Bill and Eileen's Travels: Las Vegas and Death Valley (6/5

Friday, June 6, 2014

Las Vegas and Death Valley (6/5 - 6/6)

Tonight is Friday 6/6/2014. Yesterday we moved from St George to Las Vegas where we met up with Kathie and Mark. The Las Vegas Motor coach Resort has changed considerably since our last visit in 2008. They have basically redone the entire resort and the sites are really nice. We finally had the bus washed. Then yesterday we took a ride to Red Rock Canyon and then to downtown Vegas. We ate at PF Chang's then we went across the street to see the water show at Bellagio. Vegas is just not for us. It's a crazy city.

Today we drove to Beatty, Nevada which is the small town just east of one of the entrances into Death Valley NP. We only had about 5-6 hours to see some of the park. We rode up to Scotty's Castle which is a big estate built in the desert with the money from a Insurance millionaire from Chicago. Scotty was the one who pushed the investment by telling people he had discovered gold in the valley. The estate was certainly unique and ahead of its time. It was never finished because of a title dispute that was later settled and the fact that the owner ran out of money due to the stock market crash of 1929. It was an interesting place, but we all agree we would never live there.

We then went to Ubehebe Crater. This is the site of a volcanic explosion about 2000 years ago. The explosion blew debris into an area about 6 square miles. There is very little vegetation in the area and the crater is about 400-500 feet deep and very interesting.

This park is enormous and we saw about 2% and yet we drove over 110 miles. The temperatures were excessive for us today but in the normal range for this valley this time of year. We didn't get to the lowest area because it was too far away but the lowest spot is in Badwater Basin which is 282ft below sea level. This will probably be the last time I come here, but we all agree that it was a place we had to see.

Tomorrow we head west to Visalia, Ca. which will be our base for visits to Kings Canyon NP and Sequoia NP. Then on Tuesday we head up to Yosemite where we will meet up with Magnus, Jen, Sebastian and Sofia. We are really looking forward to that.

My refrigerator worked well until late this afternoon but right now it is not cooling that well. We will see.

Back in the campground we are greeted by the wild burrows that roam this area. The campground host puts water out for them and they show up every morning and evening. They tend to eat the planted flowers so I'm not sure I would feed them. they seem to be healthy. The fat one is really pregnant and the two others are her offspring.

Enjoy the Pic's