This is very nice hotel and the décor is so reminiscent of Dale’s alma mater. Who knew the interior designer also went to SU (Syracuse University) – go Orange.
After a good night’s sleep and waking to sunshine – the new task: where to go next? Death Valley is only 100 miles from here – GO WEST! We remember the television show “Death Valley Days” presented by 20 Mule Team Borax. The show starred: Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor, Stanley Andrews, Dale Robertson, and Merle Haggard. Such good memories.
In true Gypsy form, we unpack the car in the parking lot and repack for easier access. Look at us – so efficient in less than two weeks!
A quick stop to say goodbyes. Except we get advice, warnings, information about possible travel issues: e.g. sand piles in the road, watch out for rattlesnakes, the elevation changes – up and down (below sea level to way above sea level). We must be kids again.
The GPS is acting wonky – or not calculating at all right now. We used our phone GPS for a bit but we were concerned about our data usage being on the road for 30 days and some areas we have been traveling in have limited or no cell service. Let’s try the old GPS – but it only has the maps east of the Mississippi – (due to the new map sizes available from Garmin we had to choose the regions we wanted without adding an additional memory card – we simply chose the Eastern US region). But wait – that triggered Dale’s memory and he asked if the external memory card was still in the new GPS. Voila – it had partially ejected, losing contact. A quick push and AJ (American Jill) was working again. Now we can easily get to Death Valley without worrying about dying trying to get there.
It seems like we are taking too many photos – over 300 a day and trying to narrow them down is becoming a nightmare. But how can we not take as many photos as possible to capture our adventure – error on the side of too many!
Leaving Las Vegas (the city not the movie) we see some interesting signs and a roadside attempt to hide a cell tower as a tree.
The City of Parhump appears out of nowhere – and offers several options, although “The Hub” is not in the middle of the city and did not appear too busy this day.
There is a lot of land here for development, but some opt for wide open spaces and personal space.
As we make our way closer to Death Valley we notice some water along the road – seems unusual for the desert.
We are entering the Historic Death Valley Junction and get excited to see what lies ahead. ‘
But it looks more like a ghost town today. Somewhat disappointed we continue on.
We arrive!
Always a lot to see at the Visitor Center and surrounding areas. The campground is full and there are a lot of visitors today. The weather is beautiful and dry and warm. A nice change from Vegas!
We need to make our way to Badwater and the lowest elevation. We include a lot of photos on the road to Badwater.
Looks like some hats didn’t make it back (not ours) and become iconic figures of Death Valley.
We made it though!
We are sad to leave and can’t wait to come back and spend more time in this beautiful place.
As we were leaving, we pulled over to collect a small rock as a memento. Dale said take another kind and when Nancy picked one up and tried to return to the car the wind blew the door shut on her – OKAY – point taken = the second rock was carefully placed back in its original location!
We are unusually quiet on the return trip and haven’t given much thought as to where to spend the night.
The sunset is pretty as we pass back through Vegas and end up in Boulder City, which is pretty much the last place before nowhere.
