for us we did find a spot right between the donkeys and the porta-potties.

So we were there! That was a big enough step, but what to do now? Besides a small shed, about 50 donkeys, some great views, and more cars than we've seen since leaving Vegas we couldn't tell what all the fuss was about. Where were the people that drove these cars in here? We had to ask. The fear of getting kicked out made us hesitate from asking workers dumb questions about things anyone with a reservation should already know. So instead we asked a few people we saw in the parking lot about some information.

Where do we go from here? Is it worth it? Do you think they'd kick us out? We threw a barrage of questions at these clearly tired travelers (we'd come to find out why later). Apparently the parking lot is only the starting point. You need to hike 10 miles along the Canyon floor to get to the Indian reservation, and then check in. Once you're there it's two more miles of hiking to get to the camp site and the falls. Is it worth it? We repeated. I will never forget the look on the mans face when he said "If you came this far only to turn around at this parking lot you'll never forgive yourself. The scenery down there is some of the most contrasting beauties the world has to offer put right along side of each other. Desert cliffs, with crystal blue water rushing over it. Is it worth it? Yeah, it's worth it."

That sealed the deal. We would push on. As soon as we had that in our heads (a perspective change from fearful, to determined) we even asked some of the workers some questions, and to our surprise they were welcoming. "Just head down the trail, you'll see it in 10 miles." We didn't need anyone else to point us in the right direction but it was someone comforting to know that at least someone working at this place told us we could hike it. Even though we knew a lowly donkey renter had no business speaking for the tribe, you take any little victory you can when you're in our position.

So we began our hike. Not knowing what laid ahead, not knowing if we'd get turned back, but we did know there was a chance we'd see something amazing, and that was why we pushed on. Just as we were about to embark on the trail we asked a group of hikers to take our picture. We were on cloud nine, and it was just about the right time to get brought down to earth again. "Yeah, we'll take your picture," they said "you're smiling now, but you won't be later. This is the hike goes through hell." Funny, no one we talked to mentioned the grueling nature of the hike. Not my cousin, my friend Mimi, the man in the parking lot, or the donkey salesman. But come to think of it, the man in the parking lot did look extremely worn out, and granted the guy selling donkeys wasn't looking up to snuff but I thought that was the nature of his business. Now I was on the head of the trail smiling for a picture in front of about 15 teenagers that all looked like they'd just finished their house chores at the Hearst Castle. Their faces somehow backed up the claim that this hike went through hell, but if it takes walking through hell to get to heaven, I'd be up for that because, let's not forget, I'm untouchable again.

Hoober Dam

The first stop after leaving Las Vegas is an easy choice, the Hoover Dam. You've just got to stop here. If this place was good enough for the Clark Griswold and his family, it's good enough for me. We didn't stop for long though. Just snapped some pictures and then were back on the open road heading towards the Grand Canyon.

Our destination was a remote, almost secretive place deep in the canyon that I had only been told about by other travelers (Billy, my cousin, and Mimi from Big Sur). They told me of beautiful blue water waterfalls deep in the canyon. Beauty amongst the desert, a real life mirage that looks too good to be true, but for once is real, and we were headed there. We found the dot on the Atlas and aimed for it. A few hours after leaving Las Vegas we stopped to get gas, and use the phone so we could call and make camping reservations. Yes, this is something we should have done before driving almost all the way to it. The phone conversation went something like this:

Me-"We'd like to camp at your reservation"
Worker- "We're booked solid for the rest of the year, sorry."
Me- "No, No, I just want to hike down to the waterfalls and put up a tent."
Worker- "Sorry we don't have any vacancies. We open up reservations on January 7th and we sell out the entire year by January 14th. So try again next year."
Me- "Wow. That's interesting, but I don't need a room, we have our own tent."
Worker- "Sir there is no room."
Me- "There is no room in the desert for a two person tent?"
Worker- 'I'm sorry, have a good day, goodbye."

Tobi and I were in shock. To add insult to injury some Germans were at the gas station with us and told us how the waterfalls were the most amazing things they ever saw. They would have payed anything to see them again, done anything, and they will never forget them. Of course they booked their stay a year in advance. Tobi and I had known each other for 22 hours and weren't able to plan a year in advance, so we did the what we thought would be the next best thing.

It was getting later in the day, and we were near the "only road into the Grand Canyon", Diamond Creek Road, so we thought it was worth a try. We'd camp there, discuss our options, and then get started again the next morning. It seemed like the safe option. That was until the Ranger told us that it's easy for cars to get stranded on Diamond Creek road. She warned us of popped tires, broken gas tanks, rocks, flooded road ways, bumps, etc... They took a look at our rental and said, "I wouldn't take the chance, but I can't stop you." and she was right. We couldn't be stopped.

We pressed on, with your Dodge Caliber, and hoped for the best. They told us the road was 5 miles long, a small miscommunication I guess because it was 18 miles long. 18 miles of unpaved desert ground that reminded me of my driving experience on Fraser Island in Australia. The majority of which were done with a fear of becoming stranded in the middle of nowhere fresh on our minds. The scenery was spectacular though. Every turn showed a new view of the canyon until we were actually in it. Small streams along the side of the car turned into the mighty Colorado, and we only decided to hike about the last mile of the road to our campsite.

We camped right on the Colorado. Read books before the sunset on cliffs in the Grand Canyon. Went to sleep under the brightest moon I can ever remember with sounds of rushing water nearby. We were both very please with our decision to stop here. Who else has driven a car in the Grand Canyon? You? I doubt it.

However, the BIG decision still hung over our heads. What to do about going to see the waterfalls. Should we try and go anyway? If they turn us away it will be a wasted day because it's so far away from anything else. Should we skip it and possibly miss out on the greatest beauty in the world without even trying? It didn't look good, but we talked and thought we'd figure it out in the morning, bright and early.