Gas, cell phones and WiFi in Death Valley

In my continuing quest to find warm weather, I am now in the Furnace Creek oasis in Death Valley, California. The good news is that it is sorta warm here -- about 60 degrees. The bad news is that it is really, really windy -- more than 50 mile per hour gusts yesterday. Last night, half asleep, I feared my little wheeled house would blow away to Kansas.

Here are a few news items. Gas prices, as always, are higher (both at Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells) than elsewhere in the state due to the remoteness of the area. Diesel is available at Furnace Creek.

Cell phones do not work. My Verizon service and a neighbor's T-Mobile are out of range as well. The good news about that is that you can walk around without having to listen to people gab on their phones. When dining in the two restaurants in the Furnace Creek oasis, you can do so in peace without phones ringing and being subjected to boring conversations.

Yesterday afternoon, the Corkscrew Saloon was packed for the Superbowl. Eighty percent of the crowd was for New York: I think they were rooting for the underdog.

Some really good news for Web Geeks Like Me is that free WiFi is now available in the village and even across the street in the Sunset Campground (huge parking lot for RVs only). If you have a computer with you and want to increase your odds of accessing the Web from your coach, get a site close to the general store. Otherwise, you can take your computer into the village and get online there. There is also free WiFi at the park visitor center, but I am told it is not as strong a signal.