Friday 16th September

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So today was the day we met Ellie our hired motorhome. After a lovely buffet breakfast in the hotel our group met up at 9.30 to be transferred in two mini buses to the El Monte motorhome hire depot. We were shown a short information film then began the long process of completing all the paperwork and then assigning us all a motorhome. Each couple were given a thorough demonstration of all the workings of their new home and although most of us have our own motorhomes there was a lot to take in, as these are very different beasts. The air conditioning unit is essential in this hot environment and it works on a generator when you are not plugged in to the mains. On site you can connect to the mains water supply - no filling of water tanks - and the toilet and waste water are emptied through tubing directly into the mains sewers. We, like most of the group have a 22ft home, which has a fixed French bed at the rear with bathroom alongside with a separate shower cubicle inside. We also have a microwave and a big fridge/freezer.

It was about 12.30 when we actually drove away from the depot going straight to a nearby Walmarts to pick up all our supplies. This took ages as it was a huge shop and finding and identifying what we needed was not easy. Our total shop was 280 dollars, but this should hopefully last us a long time as we will not be near any large shops for sometime. It was nearly 4 pm by the time we managed to get set up on our pitch at the KOA campsite next door to Sams Town, the hotel we had been staying at. We are all pitched alongside each other and at 5pm had a meeting outside the tour leaders van for a briefing about the drive tomorrow to Furnace Creek in Death Valley. We have been advised to leave early to beat the rush hour so it looks like an 8am start!

Forgot to mention yesterday that we have seen many wedding chapels, all the hotels seem to have them and you see many around along all the roads, but then we saw a wedding drive thru complete with a little serving window.

Just looking on the internet at temperatures at Furnace Creek and they are predicting 110 to 113 c. Think we might feel a little hot!!

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Photos

Swimming pool at campsite
Sitting at pool to write this as WiFi only available here