Monday Feb. 16/15 - Shoshone

We woke early Monday AM and headed out once more. We went back up the very steep, switch back road about 8:00 but as China Ranch doesn’t open til 9:00 we were able to stop and take photo’s of it - something we couldn’t do on the way down as we had vehicle’s right behind us.

The Navion coming up between the steep, narrow canyon walls
- they take large tour busses down there!

We headed back up the road into Tecopa and turned off into Tecopa Springs - a natural hot springs in the area. We found the RV park but it was nothing but a big gravel parking lot and it was $39. and $5. each to use the spring pool. We decided to travel on and so continued up toward Shoshone and then on to Furnace Creek to meet up with the Hi-Desert Rig Runners  WIT group.

Shoshone was a wonderful little town and seeing the Shoshone RV Park sign we quickly pulled in. They had showers and a pool and for only $22.50 - we were sold! Mike, the manager was so friendly and got us set up in a wonderful little spot in no time.

Our little bit of paradise!

We had a bite to eat as it was only 9:30 and we hadn’t had breakfast yet - we had been hoping to find something with WiFi along the way. Mike said they had WiFi but they were running new lines in town for high speed internet so they were having intermittent service. We tried but no service that day so we had a walk up the road to the museum and store - less than 5 minutes away.

Shoshone Museum

The General Store

Shoshone - not far from anywhere!

The Shoshone Museum is fantastic - the history about the town and it’s surrounding area is very well documented and the geological addition part at the back has an actual Mammoth skeleton found nearby - not a replica. It is well worth a visit especially since it’s by donation only. We crossed the road to the General Store but didn’t buy anything even though they had some really nice locally made things as well as the usual tourist stuff. I had my eye on a beautiful pair of silver earrings but there was only one girl cashier and she was so busy with the gas pumps, lottery and snack sales that I couldn’t get her attention so I thought we might come back later when it was less busy. To Dale’s relief we didn’t get a chance! We walked back to the rig and decided to go for a swim in the pool which is at the back of the park. 

What a surprise we had - the pool is fed by a big pipe running from the spring about 100 yards away, flows into the pool and out at the other end to continue it’s path to wherever it goes. It’s all natural - no heat or chemicals - just pure, warm (about 90* F.), unfiltered water. What an Oasis once again. We had the pool to ourselves surprisingly so we spent a good part of the early afternoon there just soaking in the water or soaking up the sun in the lounge chairs - FANTASTIC! (Just a little note - because it’s all natural - they close it on Wednesday for cleaning so if you’re planning a visit - keep that in mind!) 

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging around beside the rig so Henry could relax with us also. We met some people visiting from Northern California - Mike & Lindy, and Dana & Kurt so we had a nice chat and another swim with them before dinner of Salmon, Rice-a-Roni, & Salad.

Candlelight Dinner once again!

They joined us at the central campfire after dinner with wood that Mike the manager thoughtfully provided for us. There are big stacks of it around for you to use free. He also told us to help ourselves to filling jugs from the reverse osmosis filtered tap in the laundry room - “Make sure you fill up before you go - it’s the best spring water anywhere” he told us - and it was quite good!

Lounging around!
(washroom and laundry in the background)

This is where I must comment here about the place. We have stayed in many an RV park - good and bad, luxury and primitive, expensive and cheap  and so we know what to look for. This place is great! It’s older but well maintained. The washrooms are older wood “retro style” but have been updated and you can tell that they are freshly painted. There are only two stalls and one shower stall but it’s very large with a new fibreglass stall in it - the kind that are all formed with a seat at each end and decorative shower curtains and bathmats to give it a homey touch. The shower pressure is fantastic also - definitely not a “pathetic dribble” that are common in a lot of places. The rest of the washroom as well as the laundry room are spotless and well maintained with brand new ceramic tile - this is one of the first things I look for - how clean and/or mildewed are the washroom floors - “you could eat off these”. There is also a “Library” with tons of books, chairs for reading in, a TV with VCR and racks of Video’s as well as a little kitchenette at one end. A nice homey little clubhouse for the use of the guests. The whole park is clean and well maintained and Mike the manager (who is only there P/T - about 6 months of the year is the nicest, friendliest host I’ve come across! I almost regret giving such a great review in case too many read this blog and we’ll never get a chance to stay there again because it’s full!!! We were sad that we could only stay one night and really wished we had found it sooner but we had promised to meet up with the WIT group in Furnace Creek on Tuesday so onward we continued.