Day 2 -- Lone Pine, California to Pahrump, Nevada -- 215 miles

Today's drive was one of the very nicest we've had in all our coast-to-coast motor home miles, which at last count totals over twenty thousand. And even though last night in Lone Pine, California, treated us to quite a torrential downpour, this morning turned out to be as sunny and pleasant as you could want with huge banks of fluffy clouds marching across the bright blue sky overhead.

Our plan this morning was to backtrack two or three miles, north towards Lone Pine, and then take California Routes 136 and 190 east to the entrance to Death Valley. We've found in the past that when you want to drive to Las Vegas it's far more interesting and exciting to drive Hwy 395 from Carson City, through the beautiful eastern California valleys and mountains, then cut through Death Valley before catching Nevada's Hwy 95 and following it south.

Our aim for the day, which we only decided last night, was to pay another visit to one of our favorite RV resorts located in Pahrump, Nevada. In days gone by Pahrump was just a wide spot in the road with not much to draw anyone's attention. But now it has become the new "in" place to live evidently, as there are miles of new homes and shops.

Our destination in Pahrump was the Wine Ridge RV Resort which we discovered on our 2014 motor home adventure. Wine Ridge is just the most immaculent park you'll see in your travels. There are just oodles of well-kept pull-though and back-in sites, as well as 30 or 40 cabins if you just happen to be traveling by car or motorbike. There is a huge swimming pool and adjacent hot tub, a club house for things like ice cream socials and pancake breakfasts, and a firepit with surrounding comfortable chairs where you can gather after dark to discuss your adventures.

But the best part about Wine Ridge is the restaurant on the property where they serve just the most scrumptious food imaginable along with wine from grapes grown right on the property. Tonight, after our usual cocktails on the small patio next to the rig, and a leisurely walk around the grounds, we had dinner in the restaurant that is located just a five minute walk from our front door. After an appetizer of simply the finest crab cakes I think we've ever encountered, we ordered filet for Concetta and blackened Mahi-Mahi for me. Oh man, was it good.

The whole drive from Lone Pine to Pahrump turned out to be about 215 miles, a little further than we like to travel in one day, but we made lots of stops to take photos as those wonderful cloud formations overhead just kept luring us out of the truck to grab a shot.

It was simply a perfect day for wandering and sight-seeing and picture-taking. We were hoping for a lot more wild flowers because of all the rain and were a little disappointed that we saw a much smaller scattering than we expected. Still, if we got out of the RV and wandered off into the desert we invariably found tiny orange and yellow flowers to enjoy. I even found some cactus flowers blooming.

The major point of interest that we found today was the historic site of the Harmony Borax Works just north of the Furance Creek area. Most likely everyone has at one time or another used Borax. But what is it? I copied the next couple of paragraphs from the site www.desertusa.com

"The value of borax has been known since ancient times. Explorer Marco Polo brought borax back with him from Mongolia, where it had been20 Mule Team Borax used for centuries in the manufacture of stain-resistant porcelain glazes. In modern times, the versatile mineral has been used in the preparation of medicated bandages, antiseptic solutions, cosmetics and enamel. It has traditionally been prized as a cleansing agent. It is used in the coatings of playing cards and most glazed papers. Although Death Valley was reputed to contain every mineral that made California famous (gold, silver, copper and lead), it was the unromantic borax that propelled the valley into prominence."

"Borax’s history in Death Valley goes back seven million years, to a time when volcanic activity and flash flooding hammer the land surface. Heavy rains washed large volumes of mud and silt into lakes, forming thick siltstone beds. Volcanic eruptions blew ash into the lakes; these, too, formed layers on the lake bottom. The ash deposits contained boron, a principal element in borate crystals. Ash deposits continued to build up. Over time, evaporation concentrated what had been lakes into a salty solution from which Death Valley's borate deposits crystallized."

Of course I became aware of Borax when I was just a few years old as I watched "The Old Ranger" on television. Are you old enough to remember the Old Ranger and Death Valley Days? Here's what Wiki has to say about one of my very favorite TV shows that ran from 1952 to 1970, part of the time with Ronald Regan as host. For some reason I couldn't get the link to show up so you'll have to type it in or copy and paste:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Valley_Days

Yup, the historic site had the old twenty-mule-team wagons on display along with the remnants of the borax processing equipment. We had fun prowling the grounds and shooting the weathered old wagons.

So there you have it. The sun was shining. The cool desert air was intoxicating. There seemed to be very little traffic to contend with, which is always nice when you're driving a 31-foot rig that takes awhile to climb hills. We enjoyed a bit of natural history. A bit of western history. And we ended the evening being very well fed. And tomorrow? Well at this point I don't even know which way we'll be heading for sure. We plan on deciding at breakfast. Chances are we'll end up in Utah or Colorado or, well, who knows? But I promise to let you know tomorrow -- if the creeks don't rise.

Until then, I wish you happy traveling.