poor - certainly in our own hotel. It often felt like we were treated like the small
fry we were – not that we cared about this much, so long as we got freebies!
Accommodation in Death Valley was also cheap - at $15 dollars a night
one of the lowest cost campsites we stayed in. However, where ‘luxury’ was
the word in Nevada, ‘primitive’ described the Furnace Creek site we stayed in.
We had no hookups, there were no showers, in fact there was no hot water in
the washrooms, but at least the toilets were flushing ones - not the pits in the
ground that we encountered in other national parks. We were also fortunate
that our heater in the van was fuelled by propane and so it worked without us
being hooked up. At least there were stores nearby to distract us from our
facility-free campsite. Well, there was one store (a gift shop/grocery store),
plus a couple of eateries - oh, and a borax museum!
The stark contrast between Vegas and Death Valley in terms of
accommodation was repeated when it came to food, what was available and
how much it cost. In Death Valley we had very little to choose from. Near our
camp were a pub style place, a more expensive restaurant, and a diner/café.
We opted for the last of these, the 49ers Café, as it was the cheapest. Even
so, it was still noticeably dearer than similar establishments outside of the
national park, but we were a captive audience – even unable to cook for
ourselves in the van due to the lack of hookups. In fact we thought we might
literally become captives, the staff were so creepy.
Both nights we were met at the door by the same young girl, though
she showed no sign that she had seen us before when we took us to a table
on the second night. The first time we ate there she said 'enjoy your meal' in a