Our generator is on its way back to us. I have time to take us back to Death Valley.
The day after Christmas, the weather turned beautiful. It was cool the whole time we stayed - too cool to want to sit outside in deck chairs, for instance - but not uncomfortably cold for tent campers. There were a few blustery days and nights when I was glad not to be trying to anchor down a tent or trying to sleep with all the noise! Still, the days were sunny and the nights clear.
I've been writing on a yearly basis about the facilities at Furnace Creek, in Death Valley, and the major renovations under way. The original "Furnace Creek Ranch" resort, built to be family-friendly and relatively low-cost, was built along western / wooden / ranch house lines and had a decidedly rustic feel to it. Three years ago the facilities were torn down to make way for the new, Mediterranean-style, Ranch at Death Valley. This year the old cabins had been torn down and construction had begun for their replacements. The restaurants and gift shop have been up and running for over a year. I wrote in fair detail and included pictures in this post last year, showing what I could of the before-and-after, so I won't repeat it.
The gift store / grocery store has gone considerably upscale from its humble predecessor. There is a broader selection of jewelry, basketry, clothes, books, children's toys and various doodads than there used to be, all intended to separate the tourists from their money and, one hopes, give happy memories along the way. I picked up some jewelry but for once couldn't find any cookbooks that I wanted to buy.
The grocery store was the astonishing part. There's a wide selection of beer, both local microbrews and more mainstream stuff. There's some wine. There's also coffee, tea, milk (dairy, soy, almond) and cheese. There are dried foods in packages. There are now full-blown microwaveable meals. There are deli meats in packages. There are prepared sandwiches to take with you, and hard-boiled eggs, and fruit, and salads. I went one day to check out their stock of fruit. I remembered seeing some sad bananas and the inescapable Red Delicious apples. Did they have anything else? They did.
I couldn't bring myself to touch the peppers (already going off) or the avocados (ditto, and from Mexico) but I was really after fruit to supplement our typical breakfast fruit salad. We hadn't bought enough before leaving the Yuma area, and it might not have lasted anyway. So...how much do you think a basket of berries cost? How much do you think I paid for a basket of blueberries and one of raspberries (8 oz. each)?
Prices weren't terribly surprising to me. This is an out-of-the-way place; there are transportation costs to be considered, and since it's an upscale resort you can expect prices to be inflated anyway. The irony, to me, is that this National Park (perhaps like all National Parks) stresses conservation and environmental protection. Take a look again at the stock, and how it's packaged.
While you're guessing at prices, here's another one: a gift box of Hunter's Reserve sausage (elk and pork, and venison and pork), spreadable cheeses, crackers and 2 mustards.
It was a beautiful box. I bought one and thought it a decent deal at 25% of its original price. It's pretty good stuff, too.
Got any guesses about how much they wanted for it in the first place?
