After a short trip to see Obaachan and Ojiichan in Vegas, we started our week-long tour driving through the Nevada desert. As we passed each little town, I just couldn't imagine pioneers stopping and setting up camp here. They must have found water....but there are no trees and it seems like nothing grows but the sagebrush and cactus. Had I been a pioneer, I may have cried if our wagon train stopped in a desert like this. I thought this was interesting. No ranger station at the entrance of Death Valley...but they trust that people will stop and buy a pass.
I wanted to see Death Valley....and now that I've seen it, I don't need to go back. There is a lot that's beautiful about the desert....but it's pretty hot and that's not fun for me. :)
They say the reason we have Death Valley as a National Park is because someone found Borax here and mined it for many years. Wow.
The highlight of Death Valley for me was Scotty's Castle. A millionaire from Chicago built this home here in the early 1900's. In the middle of nowhere before most of the world had eletricity and running water, they built a water pump from the spring that ran by and had electricity to run lights and refrigerator....and hot water. It's a beautiful Spanish style home. We missed the first part of the tour, so I don't know why it didn't get passed on to the family....but they say it is exactly as the owners left it, down to the clothes in the closets.
The Racetrack...the reason we wanted to come to Death Valley. It was a little disappointing. It wasn't at all like any of the pictures I've seen. At least someone got good pictures and I can read about it from another perspective.
I wanted to see Death Valley....and now that I've seen it, I don't need to go back. There is a lot that's beautiful about the desert....but it's pretty hot and that's not fun for me. :)
They say the reason we have Death Valley as a National Park is because someone found Borax here and mined it for many years. Wow. 
The highlight of Death Valley for me was Scotty's Castle. A millionaire from Chicago built this home here in the early 1900's. In the middle of nowhere before most of the world had eletricity and running water, they built a water pump from the spring that ran by and had electricity to run lights and refrigerator....and hot water. It's a beautiful Spanish style home. We missed the first part of the tour, so I don't know why it didn't get passed on to the family....but they say it is exactly as the owners left it, down to the clothes in the closets. 
The Racetrack...the reason we wanted to come to Death Valley. It was a little disappointing. It wasn't at all like any of the pictures I've seen. At least someone got good pictures and I can read about it from another perspective. On our way out of here, the map was confusing. We stopped and talked to another lost traveller and he was either really lost or purposely tried to send us in the wrong direction. Either way, it was a long, hot, bumpy road out of there. We were just grateful to see pavement and have had enough gas to get ourselves out of the desert. :)
Goodbye forever, Death Valley. :)
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