Death Valley Desperados

Thirteen years ago a few southern California Lazy Daze owners came to Death Valley to spend New Years.  It grew to become a large gathering every year with anywhere from 20 to 40 rigs showing up. This year there are at least 25, which they said is a small turn out. They call themselves the Death Valley Desperados, but I haven’t heard how they got the name.

We are staying at Sunset Campground, just another huge parking lot with 750 sites. Can’t imagine it all being full.

We’ve met some nice folks and have enjoyed visiting with them. There is a gentleman named Terry Tanner, who’s mission is to put LED brake and tail lights on all Lazy Daze RVs, since he thinks the factory lights aren’t adequate. Jim has been interested in getting them, so Terry just happens to carry around extra sets and installs them at get togethers. We now are the proud owners of  some bright new LED lights.

There is another couple with a 30’ like ours who have 5 tilting solar panels and 4 batteries, unlike our 2 and 2, so Jim spent a good bit of time looking at his setup and getting ideas. This could cost us a bunch of money!

And this is a 1988 Lazy Daze owned by a very nice older couple who are the original owners. He recently repainted the exterior himself with spray paint. You sure couldn’t tell it was that old. They put 160,00 miles on the first engine, which they replaced a few years ago. Nice to see these rigs will last a long time if you take care of them.

We’ve done lots of hiking here in Death Valley, which I will save for another post. This is from a lovely drive along Artist’s Palette road. You can see how it got the name.