16TH - 18TH AUGUST

We arrived in Death Valley and instantly noticed an upturn in temperature! We stopped at the viewpoint for a quick snap but didn’t hang around as we wanted to get to Panamint Springs and chill with an ice cold beer, as it had been a long day’s drive! I can honestly say I wasn’t overly looking forward to camping in the desert, well I guess I was and I wasn’t! I kind of liked the idea of being able to say that I had spend a night under the stars in Death Valley but wasn’t overly keen about spending it in a tent with very hot temperatures! I don’t think I was the only one having reservations about this particular camping experience!

When we finally reached Panamint Springs and got Sue and Eddie booked into their room, I wandered over to the campsite with Cath. We both know each other well enough to know what each other is thinking and I could tell by her

body language that she was having the same reservations as me! For a start it was incredibly hot even though it was gone 6 in the evening, and secondly the ground resembled a rocky dried up riverbed! It was visually less than appealing and the thoughts of what could be crawling around in the dark did nothing to quell our concerns! Cath then said that she was quite prepared to book us all into a room for the night as she felt it was far too hot for camping! I said Cath you’re a star and thank-you! I knew exactly where she was coming from and was very glad to hear her kind offer. To my amazement Rob was having none of it and seemed hell bent on spending the night under canvas! I asked Rob if he was mad and suggested that a nights sleep in a air-conditioned room with a big comfy bed was a far more appealing idea, he somewhat reluctantly agreed after I said that he was welcome to sleep out under the stars and that I would think of him from my nice cool bed!!!