Tecopa, CA

We are spending our last day in the Death Valley area; at Tecopa, CA. This is an area rich in mineral hot springs and the so-called lake below the mesa our RV park is on the edge of consists of marshes, salt flats and some mineral ponds which reflect the nearby mountains. That is what the mountain reflection photo shows.

We spent yesterday exploring the area around Tecopa, near the China Ranch area. We stopped on an off-road overlook and saw a canyon, which we got on the road which led us into and through the canyon to China Ranch, which is a working date ranch, bed and breakfast, gift shop, etc. The canyon drive itself was amazing with high mud hills, dotted with mine shafts and arches and rocks. The date ranch was interesting also with brightly colored cloths protecting the hanging date clusters and the surrounding cottonwood trees which still retained their Fall colors.

This morning we saw the Dumont Dunes, where many RVs had stayed right on the sand over the recent holidays and there were still a few remaining holdouts going up and down the high dunes today. The stream photo shows the Amargosa River which runs through the canyons at the base of the Dumont Dunes. We then went to the world famous "The Mad Greek" (or at least famous by being featured on the Food Channel’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show with Guy de Fieri). The Greek gyros were just as luscious as they looked on TV…yum! I will go no-carb again when I get home!

We will leave here for Brenda, AZ tomorrow and do more of the Quartzite rockhound shows for a day (we found so many interesting things there on the trip up here, January is a primo month to go there for the rock shows) and then return to home on Saturday. It has been a great trip so far, much colder than we anticipated, but then it has been so very cold all over the country, it seems. In listening to the news, I know we are fortunate to not have to deal with the below zero temps and snow, but it has certainly been cold according to our wimpy, desert-rat standards.