The more interesting/quirky trips seem to happen during Thanksgiving. There was of course TG96 that took a prominent place in Dev's wedding reception. Then there was the Palm Springs-Joshua Tree trip of 2001, where 'Montevista' was added to the lexicon. And some folks still recall the stench that rose from the Salton Sea during our TG 2002 stay in Borrego Springs. This year, it was Death Valley National Park. I have tried to visit DV many times, but I never started the planning in time. This time I decided early and given the dearth of other options, several other folks also joined me in making the reservations.
The trip looked to be jinxed, however. Several folks were skeptical about the destination, let alone planning to spend four days there. By the early part of the TG week, the Reddy's and PV had dropped out for various reasons. RDX, who had always had his doubts, was barely hanging in there as prospects for evening poker sessions evaporated. The Murthys however, held firm and even sportingly offered to take up poker if that would make for a happier RDX. Apparently it did (although RDX would come to regret this later) and the trip was on in earnest.
The plan was to spend two nights at Stovepipe Wells (west side of DV) and two nights at the more well known Furnace Creek Ranch. (Stay tuned for a separate blog on recommendations for a DV visit.) We left early on Thursday and after a quick sync-up at the Murthy's RB residence, we started the journey around 7am in 2 cars - Murthys & RD in Vinay's minivan and us in our Rx-300. We quickly got out of sync on the freeway after we took an exit for an Abhi potty break and they took a different exit for gas. We really diverged after we took 215 and they stayed on I-15 apparently because I told them to do so (despite all evidence to the contrary). We eventually took 395 and then just followed the signs to DV. We lost cell coverage soon after we left 395 and we had no more updates from the other car. The drive was pleasant and the views were quite nice. We stopped a couple of times to take pictures and reached Stovepipe Wells just before 1pm.
Arjun had woken up on Wednesday with a fever and we almost didn't send him to school. However, after a dose of Motrin (first time - we always used Tylenol before) he felt a lot better and insisted on going (they were going to have a TG party at school). The same thing repeated on Wed evening and Thurs morning - his temperature would rise, we would give him Motrin and he would be up and about in almost no time. We were chiding ourselves for not having tried Ibuprofen earlier. We gave him another dose Thursday afternoon. Little did we know that this would come back to haunt us later.
We were in our room by 1.15pm, but there was no sign of the other car. It was almost 2.30pm when they showed up. Turned out they took the long way - going north on 395 past China Lake before taking a east-ward road into the park - adding almost 60 miles to their drive. Lunch was idlis (by Malini) and after some tea, we headed out to catch sunset on the Mesquite Flats sand dunes that are short drive from our lodge. We were in for a bit of a let down - the storm over the previous 2 days had made the sand damp and somewhat packed.
This made walking on them easier, but largely destroyed the feel of the classic sand dune. 
Still, the kids and adults had good fun traversing the dunes and we managed to climb up a tall one just in time for the sunset.The sun sets early - around 4.30pm - this time of the year. So, we were done and back in our rooms by about 5.30pm. The rooms were adjoining, with a connecting door. This turned out to be a very convenient arrangement - kids would gather in one room and the adults could chat (or play poker) in the other. Another round of tea and as the kids took bath, some of us headed off to heat food for dinner - there is a microwave in the local General Store that we could use. I tried the free WiFi in the hotel lounge, but it was pitifully slow.
Dinner was pav bhajji (contributions from both Vinay & RD) and it was time to initiate V&S into the intricacies of Texas Hold-em poker. Being the smart cookies that they are, they caught on quickly and the game was on. It was quickly apparent that Sangeetha didn't care to fold and that if Vinay stayed in, you were in trouble. Vinay and I managed to eke out some gains, Malini had a small loss and RD and Sangeetha were the big losers. Another round of tea and it was time for bed. I was planning to head out early to catch sunrise on the dunes and promises were being made by several folks about joining me.
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