Saturday

Water, water, cool clear water!  Death Valley dries you right out.  We left for Death Valley before the sun came up.  It is very barren but with mountains, valleys and dips.  The dips almost made you sick to your stomach--they were frequent and steep.  The registration area was almost 30 miles into the valley.  There was an aquifer underground, so there were some trees and green.  The place we enjoyed most was the Artist's loop.  Very narrow roads, one way travel, some areas with huge dips were just wide enough for one car.  Trucks and long vans were not allowed into the Park.  They called the area Artist's Way because the roads had some color instead of looking like dark volcanic rocks.

We discovered that bikers seem to love the valley.  One biker had camped in the middle of no where and was packing up his tent as we drove by.  I just do not understand the purpose of testing yourself in that harsh environment.

The Golden Canyon was another interesting place with narrow walkways between cliffs.  It was a little unsettling to see all the rocks that had fallen on the path.  I didn't venture too far.

After lots of driving we got back to a main road.  We did see sand dunes and valley floors but mostly Death Valley is similar to other drives out west.  Rocky Mountains of various sizes, scrubby growth, no growth--looked like gravel had been dumped on the ground in a lot of places--and roads to drive on that let you experience all of the variety.  The temperature high for the day was only 90 degrees.  It is usually 100 or more this time of year.  It really wasn't too bad but you had to drink all the time.  Very drying.

We arrived in Loughlin in time for dinner.  The Saturday night special, for $18.00, was all the crab legs you could eat and prime rib.  And of course all the other stuff you get on a buffet.  Delicious.