A Colorado State of Mind: Day 3- Turning Three in Death Vallee

Day 1 and Day 2 recaps.

After our late night and middle of the night disruption, the entire family slept until just past 9 am in our dark and dusty Death Valley cabin. The boys woke up crazier than usual so we almost immediately ushered them outside to the front porch while I fumbled around with making a respectable cup of coffee. Speaking of respectable cups of coffee- can I rant for a minute on how much I hate Keurig coffee makers, and hate even more that almost every hotel room now has one? Yes, it’s incredibly wasteful, but apart from that, the coffee is just bad… and weak (I apologize in advance for those I have offended). And I need much more than one Keurig cup to get my day started (my husband and I would each get one, as they usually only give two cups, in addition to decaf- which, just… why???). I never mind, and actually rather enjoy, walking down to a hotel lobby for a cup of drip coffee, which, in my opinion, is much more likely to be decent coffee (unless it’s weak- why, oh why do people make hot coffee-water??). In my anticipation of these Keurig infested hotel rooms and from past vacations where it seemed I went days without a decent cup (which really just throws my entire morning off), I planned ahead. Seeing as we were flying and I wouldn’t be able to pack up my entire gourmet coffee survival kit that has accompanied me on prior road trips and camping (electric tea kettle, 6 cup ceramic pour over system, grinder) I experimented with Starbucks Colombian instant packets and powdered creamers. The Starbucks Colombian packets can be bought at a great price when on sale at Costco and are capable of making a rich, respectable cup of coffee, as strong as you like it. As far as creamer- I found that in the Hispanic isle in most grocery stores they sell a Nestle brand of dehydrated whole milk- no other additives or fillers other than some vitamins. It is much better than any non-dairy creamer I’ve tried, and has a good taste and mouthfeel. The bonus of this combo is you can make up a hot cup of coffee when hot water is available (you can brew a hot cup of water with a Keurig machine if the not quite colorless water that comes out doesn’t creep you out), or if not, dump the contents with cold water into a water bottle, shake vigorously for a couple of minutes, and you’ve got yourself a nice iced latte (I make mine strong with two packets!). You can even assemble one while in the passenger seat, using old travel brochures to funnel the ingredients. You’re welcome.

We enjoyed our iced coffee, fitting for the warm weather, on the front porch while the boys played around in the nearby trees and talked about plans for the big day- Remy’s 3^rd birthday! We devised a plan of fruit and chips for breakfast followed by a swim, then check-out at 11, and lunch at the 1849 Buffet at the ranch. It all went swimmingly (pun intended) and by the time we got to the buffet we were sufficiently starving (is there really any other appropriate way to walk into a buffet?). The restaurant was almost empty, the food was really quite good and fresh, and we all had multiple courses of salads, soups, burgers, pizza, and drinks followed by a memorable tray of deserts, including chocolate cake, while we attempted to sing happy birthday to Remy (he got a bit grouchy after having just bumped his head on the buffet table). We left feeling stuffed but refreshed, and spent some time at the gift shop picking out a few presents before settling into the dreamy palm lined courtyard with our new toys. It was a breezy 78 degrees outside, and just felt like heaven.

Leaving the ranch, our first stop of the day was Mesquite Sand Dunes. August had been talking about these dunes for weeks and was very excited to get out into them. In his eyes, the sand dunes were the epitome of the desert. We hiked a bit out, rolled and ran around, then headed back when we had had enough (just short of picking the sand out of our ears). On to our next stop, and a surprise enjoyment for the boys, was Salt Creek Trail, a boardwalk that followed a small creek filled the endemic pupfish (existing only here). Even after refueling with candy and water, it took quite a while to finish the trail, just over a mile, as the boys pretty much stopped every five feet to watch the fish. Leaving the trail, our last stop in Death Valley was Zabriskie Point, an overlook with some gorgeous gold hued badlands.

From Death Valley we had a relatively short drive to our stop for the night- Longstreet Inn and Casino, just over the border in Nevada, and about a third of the cost of the previous night’s stay. The hotel was filled with mining era memorabilia, and had a fun, rustic, saloon feel to it. After checking in we quickly made our way to the pool before sunset and then promptly made our way into the hot tub after realizing the pool was not heated and was probably somewhere in the 65- 70 temperature range (a little too refreshing in the dry 70’s desert air). The hot tub was actually huge, and not too hot, so we were able to enjoy a long soak past sunset, with some drinks, before returning to our rooms to get a late dinner at the hotel. The restaurant was packed, but the casino was not, as I realized after playing off five dollars on video poker at the saloon, waiting for someone to show up and take my drink order. After ten minutes of play I was breaking even (after being up an entire $1.25 at one point!), so I cashed out and rejoined the family just as dinner arrived. Dinner was an incredibly satisfying sharing of salmon, mashed potatoes, chili fries, and spaghetti and meatballs. Everyone ate well, and we retired to our room for a bit of TV before promptly passing out again, as almost every other night of this vacation.