2016 - November

Next stop on our journey was Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps.  We took the public bus transportation and spent a day on the strip.  A lot has changed on the strip since we saw it last in the 1990’s. We loved spending Halloween at the Freemont Street Experience. 

We did a day trip out to The Valley of Fire State Park, about 55 minutes northeast of Las Vegas.  It was an awesome day of hiking and scenic drives.  The Valley of Fire is a sight to see, we would recommend it for anyone traveling through the area.

Next in Las Vegas was the Neon Sign Museum.  Founded in 1996, the Neon Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, studying and exhibiting iconic Las Vegas signs for educational, historic, arts and cultural enrichment. The Neon Museum campus includes the outdoor exhibition space known as the Neon Boneyard, a visitors’ center housed inside the former La Concha Motel lobby and the Neon Boneyard North Gallery which houses additional rescued signs and is available for weddings, special events, photo shoots and educational programs.

We spent a day in Red Rock Canyon. Red Rock Canyon is located 17 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip. It has a 13-mile scenic drive, miles of hiking trails, rock climbing, horseback riding, mountain biking, road biking, picnic areas, nature observing and visitor center with indoor and outdoor exhibits as well as a book store. The unique geologic features, plants and animals of Red Rock represent some of the best examples of the Mojave Desert.  A great way to spend the day outside of Las Vegas and Jerry even got in a Segway trip on one of the back trails to view a river dam and waterfall.

 From Las Vegas we traveled 1 hour west to the town of Pahrump, Nevada.  This was a week of rest and relaxation after being on the go for weeks.  The RV Park has a winery, great restaurant and great desert views along with a wonderful pool and hot tub. The sunsets against the mountain backdrop are a great way to end the day.

Tarantula right in front of our rig.

Our next stop was Death Valley National Park on the boarder of Nevada and California.  The park is the largest national park in the contiguous US, it is just over 3 million acres.  It is also known for the lowest point in North America, -282 feet below sea level. 

We had a great site in the Furnace Creek National Park Campground.

Our first hike was up Mosaic Canyon, it was a great hike with great views along the way.

We drove out to the “bee hives”, the Charcoal Kilns built in the 1870’s and only used for 3 years.  They have definitely stood the test of time.

One of the best overlooks we found was Aguereberry Point.  It was a beautiful view of the valley and a great picnic spot.  One we will always remember.  On our way back to the main road we stopped at the Eureka Mine, hard to believe one miner spent 40 years out here mining his own mine.

Borax was one of the most profitable and longest sustained mining activities in Death Valley.  Remember “The 20 Mule Team Borax”?  This is where the saying comes from.  Actually it was usually 18 mules and 2 horses.  The wagons were very large and some still exist which could really tell stories if they could speak.

Our second day started with a drive to the ghost town of Rhyolite, the largest ghost town near Death Valley.  At it’s peak it had over 10,000 people between 1905-1911.  The Rhyolite Art Museum had some very interesting items. Pilfering has unfortunately removed a lot of missing artifacts so the town looks very sad. Renewed efforts are protecting what’s left like the Casino and the Bottle house.

Our next stop was the Ubehebe Crater, one of Belinda’s bucket list items to walk around a crater.  This was a very exhilarating walk, the wind, height and drop offs in some areas were a little treacherous but well worth the hike. It was caused by a magma spew and not a meteor so is quite deep with steep sides with another smaller crater right next to it.

The lowest point in North America is Badwater Basin in the park at -282 feet below sea level.  Basically one very large salt flat.  It almost felt like we were on crunchy ice.  The wind blowing across was tremendous and accelerates the evaporation of what would be a lake keeping it land.

Next stop, the Natural Bridge with a short hike back into the canyon to see it.

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Our last stop for the day, the Devil’s Golf Course.  Gnarled crystalline salt spires dot the landscape and look like a coral reef run amuck.  The lumpy salt pinnacles are the residue of Death Valley’s last significant lake, which evaporated 2,000 years ago.

The next day we got up before sunrise and drove up to Zabriskie Point for a valley sunrise view.  It was very cold and windy, we froze in anticipation of a great sunrise to be painted on the valley walls. Note to self to dress warmer before sunrise and at elevation.

From Zabriskie Point we drove up to Dantes View, over 5,000 feet high.  It was very cold at 34 degrees and windy up there as well.  We liked the view from Aguereberry Point better.

On our way back we drove through Twenty Mule Team Canyon.  2.7 miles of other worldly looking badlands. Nice 2 track one way road.

Next scenic drive was Artist’s Drive, it is a one way scenic loop through vibrantly colored hills. 

Our last hike was the Golden Canyon and Red Cathedral Trail.  It was a great hike with lots of variety and great canyon views. 

We worked up such an appetite we ate a whole large pizza after the hike at the Corkscrew Saloon within Furnace Creek Ranch. 

After lunch we stopped into the Borax Museum, a lot of Death Valley mining history.

We really enjoyed Death Valley, 3 full days with great scenic drives and hikes was well worth the long trip through the desert to get there.

Next stop, Desert Hot Springs, California for hot springs and more sight seeing.