RV ac in Death Valley?

[Anniepoo]

I just got an invitation to come do some instructional design in Shoshone, CA in the middle of Death Valley, west of Pahrump, NV

I'm wondering about living in an RV out there. Will an RV a/c unit keep up with Death Valley?

[Redetotry]

I think the first issue would be getting your RV there No amount of money could get me to the heat of Death Valley but that's just me. I would think you would need good insulation and a new A/C if it is the original.

[bikerchic777]

When are you due to be there and for how long? It does cool down in the desert in the winter, you know.

[snowball]

I'm kinda thinking the same as Linda
My sister says that Death Valley is totally awesome in the winter and
she lives in Vegas
Can you get in touch with the visitor center and see what the average
temps are? that might help will you be plugged in? that would help as
well
good luck in your research and you would do good!
sheila

[Bethers]

A couple weather sites I checked didn't have historical weather for Shoshone. Not sure why - unless that's a fairly new community. So I went to the Death Valley Nat'l Park website - you can read what they say here:

http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/w ... limate.htm

I would imagine another month or so and it'll be nice there - winter is not the same as summer and like most deserts - in the winter nights can be downright cold. Now if you want to spend summertime there - you best make sure you have an air conditioner prepared to run constantly. Mine ran almost constantly when I spent a summer in Tx for a month or two.

[BirdbyBird]

PM Sharon......she has camped in Death Valley but I don't know what parts.....

[sharon]

Shoshone is North of Baker/I-15 on 127 about 70 miles. It is technically not part of Death Valley, but on the outskirts of it. There is a gas station, a restaurant, a small museum and an rv park there. That's it. And a fascinating mine. I've never stayed in the park, so can't advise you on that other than it has full H/U's. I've just seen the sign on my way thru. The weather there starts cooling down around Oct and gets downright cold further into winter until the end of March. This time of year I would be more concerned about heating than air. Not sure when you're going, but I've been thru there in Feb and it was snowing. Not hard and didn't stick, but it sure was cold!! We used to jeep not to far from there every Feb at Dumont Dunes...great sand drags and races there. Long ways to the nearest grocery store. Probably Parump in Nev, about 40 miles. How long would you be there?

Death Valley itself is quite a ways from there and is beautiful in the winter. 3 cg's, only one that has H/U's and that's on the far side of the valley. The other 2 are dry camping with a dump station and water available. You can run your genny from 8am to I think 7pm, but usually don't need air. Open windows and exhaust fan keep your rig comfortable. Anything else you need to know, just ask! I can't imagine what kind of work would be in Shoshone, I think the population is about 40 or so, if that many.

[Rufflesgurl]

Was in Death Valley one time in January. It is really worth seeing (at the right time of year) - lots of interesting things. We stayed at Furnace Creek RV - everything you need.

Linda

[sharon]

A couple weather sites I checked didn't have historical weather for Shoshone. Not sure why - unless that's a fairly new community. So I went to the Death Valley Nat'l Park website - you can read what they say here:

Shoshone was settled sometime in the late 1800's. Been there forever. A lot of mining in the area, but don't know for sure what they were mining....I used to know, but the CRS is bad right now. Tecopah Hot springs is just a few miles from there, a lot of snowbirds stay there. I've been thru it but we never stopped to really check it out. There's also a date farm close that's interesting and has really good dates and date bread, date shakes, that sort of thing. The bread was excellent, but can't say the same for the shakes, but then I'm not a huge fan of dates or ice cream.

You can be in the Shoshone area and be freezing, and then drop down into Death Valley and be in shorts and short sleeve shirt. It's one of my very favorite places in the world, so much to see and do there. I took Donna one time, and she whined and cried about why would we want to go there...couldn't hardly get her to leave once we got there!! LOL!

[sharon]

Was in Death Valley one time in January. It is really worth seeing (at the right time of year) - lots of interesting things. We stayed at Furnace Creek RV - everything you need.

Linda

Furnace Creek is dry camping, water and dump available. Stovepipe Wells has electric, not sure if they have sewer or not, I've never stayed there. There are 3 cg's at Furnace Creek. 2 on the east side, 1 on the west. There is another one at Mesquite Springs, but it's quite a ways in to it on a dirt road and I've never had the time to go check it out. Hmmm...a good excuse to go back!! That's all the camping available there. You can't just pull off the road and camp there unless you're hiking in and tenting it. You need a special permit for that.

[Anniepoo]

I'm going to go volunteer to do some instructional design work for the school.

The plans are all 'oh, I'm sure so and so will do such and such' at the moment, but the woman who invited me says she's sure the RV park owner in Shoshone will give me a space if I'm there to volunteer for the school.
So I'm anticipating at least partial hookups.

I'm glad to know it won't be crazy hot til the summer. I stayed in 29 palms for the month of July a while back, I remember swamp coolers being pretty much a necessity.

I'll be coming and going - I have to keep up with my work, and I have to go to Pahrump to get low latency internet. I'll probably drive to Pahrump, work a week, drive back to shoshone and work a week.

[bikerchic777]

I lived in 29 Palms off and on for years. In fact, my DD was born there Yes, my ex was a Marine....Actually, 2 ex's I always had a swamp cooler on the houses I lived in. I have gone back in RV's, but not in the summer. I have seen some RV's with swamp coolers outside, mounted on a stand, blowing into a window. I don't think it would be something I would do unless I was going to live there full time in my RV. I would just run the AC. Heat is good at night in the winter

[sharon]

Shoshone is quite a bit higher than 29 Palms and has a totally different weather pattern. Yes, it's really hot in the summer, but cold in the winter. I was there in middle March and it was cold. Granted, I was on a motorcycle, but it was still cold, even when we stopped there for gas. Of course, being high desert, you never know what the weather is going to be, but the last 4 years it's been chilly. After saying that, the weather will probably make a liar out of me and it'll be hot!

Terrible Herbs is a nice place to stay in Pahrump, and reasonable, but be sure and check with them to make sure their wifi is working.

Just to the left of the gas station and back in about 1/8 of a mile is a fascinating old mine. The workers cut rooms into the hills to live. You can walk to it from the rv park, maybe a half mile. Old cemetary there, too.

[Rufflesgurl]

Believe we had full hookups at Furnace Creek RV Ranch in Death Valley.

Linda

[sharon]

Believe we had full hookups at Furnace Creek RV Ranch in Death Valley.

Linda

I'll have to check that out, I don't remember seeing any. We've always stayed across the street from the store at Furnace Creek and that's all dry. It would be nice to have them, but since the longest I've ever stayed there is a week it's not a necessity.