Stranded in Death Valley for 2 Days

‍

By the time we rolled into Death Valley, it was already 109°F, with a heat index pushing 120+. No AC, barely any insulation to block the engine heat, and wind so hot it burned our eyes with every gust. In other words, it was brutal.

A couple of hours in, I noticed the engine was running hotter than usual. We pulled over to let it cool, topped off the coolant, and let it idle for about 20 minutes. Everything seemed fine, so we got back on the road, thinking we’d dodged a bullet. We even started talking about our next stop, feeling confident we’d be out of the valley soon. But with the day’s heat still peaking, we weren’t in the clear just yet.

Just over 60 miles outside Las Vegas, on the outskirts of Death Valley, a loud clacking noise started every time I hit the accelerator. That sound? It was our engine giving up. At that moment, we knew the next 48 hours were about to get interesting.

With waves of heat radiating in every direction and no one around to help, I got under the hood, hoping to patch something up. But after taking everything i could apart and putting it back together, it was clear—nothing was getting us out of there. The engine was dead...in Death Valley.

With barely one bar of service, we made call after call trying to line up a tow. Nothing panned out. As reality set in, we accepted that we were spending the night in the middle of nowhere. But sometimes, all you can do is roll with it. That night, the sky lit up, reminding us we weren’t entirely alone. For a place as unforgiving as Death Valley, it sure put on one hell of a show.

By morning, after multiple no-shows from tow companies, we finally found a way out. And, ironically, we ended up exactly where we didn’t want to be—Las Vegas. Two dirty dudes and a dog, checking into a casino hotel. Not the plan, but after 48 hours stranded in the desert, sipping margaritas in a rooftop pool wasn’t the worst way to end the day. Crazy what can happen in 48 hours.

‍

‍