The wind did rock us all night long, but the temperatures dropped overnight to the 40’s outside. The furnace actually turned on in the morning to keep the RV over 60˚F as we boondocked at the rest stop. We were not disturbed overnight and slept well despite the Haboob related misadventures.
We had our fingers crossed as we pulled out of the rest area and pointed the RV back in the direction of Death Valley, but the check engine light remained on, and the engine horsepower was limited to 95HP. So we turned around and made a bee line for the Las Vegas Mercedes Sprinter service center.
As we drove into Las Vegas, we did drive by some military training facilities including one that appeared to have a couple of Patriot missile batteries setup in the middle of the desert.
We arrived at the Mercedes Sprinter service center at 9:30am and they got the RV into their shop around 11 am. They had a small waiting room without the niceties of the Lynnwood Sprinter/Metris service center. They were very busy, with commercial vans and RV’s crowded in their small parking lot. We were thankful that they agreed to try to squeeze us in today as they could find time.
Janet and Ben went for a walk at 11:45am, originally intending to hike to the In-N-Out that was 3.6 miles down Sahara Street from the Mercedes Sprinter service center, but the wind was cold and the temperature in Las Vegas were just in the upper fifties. We ended up turning back after 1.5 miles, and instead walked around a nearby “Spanish Trail Park” that was just around the block from where the RV was getting serviced. It turned out to be a very nice park with lots of informative displays explaining the old Spanish Trail that was originally blazed by the Mormons and subsequently followed by waves of pioneers heading west. There were wagon ruts still present in one corner of the park which run diagonally through the square lot, although centrally, they have been replaced by a paved pathway. There is a lot of nice playground equipment for kids, shaded benches and picnic tables, and walking path that is 1/3 mile long (3 laps = 1 mile).
We ended up having lunch at a small Mexican restaurant “Salude” that was in a strip mall next to the Mercedes Sprinter service center. They had a $10 lunch special chicken taco salad which Janet went for, while Ben got a combo for $13 which included a bowl of pretty good Pozole, rice, beans and enchilada.
When we got back from our walk and lunch, we were surprised to see our RV parked out front. They said the air filter looked ok so they didn’t end up replacing that, but the engine computer had fault codes P3005A9 (boost pressure too high) and P3002F6 (pressure sensor downstream of air filter has a malfunction). They ended up replacing the intake manifold pressure sensor after finding a fault in the original. This cleared the fault codes and restored engine performance. The best thing was that it was all covered under the Mercedes Benz Sprinter manufacturer’s original warranty, so the service was free!
We were thrilled to be able to get back on the road. Our first stop was at an O’Reilly’s Autoparts where Ben bought a new air filter for the RV which we’ll swap out when we have some down time. We left Las Vegas at 1:45pm. The nav system predicted we would be able to get to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center by 4:45pm, but we’d still have enough daylight to see most of the east side sights. We topped off the tank with 7.446gal @$5.079/gal with 16799 on the odometer (13.3mpg). We also refilled the Jerry cans with 10gals. As we drove through Parhump, we found some $4.99/gal diesel, so we filled up the RV at odometer reading 16853 with 4.769gal (11.3mpg).
We entered the park through the east entrance which took us to the Dante’s View turn off. The map and signage say no vehicles over 25’ allowed, but we snuck in anyways. There are some very tight S-turns and steep inclines towards the end of the road, but the RV had no trouble negotiating them, and the parking lot was plenty large to allow for easy parking and maneuvering. The view is spectacular and the display boards help explain the topography and geography of Death Valley and the great inland basin that it is part of.
Rivers in this area drain into the valley instead of the oceans. We got in a little hike to some of the prominences beyond the parking lot with slightly different views. It was remarkable that although there was some light wind, it was nothing at all like it had been at the crater yesterday.
We drove down into the valley and stopped to see the Badlands at Zabriski point. These are formed by multiple layers of sediments being uplifted by seismic forces and exposed to the erosive effects of precipitation. It is ironic that as dry as Death Valley is, rain has been a major contributor to the topography via erosion from flash floods over the eons.
Next, we drove past Furnace Creek, which actually has water running in it, and past the closed visitor center. There is a gas station there which was selling diesel for $8.37/gal. They apparently like to brag they have the highest fuel prices in North America.
We then toured the Harmony Borax works, which are the remains of an operation that purified Borax from the lakebed salts. These were hauled to railroad lines by 20 mule teams in large sturdy wagons.
The sun was just dipping below the western valley edge with the light racing up the eastern wall rapidly. We Made our way to Artists drive, which was also for vehicles under 25’ only. The parking lot for Artists Palette was a bit tight, but Ben was able to do a Y turn to get the RV turned around. We were exiting the Artists drive as darkness fell.
We arrived at Badwater, the lowest point in the park at 282’ below sea level, after dark. We used portable lamps to read the display boards and view the salt formations in the lake bed.
We exited the park along the Badwater road and town of Shoshone. It was not enjoyable driving in the dark, but our Las Vegas emergency mechanical detour necessitated the late night driving to stay on schedule. Diesel was still $6.97/gal at the Chevron there, but we had 180 miles of range left. This was plenty enough to get us to the town of Baker and even to Peggy Sue’s 50’s diner in Yermo CA, where we planned to spend the night.
We ended up filling up the RV in Baker with 16.556gal for $6.69/gal with the odometer reading 17091 miles. There was a rest stop outside Baker that we decided to pull into for the night since it was approaching midnight and we still had another 30 or so miles to get to Yermo. There was plenty of space in the rest area, but it was very windy, rocking the RV and flapping the slide cover.
